Ford Patent Filed For Off-Beat Location Recommendations

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for an off-beat location recommendation system that could be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on May 31^st, 2022, published on November 30^th, 2023, and assigned serial number 0384101.

The Ford Authority Take

In recent months, a handful of Ford patent filings have emerged for things like an off-road track recommendation system, as well as a fuel purchase decision system that could coordinate vehicle routes with fuel type to improve both fuel usage and vehicle performance, with a focus on ride-sharing, ride-hailing, and vehicle-sharing services. Now, this new Ford patent somewhat draws upon these two ideas by introducing an idea for an off-beat location recommendation system.

The basic concept behind this new Ford patent is relatively simple – it would recommend more off-beat – or less popular or known – locations to vehicle operators looking for something a bit different than the status quo. The system would do this by analyzing the vehicle’s current route and drawing upon a database full of off-beat locations, which would be ranked using a popularity score based on its location and the number of people there.

As Ford points out in the patent, people that are traveling or just commuting somewhere are often interested in these types of off-beat locations rather than the typical chain restaurant or coffee shop, yet oftentimes, it can be difficult to find these places. The idea is to incorporate a way to do precisely that by combining this type of system with a vehicle’s GPS, making the act of finding our next favorite “hole in the wall” establishment far simpler than it is now.

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