Future Ford Vehicles Could Get Modular Infotainment Displays

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for modular infotainment displays that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on February 8^th, 2023, published on August 13^th, 2024, and assigned serial number 12061750.

The Ford Authority Take

Screens continue to get larger and larger in new vehicles, as well as more plentiful. These days, giant screens are seemingly everywhere in the vehicles we drive, and they’re also beginning to take the place of physical controls in a number of models as well. Thus, it’s no surprise to see that Ford aims to innovate in that particular space, having filed a patent for articulated touchscreens last fall, which would be able to tilt, as well as switch between landscape and portrait views. Now, this newly published patent introduces us to an idea for modular infotainment displays that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.

If this patent comes to fruition, we may one day be able to move screens around within vehicles, or perhaps even add one, or switch out the controls used for those screens. Ford points out in the patent filing that some users prefer physical controls, while others like a simpler, screen-driven layout, and such a system may provide them with the opportunity to choose from one or the other.

As we can see in these patent drawings, users would be able to plug physical controls into the bottom of these special screens if so desired, and even swap out screens. This could prove to be quite the boon for consumers, given the controversy surrounding the lack of physical controls in modern vehicles, as well as the ever-growing size of the screens those vehicles are equipped with – making for an intriguing concept, indeed.

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