Future Ford Vehicles Could Get In-Cabin Monitoring System

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for an in-cabin monitoring system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on March 16^th, 2023, published on September 19^th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0310523.

The Ford Authority Take

Ford has long shown a keen interest in beefing up security in its future vehicles, recently forming a joint-venture with ADT called Canopy – which makes and sells cameras for pickups and vans. The automaker has stated that video capture technology is “key” for its upcoming models, and is also poised to offer a remote monitoring system in the Ford F-150 at some point in the future. Now, after filing patents for ideas such as a harmful gas detection system and an interior air monitoring system, this newly published piece of intellectual property previews an idea for an in-cabin monitoring system that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.

This system – if it comes to fruition – would be able to monitor the status of an object inside of a vehicle, as well as the condition of occupants. It would do this using sensors and cameras, which could create three-dimensional positional information and then detect anomalies based on that information. From there, there are quite a few uses for this data, which pertain to things like people or objects such as packages.

The most obvious use for such technology would be to monitor packages in a delivery vehicle, as the system would be able to detect first that they’re actually present, and also, when they’ve been delivered – adding a layer of security to that process. Additionally, the system could monitor the driver or occupants and detect if they’re in trouble, whether that be from a health event or if someone is trying to attack or carjack them – making it potentially useful in future Ford vehicles of all kinds.