As Americans take a more active role in managing their health and well-being, Ford researchers are taking a leading role in developing a series of health and wellness in-car connectivity solutions designed to empower people with self-help information while they drive.

Taking a smart, high-volume approach to bringing mobile health and wellness solutions inside the car, Ford researchers are first looking at two populations with the most need for a constant connection to potentially life-saving medical information – people with diabetes and those with asthma and/or allergies.

Ford is working with experts in these fields to create relevant in-car features and services for those living with these ailments.
“Our goal is not to interpret the data offered by the experts, but to work with them to develop intelligent ways for Ford vehicles using the power of SYNC, said Gary Strumolo, global manager, Interiors, Infotainment, Health & Wellness Research, Ford Research and Innovation.

Ford SYNC offers three unique ways to bring health and wellness connected services into the car:

• Device connectivity via Bluetooth – Leveraging Bluetooth, medical devices can be connected to the car to share information through SYNC
• Cloud – based services –Known as SYNC Services, new services such as medical services can be easily added through this plug-and-play voice-controlled capability
• AppLink –The SYNC application programming interface (API) allows app developers to enable their apps to communicate through SYNC, delivering a smarter way for drivers to manage apps while driving

The ongoing Ford health and wellness research projects include:

• Glucose monitoring: A prototype system that allows Ford SYNC to connect via Bluetooth to a continuous glucose monitoring device and share glucose levels and trends through audio and a center stack display and provide secondary alerts if levels are too low.

• Allergy alerts: Ford is working with SDI Health and www.pollen.com to SYNC-enable its smartphone Allergy Alert app through AppLink, giving users voice-controlled access to the app that provides location-based day-by-day index levels for pollen; asthma, cold and cough and ultraviolet sensitivity; as well as four-day forecasts.

• WellDoc: Ford and WellDoc, a recognized leader in the emerging field of mHealth integrated services, have joined forces to integrate in-car accessibility to WellDoc’s comprehensive cloud-based personalized solutions for those with asthma and diabetes through SYNC Services. Using voice commands, SYNC users could access and update their WellDoc profile to receive real-time patient coaching, behavioral education and medication adherence support based on their historic and current disease information.

Well on the way

Ford is also examining other more long-term health and wellness technologies and ideas related to, for example, heart rate, relaxation and reducing stress. Ford and MIT have long been studying the correlation between stressors and driving performance, wrapping up a nine-month advanced research project last fall that showed drivers are less stressed when using selected vehicle technologies such as Ford active park assist and cross-traffic alert.