Ford billboard detector could bring ads into your car

Ford has recently patented a new technology they call a billboard detector that will bring roadside ads into your car. This is the last feature we could ever want to see exist in a car, especially with the implications that this could bring.

What it does do is allow advertisers to add useful information that wouldn’t work on a billboard into an ad. Details like phone numbers or websites. This will then be displayed directly on the infotainment screen. Yes, Ford wants to make that screen more distracting.

How the Ford billboard detector works.

By using cameras that would likely already be installed for autonomous driving, this tech comes in the form of software that can identify billboards. It will then take the information on the billboard, find additional details about the ad and display that in the car.

It’s simple but it makes us worry, and a lot.

What could this mean for the future?

We aren’t hiding it, we dislike this “innovation” from Ford. Not only because we dislike ads, but because of the implications that come with it.

Our first concern is the issue that infotainment screens already have and that distraction. Alone, infotainment screens can be dangerous to drivers. Their complexity takes attention away from the road, which as we know, every second can make all the difference. Now imagine if an advert flashes on that screen, it makes the whole situation even worse especially since Ford seems to want you to interact with it.

The second concern is the ads themselves. We are already bombarded with advertising everywhere we go. Billboards are bad enough as is. An additional scary thought is that this opens an avenue for paying extra to get an ad-free version of your car.

We sincerely hope that this patent stays right where it is and doesn’t make it to market. Or at the very least, to never make it to South Africa.

Source: Jalopnik
Photo by James Penner on Unsplash