Diagnostic App Coming from Ford. Not for the Car, for the Driver

Since the day smartphones have begun taking over the automotive world, not a single moment has passed without us hearing about one type of app or another that allow you to do this, or that, or monitor this and check the status update on that other one. Until now, however, all these apps had only one thing in common: they told you a little something about your car.

However, in the not-so-distant future, you may find yourself driving on a road somewhere, minding your own business, and be alerted by your beloved phone that your heart rate is increasing rapidly. What would you do if you knew you are about to have a heart attack while doing 100 on Route 66?

Having gained a great deal of experience with car apps over the years, Ford decided it’s time to take up medicine and, accompanied by medical solution specialist WellDoc, began working on what it calls “in-car health apps.”

By using the SYNC platform, the two partners are looking into ways to allow the app to monitor health issues like congestive heart failure and asthma. Presumably, once such a problem has been identified, the app would begin alert the driver and perhaps even make an automated emergency call.

The app is supposed to work with tons data, ranging from information about the environment to information about the driver's condition to react both passively and actively. For instance, the app should be able to recognize when it travels through an area with a high pollen count and react by closing the windows.

Mostly, however, the app is intended as a tool for the driver to know about his health condition. Even if there are currently no plans for a market introduction of the app, we're sure we'll hear more of it soon.