Ford offers customizable interface, MyFord Touch

January 7, 2010 by John Day
Filed under Automotive Electronics News

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The 8-inch touch-screen center stack display is the key interface on MyFord Touch, shown here with audio and entertainment options active.

At the Consumer Electronics Show Ford introduced a new driver interface called MyFord Touch that lets drivers personalize gauges, vehicle settings and information displays. The MyFord Touch interface includes dual 4.2-inch LCD screens with corresponding five-way button steering wheel controls and an 8-inch touch screen, all controlled by simplified SYNC voice commands.

The new interface replaces many of the traditional vehicle buttons, knobs and gauges. With more voice commands, LCD screens that can be customized, and five-way buttons like those on cell phones and MP3 players, drivers can choose which information is front and center through a button click, voice command, or touch-screen tap.

Driver assist settings include:

• Traction control on/off
• Blind Spot Information System (BLIS^®) on/off
• Cross Traffic Alert on/off
• Cruise control, adaptive or normal
• Front Park Assist on/off
• Rear Park Assist on/off
• Trailer Sway Control on/off

Vehicle settings include:

• Autolamp delay in seconds
• Fuel, distance-to-empty and real-time economy
• Locks, autolock and auto-unlock
• Menu control, standard or memory
• Power liftgate, enable/disable
• Remote start climate control activation settings
• Remote start run-time duration
• Windows, remote open/close
• Wipers, courtesy wipe and rain-sensing wiper on/off

Display settings include:

• Gauge display with tachometer; tach and fuel level; or tach, fuel level and water temperature
• Trip display
• Language (English, French, Spanish)
• Distance, miles or kilometers; temperature, degrees in F or C

Sub-menus allow drivers to further personalize their in-car experience. For example, within the remote start menu, the driver can program the system to activate the air conditioning using the climate control submenu and to turn the car off after 10 minutes using the duration submenu.

An 8-inch touch-screen can be personalized using one of three options:

• Quiet: Basic information is shown nested in the four corners, but the majority of the screen is devoted to a driver-selected “wallpaper” image;
• Smart Corners: Predetermined buttons with the most popular top level functions are displayed in each of the quadrants, or
• Shortcuts: The screen is populated with driver-selected “hot buttons” that are fully personalized, and can include hot buttons from nearly any controllable function in the system.

“With MyFord driver connect technology, we realized we were really redefining how customers interacted with their cars,” said Jim Buczkowski, Ford director of Electronics and Electrical Systems Engineering. “We had to look very closely at the evolution of hand-held devices in terms of user interface, connectivity, productivity and entertainment applications. Our goal is to set the benchmark for the automotive user interface, just as we’ve done for device connectivity with SYNC.”

MyFord Touch uses five-way controls on the steering wheel for most functions. The buttons can be controlled by a driver’s thumbs and work similarly to controls on mobile phones, MP3 players and remote controls, providing customers instant familiarity.

Selected user settings can be programmed to individual vehicle keys. If two members of the same household share a car, each can have their particular home screen and personalized settings take effect with his or her unique key. Settings also can be downloaded to a USB drive and exported to another MyFord-equipped vehicle, instantly transferring the driver’s preferences.

Regardless of personalization level, the four main function corners and their respective colors remain the same, helping drivers intuitively navigate the vehicle systems when they need to. “Ford is empowering drivers without demanding their attention,” said John Schneider, chief engineer, HMI, Driver Controls and Infotainment.

“Drivers don’t have to use the personalization features, but there are a wealth of options available to those who do. We’ve made it easy for drivers to get what they want from their displays from the moment the key is turned.”

One-touch climate control

Setting a vehicle’s interior temperature can be reduced to a single button push using the MyTemp feature. Once a driver saves a temperature using MyTemp, any subsequent touch of the MyTemp button will automatically change to this set temperature. If other drivers have used the vehicle and adjusted settings, the driver can quickly return to his or her preferred setting by touching the MyTemp button. Temperature settings also can be stored on multiple drivers’ unique keys as part of MyFord’s personalization features.

Vehicle information

Vehicle information is presented in a 4.2-inch full-color LCD to the left of the centrally mounted speedometer. The display is controlled using a cell phone-style five-way button located on the left side of the steering wheel crossbar, allowing drivers to intuitively access vehicle functions without having to reach for a dash-mounted switch or remove their hands from the wheel.

“Using simple, intuitive controls, MyFord brings the personalization consumers expect from their mobile electronic devices into the realm of the automobile,” Schneider said.

MyFord driver connect technology will launch later this year on the redesigned 2011 Ford Edge before appearing on the 2012 Ford Focus for global markets. By 2015, approximately 80% of Ford’s North American models are expected to have MyFord driver connect technology, with similar percentages predicted for the world market. MyLincoln Touch will be standard equipment on new Lincolns beginning with the 2011 Lincoln MKX.

“Democratization of technology is a key aspect of our product plan,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development. “With MyFord, we didn’t want to create an upscale electronics package and just put it on our highest-end vehicles. This technology will be available across our full range of vehicles: From our small cars to the ultimate Lincoln.” MyFord will also be expanded across world markets.

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