A cycling jacket that indicates the direction
Ford focuses on passengers and other road users alongside cars and drivers. Ford recently came with a smart car window for blind passengers . With touches, the blind or visually impaired can still experience the landscape that passes by the car. Now Ford is focusing on the cyclists. No, no high class ultramodern electric bike. And no supersonic bike rack for the car. Well a bike jacket.
Bike jacket Ford
The bike jacket created by Ford is not just a jacket. With this jacket cyclists can navigate and indicate the direction. In the sleeves of the jacket are lights that light up when the cyclist goes left or right. At the back are the ‘brake lights’, a strip on the jacket that gives red light when the cyclist brakes. The jacket is wirelessly connected to a free navigation app, which makes the sleeve vibrate at the side that the cyclist needs. The least crowded route with as few intersections as possible is chosen by the app.
In fact, the jacket acts as a smartphone, because through interfaces and earphones cyclists can pick up their phone and receive messages, without taking their eyes off the road. These headphones are designed so that sounds from other road users are still audible. The jacket was developed in collaboration with clothing expert Lumo and experts from mobility software Tome.
Safety first
The Ford bike jacket has several goals. The safety of the cyclists is one of them. They are thus better seen and it is clearer for other road users which direction cyclists go. Ford also wants to strengthen the harmony between cyclists and motorists with the bike jacket. More and more people are taking the bike, and they can often get in each other’s way. A cycling jacket gives clarity and reduces frustration.
Now the jacket is only a prototype. However, Ford is applying for a patent so that they can further develop the prototype. For the time being, as a cyclist you still have to stick out your hand with two shopping bags and you will also have to regularly check the battery of your front and rear light.