Can’t ever see a Ford rolling billboard in my garage. Only bright spot is with all the recalls, looks like many new Fords will be stuck in garages or dealerships waiting for repairs.
Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a system displaying ads and images on windows that could be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on January 6th, 2020, published on April 4th, 2023, and assigned serial number 11618242.
The Ford Authority Take
Ford has filed multiple patents outlining ideas for displaying ads or images in vehicles over the past several months, including one for a holographic projection system, billboard interfaces for vehicle displays, and a vehicle window projection system. Now, this newly filed patent keeps that trend going by introducing an idea for what it calls an “automotive glass display” that could be used to project images and advertisements on the windows of future Ford vehicles.
Obviously, the mere thought of being bombarded with more advertisements won’t settle well with most consumers, though as Ford points out in the patent filing, vehicles are being used more and more for those purposes these days, whether it be via vinyl wraps or screens that project ads to nearby pedestrians or motorists. Thus, the automaker is looking to take advantage of that by coming up with a new way to turn vehicles into rolling billboards.
That’s accomplished by using a projector and a glass panel with darkened material applied to it, creating the perfect venue for images, whether they be ones that contain important information like weather events or just old fashioned ads. There are obviously some viable ways this could be used, aside from pure advertisements, but we imagine that its intended use is for commercial vehicles where fleets might want to advertise their business – or, perhaps even a more visible way for ride share drivers to display their company of choice. Regardless of intent, it’s clear that this is an area Ford intends to explore – in more ways than one.