Ford’s Latitude AI Wants to Help you Drive Despite Not Looking at the Road, Better than its BlueCruise?

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 03 March 2023, 12:03 am

The latest developments for Ford's self-driving features were recently unveiled by the company to be under its new project called the "Latitude AI." It will deliver an autonomous driving capability that no longer relies on the vehicle's in-cabin sensors that detect if a person is paying attention or looking at the roads, as it would drive without human intervention.

It would soon replace the company's present technology for autonomous driving called the Ford BlueCruise, a feature that requires driver attention whenever using the tech.

Ford Latitude AI to Bring Self-Driving without User's Attention

Ford Launches F-150 Lightning Electric Truck

(Photo : Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Ford announced the latest development to its self-driving feature coming to its vehicles, mostly the electric ones, with a subsidiary company called "Latitude AI." This feature would center on delivering a hands-free and "eyes off" feature that will allow the driver to turn his focus away from driving and let the system do its job of commanding the vehicle.

It will be similar to other companies offer autonomous driving features, including that Tesla, Waymo, GM's Cruise, and more.

Latitude AI is not yet available for the public to use, and it is currently under development by the company, which it said would arrive for next-generation Ford vehicles.

Ford set up a 550-member team to work on Latitude AI and its development.

Ford BlueCruise vs. Latitude AI in Autonomous Driving

"Customers using BlueCruise are already experiencing the benefits of hands-off driving. The deep experience and talent in our Latitude team will help us accelerate the development of all-new automated driving technology - with the goal of not only making travel safer, less stressful and more enjoyable, but ultimately over time giving our customers some of their day back," said Doug Field, Ford's chief advanced product development and technology officer.

BlueCruise will soon be a thing of the past, with Latitude AI commandeering vehicles upon command to drive with safety and precision.

Ford's BlueCruise Self-Driving Feature

Back when there were limited electric vehicles from several companies only, particularly when Tesla was the rising star in the industry, Ford's take on self-driving aims to match its Autopilot and Full-Self Driving features. This is with the BlueCruise technology that was initially available on the Mustang Mach-E electric car.

Naturally, the public compared Ford's BlueCruise against the Mustang Mach-E's BlueCruise, and at the time, people were more inclined to the features available at Tesla.

Still, the BlueCruise has plenty of tricks up its sleeves, and Ford regularly updates the feature, like when it added the automatic lane change feature to the technology.

In the present, the BlueCruise remains an iconic car feature for the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. However, that is soon to change as Ford is letting go of its restrictive features for the self-driving functions like the driver's attention, now with Latitude AI shaping up to be the company's latest bread and butter for autonomous features.