The recently filed patent, which was posted on freepatentsonline.com, indicates GM is working on a system that would make it easier to move from vehicle to vehicle. Rather than relying on settings saved to a specific car, GM’s cloud-based system would follow the user.
After clearing security via a text code, voice recognition, RFID chip or fingerprint scanner, the system would zap a person’s personal setting via an internet connection to whatever car they happen to be driving. More than just a person’s favorite radio presets, the settings would including things like seat positioning, mirror settings and personal information such as phone numbers and navigation destination.
Naturally security is going be a concern when transmitting sensitive data, but GM says the information would only be accessible by the registered user.
GM notes that such a system would be particularly useful for rental cars or car-sharing programs. Likewise, the system could come in handy for households that have multiple drivers using the same vehicle.
It remains to be seen if GM has any production plans for such a system and, if so, how long it would take to bring to market. But with the connected car revolution spreading like wildfire, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some kind of variant of GM’s patent on the road within a few years.
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