Ford Seeks Patent For Multi-Vehicle Audio System

Big tech companies like Apple file patents all the time. Some of these, like Apple’s patent for an AirPods case with a built-in display, or the one for an iPhone that folds in half, could easily become products if Apple thinks they’ll make money. But sometimes, these patents outline technologies that seem impossible, or at least unlikely. The first patent for a mobile phone was granted in Denmark in 1917, decades before the technology to make it a reality existed. In many cases — even when the patents are granted — the technologies that they describe never become actual products. But occasionally, the patent becomes something we use all the time, from smartphones and WiFi to OLED displays and multi-channel audio. I just came across an interesting audio-related patent application filed by Ford. While the technology involved isn’t available in Ford vehicles today, it’s not as much of a moonshot as the mobile phone must have been in 1917. The patent describes the use of multiple fully-autonomous vehicles as a multi-channel sound system for outdoor events. Audio gear installed inside or on top of the vehicles would sync up wirelessly, with each vehicle acting as an individual speaker in a large-scale stereo or surround configuration. For example, two vehicles could be located on either side of a stage or projection screen to create a stereo system. Or four vehicles could be placed around the audience to create a surround system. Each vehicle would know where the others would be located, and each would play the appropriate sound for its assigned channel. Because the vehicles would be autonomous, they could rearrange themselves as necessary.

The patent explains something that Audioholics readers already know — that audio systems with multiple speakers can present audio content, such as “music, speech, or an audio component of multimedia content, in different output modes.” Users can switch between output modes to achieve a particular audio effect. For example, if you have a multichannel system, you can listen to music in stereo but switch to surround for movies, TV, and gaming. In the context of a home entertainment system, the ability to switch between modes is a given. But in a more limited environment, such as an outdoor music festival, problems arise. First of all, the audio content needs to cover a much larger area. Secondly, the number of available “output modes” might be limited by the fixed number and positioning of the speakers in a PA system. That’s where Ford’s patented “multi-vehicle audio system” comes in. The multi-vehicle audio system patent includes methods and systems for instructing the autonomously-controllable vehicles to move to respective locations based on an audio output mode. The instructions to the vehicles could include telling them to arrange themselves in a specific orientation relative to a display screen, relative to a group of listeners, or relative to one or more of the other vehicles. When playing audio content, the vehicles also could be instructed to open their doors and windows, or even to adjust the position of the roof (depending on whether the audio equipment in installed inside or on top of the vehicle), in order to “adapt acoustic characteristics of the audio content heard by one or more users,” according to the patent application.

The vehicles may be arranged in a first configuration for a stereo sound mode and instructed to play left-channel or right channel audio data according to their location. The vehicles may be autonomously controlled to move into a different configuration for outputting audio content in another audio mode, for example, a surround sound mode. Where the audio output device is provided in a vehicle interior, such as internal speakers in a car, the vehicle may be instructed to, while playing the audio content, open the door and/or window.

— Ford Patent Application

Using Cars to Create Block Party Surround Sound Events?

While the autonomous vehicles described could be specialized audio robots, they could just as easily be regular Ford cars of the future. It’s not hard to imagine scenarios in which such a system could come in handy for regular people. For example, if you’re planning an outdoor wedding, you could position vehicles around the dance floor to create an audio system without renting specialized gear. Or you could use a few car stereos to play synchronized music for a block party on the 4th of July. While the patent focuses on autonomous vehicles, many aspects of the technology described could work in regular vehicles, as long as their drivers knew how to park them in the correct configuration for the application needed. The patent specifies that the vehicles could use their built-in GPS to determine their own position in relation to the other vehicles, allowing cars to figure out which channel to reproduce and what adjustments might need to be made to the audio signal to ensure that the sound syncs up properly.

So, normal people with regular cars could, theoretically, take advantage of this idea for a multi-vehicle audio system. But the patent application also describes versions of this technology that could be super-futuristic and truly exciting to think about. The application states that “the system may include other vehicles, e.g. drones, instead of, or in combination with, one or more of the (cars).” It also says that the system “may be used to provide different audio output modes in addition to, or instead of, one or more of the modes described.” Together, these two statements sent my imagination into overdrive. Imagine for a moment, that you’re at an outdoor music festival with a typical PA system installed near the stage. Or perhaps you’re at an outdoor AV demonstration like the ones used by Netflix, Meta, and other large companies, to promote new TV shows and games. (See our article Netflix and Meta Use Hologram Tech to Promote New Releases.) Now imagine that, suddenly, you hear a full Dolby Atmos soundtrack being reproduced, with sound coming from every direction — including above you. Looking up, you see drones hovering in multiple positions across the sky, each holding a down-firing loudspeaker system. Ford’s idea for a multi-vehicle audio system could make outdoor Dolby Atmos a reality in any environment without the need to build a permanent installation. As crazy as that sounds, it could be done, and it would be incredible. Do you think Ford’s patent application will result in a real product or feature in the autonomous vehicles of the near future? 

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