Ford has quietly scrapped a project to develop driving seats that can detect heart attacks, blaming cheaper and more accurate wearable technology on a move that underlines the rapid pace of innovation carmakers need to maintain in the era of the connected car.福特(Ford)悄悄地中止了一项能观测到心脏病的驾驶员座椅研发项目，将其归咎于更加低廉、更加精准的可穿着设备。此举凸显汽车厂商在汽车网络时代必须保持的较慢创意步伐。

The US carmaker and its rivals are jostling to be seen as leaders in new car technologies. Ford, which opened an expanded research office in Silicon Valley this year, recently launched a people carrier that can read speed limit signs and adjust the throttle accordingly.这家美国汽车公司及其输掉于是以争相沦为人们眼中的汽车新技术领导者。今年，福特在硅谷成立了一个可观的研究办公室。不久前，福特发售了一款能察觉到肇事迹象并适当调节油门的小客车。The wider motor industry is fighting to keep up with demands from consumers for greater connectivity inside the vehicle while heading off the threat posed by new entrants such as Tesla, Google and, potentially, Apple .整个汽车行业正在希望跟上消费者对于提升车内网络程度的市场需求，同时抵御来自特斯拉(Tesla)、谷歌(Google)——有可能还有苹果(Apple)——等新的转入者导致的威胁。

Ford said in October that it was working on a seat that could monitor a driver’s cardiovascular system for irregularities. Using a camera and sensors on the steering wheel, the technology could potentially spot a heart attack and engage steering and braking systems to bring the car safely to a halt.福特去年10月回应，该公司正在研制一款需要监测驾驶员心血管系统否出现异常的座椅。通过方向盘上的一个摄像头和多个传感器，该技术有可能察觉心脏病症状，并接管驾驶员和刹车系统，让汽车安全性地停下。But the company told the Financial Times it was “transitioning away” from the research project, saying advancements in wearable technology meant it was “looking at different avenues for health and wellness monitoring”.但福特对英国《金融时报》回应，其于是以从该研究项目“移往”。福特回应，可穿着技术的变革使其正在“考虑到身体健康和安全性状况监测的有所不同途径”。

It declined to say how much it had spent on the project — out of a total research and development budget of $5.5bn in 2014.福特拒绝接受透漏已在该项目上投资的金额。2014年，福特的总研发支出金额为55亿美元。

“New sensor technology and wearables will provide more precise measurements that will improve the experience we can offer,” the company said. “We need to be smart and move at the pace of technology...to stay ahead of consumer trends.”“新的传感器和可穿着技术将获取更加精准的测量手段，将改良我们所能获取的体验，”福特回应，“我们必需灵敏，跟上技术发展的速度……以回头在消费者趋势的前面。”Carmakers fear that the future value of the car will be in the electronic technology and software “brains” linking the functions, rather than the steel they have been engineering for decades.汽车制造商担忧，未来汽车的价值将反映在连接起来有所不同功能的电子技术和软件“大脑”上，而不是他们设计生产了几十年的钢铁制成品。

“What the tech sector sees is a legacy industry that is slow to move,” said one senior industry insider.“技术行业看见的是一个移动较慢的老迈行业，”一位汽车业内资深人士回应。Thilo Koslowski, automotive practice leader at consultancy Gartner, said: “Automotive companies are clearly still figuring out their role in a consumer electronics-dominated world.”咨询公司低德纳(Gartner)的汽车业主管蒂洛科斯洛夫斯基(Thilo Koslowski)回应：“很显著，汽车公司仍在思维自己在以消费电子为主导的世界里能扮演着何种角色。”He said some investments would prove fruitless but added: “That’s a small price to pay when compared to the other option of being reduced to a simple device maker and being at the mercy of other industry leaders.”他回应，有些投资将是没什么成果的，但补足道：“与降格为非常简单的设备制造商、自身命运被其他行业的领导者所掌控的另一个结局比起，这是个较小的代价。

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