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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)悄悄地取消了一项能探测到心脏病的驾驶座椅开发项目，将其归因于更便宜、更精准的可穿戴设备。此举凸显出汽车厂商在汽车互联时代需要维持的快速创新步伐。
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对手正争相成为人们眼中的汽车新技术领导者。今年，福特在硅谷设立了一个庞大的研究办公室。不久前，福特推出了一款能察觉超速迹象并相应调节油门的小客车。
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 .
整个汽车行业正在努力跟上消费者对于提高车内互联程度的需求，同时抵挡来自特斯拉(Tesla)、谷歌(Google)——可能还有苹果(Apple)——等新进入者造成的威胁。
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月表示，该公司正在研制一款能够监测驾驶员心血管系统是否异常的座椅。通过方向盘上的一个摄像头和多个传感器，该技术可能发觉心脏病症状，并接管驾驶和刹车系统，让汽车安全地停下来。
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》表示，其正从该研究项目“转移”。福特表示，可穿戴技术的进步使其正在“考虑健康和安全状况监测的不同途径”。
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.
福特拒绝透露已在该项目上投资的金额。2014年，福特的总研发预算金额为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.”
“新的传感器和可穿戴技术将提供更精准的测量手段，将改进我们所能提供的体验，”福特表示，“我们必须敏锐，跟上技术发展的速度……以走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.
汽车制造商担心，未来汽车的价值将体现在联接不同功能的电子技术和软件“大脑”上，而不是他们设计制造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.
“技术行业看到的是一个移动缓慢的老迈行业，”一位汽车业内资深人士表示。
Thilo Koslowski, automotive practice leader at consultancy Gartner, said: “Automotive companies are clearly still figuring out their role in a consumer electronics-dominated world.”
咨询公司高德纳(Gartner)的汽车业主管蒂洛•科斯洛夫斯基(Thilo Koslowski)表示：“很明显，汽车公司仍在思考自己在以消费电子为主导的世界里能扮演何种角色。”
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.”
他表示，有些投资将是毫无成果的，但补充道：“与降格为简单的设备制造商、自身命运被其他行业的领导者所掌握的另一个结局相比，这是个很小的代价。”
