Go swivel: Ford patents revolutionary autonomous car interior

Ford has gained a US patent for a new interior that shows how cabin design will radically change following the adoption of full-autonomous driving aids.

The patent, revealed late last night, shows a cabin in which the driver and passenger seats can swivel 180 degrees around while the vehicle is in motion, transforming the cabin into more of a living room.

Making more space, the steering wheel also fully retracts into the dashboard.

The front seats can be folded down and used as a footrest for backseat passengers to stretch out -- meaning the driver doesn’t actually need to sit in the driver’s seat at all.

The new patents, revealed by newswire Automotive News, were said to have been submitted in November 2014 and also state that all the passengers need to do in the future is select a destination and then relax and focus on non-driving activities, like sleep.

It’s not known how soon, or to what car, the design will be applied, but expect future concepts to buck tradition and feature the new radical approach to cabin design.

Speaking to Automotive News following the patent going public, Ford PR Said Deep said: “We submit patents on innovative ideas as a normal course of business.

“Patent submissions help protect our new ideas but do not necessarily indicate future business or product plans.”

According to Automotive News, the filing of the new patent is thought to be closely linked to Ford’s plans to catch up with the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes, who are well on the way to delivering full autonomous driving technologies in production cars.

In June it was reported that Ford would move its autonomous driving advanced engineering base to Silicon Valley to take advantage of the ground-breaking research and development work carried out by local companies that specialise in self-driving tech.