GM has filed a pair of patents that describe a system for detecting a lost item in a vehicle and notifying the owner of said lost item.
The GM patent filings have been assigned application numbers US 2023/0245550 A1 and US 2023/0245517 A1 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and both were published on August 3rd, 2023. Both patents were originally filed on January 28th, 2023. The patents list several U.S.-based engineers as the inventors, including Ke Liu, Jingyan Wan, and Omer Tsimhoni, as well as Ron Hecht from Israel.
One of the patent applications describes a system whereby a lost object can be detected in a compartment, and added to an inventory list of lost objects. The system can also identify at least one potential user of the lost item, while providing a notification to that user, as well as access to an image of the item. In addition, the system can verify ownership of the lost item, determine a preferred pickup location for the owner, store the lost item at the location, and confirm the identity of the owner for retrieval at the given location.
The other patent describes a system and method for notifying an owner of a lost item in a vehicle, with the item defined in a certain location within the vehicle, visualizing the item, defining an image of the item, and adding that item to an inventory list. The system can then identify a potential owner for the lost item and provide a viewable image of it.
Obviously, these systems would be particularly useful in fully autonomous vehicles, which would surely collect lost items regularly when in service as robotaxis. As such, these systems would find an application in the Cruise Chevy Bolt EVs, as well as Cruise Origin. It’s possible the system could also be used for identifying users who leave trash in the AVs, and in fact, a separate GM patent filed previously describes a self-cleaning floor system well-suited for autonomous vehicles.
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Comments
Well this is horrifying. Sounds like a 4th amendment breach waiting to happen. NSA licking their chops with this one.
GM ELECTRIC VEHICLE: “Dave…I know that you were planning to trade me in….and I’m afraid that’s something I cannot allow to happen.”
DAVE: “Where the hell did you get that idea??”
GM ELECTRIC VEHICLE: “Dave, although you took very thorough precautions with the Dealer Service Advisor against my hearing you, I could see your lips move….”
Oh Great. Not only can they alway know exactly where you are, how fast you’re going, etc., they can now identify everything you have in your car, and who it belongs to. This is an incredible violation of privacy, and a disaster waiting to happen.
Not surprising GM (Government Motors) was the one to come up with this BS.
GM seems to have started copying Ford’s obsession with filing absurd patents, day in and day out. As if there aren’t a million other, better, ways to spend money.
Yea, I can see the data of what is in the car and who has it being uploaded to a cloud server at OnStar for which Uncle Sam has a standing FISA warrant to search.
Technology always seems to be the double edged sword where one side is convenience for the user and the other side is potential monitoring and behavioral control. I give Apple credit for giving its iPhone users convenience features while for the most part keeping Uncle Sam’s nose out. … Though Apple does cave on allowing government interference in certain countries in favor of selling its products. Apple was going to automatically scan one’s photo library and automatically narc on naughty pictures, but that seems to be off the table for now, and hopefully forever.
It is interesting to see how both the US and a China are becoming surveillance nanny states. The difference being that China is overt and in your face about it and in the US it is sneaking it in through the back door (software back door).