Ford patents smartphone-based autonomous vehicle steering

Ford has been granted a patent in the United States for a system it calls ‘Non-Autonomous Steering Modes’, which would allow an autonomous car to be steered using a smartphone. First discovered by carbuzz.com, Ford's patent allows the vehicle to be controlled through the accelerometer and gyroscope within most smartphones. The same system is used to control cars in video games like Real Racing, but hasn't yet made the leap to reality for reasons we probably needn't explain here.