Ford announced on Wednesday that it is developing voice-controlled wireless technology that connects drivers to various health monitoring technology and services for things such as web-based allergen alerts, asthma management tools and diabetes control.

Ford said it's developing its initial offering by working with medical device maker Medtronic, mobile health vendor WellDoc, and health analytics provider SDI Health, which developed the allergy website pollen.com. Pollen.com tracks pollen counts around the U.S.

Ford is leveraging its SYNC technology, a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system developed with Microsoft. The voice-operated SYNC system, which uses Bluetooth to connect wireless devices, is offered in 12 different Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

Through SYNC and its technology partnerships Ford developed a blood glucose monitoring capability, location-based allergy and pollen alerts and voice-controlled, cloud-based health management services.

Ford announced on Wednesday that it is developing voice-controlled wireless technology that connects drivers to various health monitoring technology and services for things such as web-based allergen alerts, asthma management tools and diabetes control.

Ford said it's developing its initial offering by working with medical device maker Medtronic, mobile health vendor WellDoc, and health analytics provider SDI Health, which developed the allergy website pollen.com. Pollen.com tracks pollen counts around the U.S.

Ford is leveraging its SYNC technology, a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system developed with Microsoft. The voice-operated SYNC system, which uses Bluetooth to connect wireless devices, is offered in 12 different Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

Through SYNC and its technology partnerships Ford developed a blood glucose monitoring capability, location-based allergy and pollen alerts and voice-controlled, cloud-based health management services.

Working with Medtronic, Ford's researchers have developed a blood glucose monitoring service that allows SYNC to connect via Bluetooth to a wireless Medtronic continuous glucose monitoring device and share glucose levels and trends through audio and a center display. It will also provide secondary alerts if levels are too low.

Working with SDI Health and its pollen.com website, Ford SYNC enabled its smartphone Allergy Alert app through AppLnk, giving users voice-controlled access to the app that provides location-based index levels for pollen; asthma, cold and cough and ultraviolet sensitivity; as well as four-day forecasts.

"Our developers initially created the iPhone app to provide users with greater access to the information they've come to rely on from pollen.com," Jody Fisher, vice president of Marketing for SDI, said in a statement.

"Having instant, portable access for their conditions helps users plan their day or week ahead so they can remain active, which ultimately improves their quality of life," Fisher said.

Ford is also currently working on integrating its in-car access to WellDoc's mobile health services. WellDoc offers a cloud-based service for asthmatics and diabetics to store their personal health information and receive real-time patient coaching, behavioral education and medication adherence support based on their historic and current disease information.

Ford said on Wednesday that it is also examining other more long-term health and wellness technologies and ideas related to, heart rate, relaxation and reducing stress. Ford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been studying the correlation between stressors and driving performance, wrapping up a nine-month advanced research project last fall that showed drivers are less stressed when using selected vehicle technologies such as Ford active park assist and cross-traffic alert.