Vehicle passenger controls via mobile devices

Abstract

Systems and methods of a vehicle for sharing vehicle controls are provided. One example is a vehicle including a system for sharing vehicle system control of the vehicle with a passenger. The system uses an on-board computer and communications circuitry of the vehicle. The communications circuitry is configured to use a wireless network for accessing the Internet, and the on-board computer is configured to enable the communications circuitry to provide a wireless connection to a portable device of the passenger of the vehicle. The on-board computer has access to one or more vehicle sub-systems, and via the wireless connection, the on-board computer provides the portable device access to at least one graphical user interface. The graphical user interface includes input options that enable control of settings or functions of one or more of said vehicle sub-systems. The on-board computer is configured to process data associated with a wireless signal of the portable device, and the processing of the data is used to identify the portable device inside the vehicle. The identified portable device is utilized to identify a passenger seat of the vehicle and enable said control of settings or functions that relate to an area proximate to the passenger seat that was identified.