Not long ago (what, like three weeks?), telling someone he had his head in the clouds was not necessarily a good thing. Say that now and it means he is a tech-savvy hipster! If you’ve never heard the phrase “the cloud” or “cloud computing” before, it looks like it’s here to stay and you need to bone up on it, which rather loosely means you can access data hosted off-site (think: virtual server) from pretty much anywhere online.

Why is this relevant to Ford? Because cloud computing is the next big thing for in-vehicle technology, and the Ford show display at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit gave attendees a view from “the Cloud,” providing a sneak peek of what’s in store for Blue Oval vehicles.

The display allowed Ford to showcase future trends, such as Changing Population Demographics, Emerging Technologies and Living Green. There was also a super cool 20-foot-tall elevator to take visitors up to “the Cloud” for a 360-degree film showcasing the future of Ford in-car technology. Visitors to the Ford display were able to drive with motorsports star Ken Block, take a ride in a Mustang on the dyno, and use trivia to plan out their next great “Escape.” We like to call it “augmented reality.”

Other exciting news is that the Ford display featured the first-ever Blue Oval Card, offering a more focused, personalized experience for visitors. By registering online to receive a Blue Oval Card for accessing relevant content throughout their time in the Ford display, visitors were able to capture videos that played, shared a photo with their Facebook friends and even submitted an opinion displayed on the LED screens that appeared on the stand.