Touch Interfaces In Cars Difficult To Use 233
An anonymous reader points out an article about touchscreen dash interfaces in cars (in particular Cadillac's "CUE" interface). From the article: "I do not recall anyone ever complaining about the iOS interface and there have been plenty of attempts to replicate the experience and its flow of control. ... As simple as iOS may appear on the surface, it is incredibly well-executed balance that matches the requirements of a touch interface for phones, tablets and other horizontal screen devices. Changing the user scenario, hardware, or software will alter the requirements for the desired user experience as well. ... CUE is not as transparent in its usage as, for example, the iPhone. We are used to certain buttons that are located on the dash – sliders and dials that we expect in places that we can quickly memorize. In the end, you want to be able to reach for such a button without taking your eyes off the road. There are no such buttons on the XTS dash. Instead, there are some capacitive touch buttons for basic climate controls, audio volume and seat heating/cooling. Since the buttons are activated by touch, they feel the same."
A touchscreen UI for some functions sounds perfectly sane (how do I set the clock again?), but ditching all of the dash buttons sounds like a recipe for disaster. I've heard from iPod users (and my own experience with my long-dead Neuros echos) that the click wheel was easy to use blindly; the move to a touchscreen made it impossible to use without looking at it.
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:5, Funny)
using gestures
turn steering wheel to the left => reduce stereo volume
:)
turn steering wheel to the right => increase stereo volume
can't get much more tactile than that
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:5, Funny)
using gestures
turn steering wheel to the left => reduce stereo volume
turn steering wheel to the right => increase stereo volume
can't get much more tactile than that :)
Turn left - crash into vehicle
Turn right - cash into vehicle
Air bags deployed.
Other motorists punch you for causing an accident - You can't get much more tactile than that!
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:5, Funny)
turn steering wheel to the left => reduce stereo volume
turn steering wheel to the right => increase stereo volume
can't get much more tactile than that :)
With a few changes, that might work: Treat the steering wheel as a rotary encoder and have a button that momentarily disconnects it from the wheels. On a straight piece of road it wouldn't be a problem to disconnect the steering for a few seconds.
You obviously wouldn't want it to activate in a corner so as a safety feature you could make it only work when the steering wheel is straight. Apart from that you have the perfect input device for analog settings like music volume, seat adjustment, cup holder temperature, etc.
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:5, Funny)
Ultimately, the car is likely headed to a system where there are multiple dumb screens networked into a single "smartphone"-like compute platform for the vehicle. The screens provide independent interfaces but can display common shared applications being run by the compute platform
What about blind people? They have no problem using real buttons, how will they be able to use the new 'smart' system?
Speedo (Score:4, Funny)
Oh wonderful, so you change the radio station and suddenly your speedo vanishes. Genius!
That could so be taken the wrong way [wikipedia.org].
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:5, Funny)
The "WHOOOOSH" generated by this post is louder than an old PowerMac G5 with a bad thermo-sensor.
Re:Never a good idea.. (Score:4, Funny)
Temporarily deactivate the steering wheel? You're kidding right?
Yes, I was....please press disconnect and turn the wheel to the right to raise your humor setting a bit.