Is it time to turn away from touchscreens in our cars?

guest · Nov 29, 2019

Is it time to turn away from touchscreens in our cars?
We look at some other ideas for interacting with our vehicles
November 26, 2019
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/1...eech-take-over-from-touchscreens-in-our-cars/

However, when it comes to our other interactions with automobiles, the past decade or so has seen quite the change within our car interiors. The high-definition, multicolored glitz of the consumer electronics world has proliferated throughout the industry, replacing dials and buttons with touchscreens. Whether that's an entirely good thing is up for debate.

It might all be infotainment's fault. In the old days, there were just car stereos. You turned a knob or pushed a button to listen to the radio, inserted some kind of physical media, and if you were really fancy, maybe there were some sliders to change the EQ settings. [...] Dedicated physical buttons have given way to jogwheels, scroll- and touchpads, and then the touchscreen.

One problem with all of these additions is that they can be a distraction from driving. Taking your eyes off the road is bad, and touchscreen interfaces are generally not conducive to developing "eyes-off" muscle memory, particularly if they lack haptic feedback.
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mirimir · Nov 29, 2019

Yeah, I'd never want one. As the article says, no "haptic feedback". It's arguably as dangerous as using a cellphone. Worse, even, because it's not in your hand, but off to the side.

The Hammer · Dec 8, 2019

I'd say no. They can be used responsibly.

guest · Apr 1, 2020

Honda bucks industry trend by removing touchscreen controls
Honda has done what no other car maker is doing, and returned to analogue controls for some functions
March 30, 2020
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/...-industry-trend-removing-touchscreen-controls

While most manufacturers are moving to touchscreen controls, identifying smartphone use as their inspiration - most recently seen in Audi’s latest A3 - Honda has decided to reintroduce heating and air conditioning controls via a dial rather than touchscreen, as in the previous-generation Jazz.
Jazz project leader Takeki Tanaka explained:

“The reason is quite simple - we wanted to minimise driver disruption for operation, in particular, for the heater and air conditioning.
“We changed it from touchscreen to dial operation, as we received customer feedback that it was difficult to operate intuitively. You had to look at the screen to change the heater seating, therefore, we changed it so one can operate it without looking, giving more confidence while driving.”
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More and more manufacturers are moving to touchscreen-only controls. The new Audi A3’s electronics boss Melanie Limmer told Autocar recently its decision to remove some physical buttons was made as “more and more people are getting into touch functions with smartphones” and added that the new system is as user-friendly as the previous one.
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