GIGAVision Technology Limited / Hong Kong

Touchy Topic

Longer travel time, lengthy traffic lights, congestion, worsening roads, all these mean we are spending more time in our cars today than ever before. Studies peg it to around 10 hours a week, on an average. What’s worrying is that things are not going to get better anytime soon.

Correspondingly, car owners are increasingly looking for ways to enhance the quality of time they spend behind the wheel, leading to increasing interests in connectivity and in-car entertainment. Recognising this need, carmakers are equipping their vehicles with cutting-edge infotainment systems. And touchscreen-based systems are leading the charge.

The in-car touchscreen isn’t new. It found its first application on the Buick Riviera in 1987. However, it only started becoming more common from late 2000, with the real boom coming in the last few years. Today, even budget cars like the Renault Kwid have touchscreens. For many buyers, the infotainment system has even become a key factor in deciding on a model or opting for higher variants of a particular car.
The rise of the touchscreen infotainment system coincided with the mass adoption of, and the comfort with, touchscreen-based smartphones.

So, what’s great on a phone is good for the car too? Not exactly. Studies indicate a general consensus that in-car touchscreen systems should not be designed like a smartphone. The car is a unique environment where all displayed information need to be extremely interactive and viewable, requiring no more than a second to access. If you’ve used an in-car touchscreen, you would know how frustrating it is when you are unable to access a function while driving. The interface should be simple and intuitive to minimise distraction so that the driver can stay focussed on the road. You’ll be surprised how many carmakers get this wrong.

Additionally, how good a touchscreen infotainment system is depends a lot on how good the screen is. Touchscreen interaction is further enhanced with the use of the new capacitive screens, as compared to the older and cheaper resistive ones (remember the first-generation touchscreen phones that were quite frustrating to use?). Also, with their superior optical quality, including improved resolution, brightness and viewing angles, expect capacitive screens to be the mainstay. You could also see tech like flexible or curved displays making their way into cars in the not-too-distant future.

Screen size and position have a big bearing on the user experience and safety. High-set, easy-to-glance-at systems that are within the driver’s line of sight are preferred. As for the screen size, bigger is generally better as a larger screen area equals a larger interaction area and, hence, easier access. Most new cars in India come with a 7.0-inch screen, which is a fair size but the future will see it grow as costs drop and as systems become more powerful and information-heavy. Still, electric carmaker Tesla’s massive 17-inch monolith, which is larger than most laptop screens, is an overkill.

But, is a touchscreen the best interface? Well, on its own, it isn’t. There’s no denying that even the best of touchscreens just can’t offer the tactile feel of a physical button or k**b; resultantly, that instinctive connect is missing. A good example is the new BMW 7-series whose infotainment system debuts gesture controls and features a touchscreen (a first for BMW), in addition to the standard rotary iDrive dial. Over the 7’s time with us, all our testers experimented with its newer controls but eventually resorted to the familiar rotary dial to navigate the centre screen. Perhaps, if the cars had BMW’s in-development HoloActive holographic projection system that floats a virtual touchscreen next to your steering wheel, matters would have been different. But that’s going way into the future.

Steering-mounted buttons for the infotainment system do make the job of shuffling through the infotainment screens easier for the driver, but even so, there’s only so much that you can do without being forced to look at the screen. Enter voice commands that promise hands-free and distraction-free access to the car’s functions. Many cars already come with voice-activated controls but few work with complete accuracy, and even fewer systems comprehend Indian accents properly. The future, however, is bright as carmakers, auto suppliers and tech companies are investing top dollar in voice-activated tech and artificial intelligence. Soon enough, you’ll talk to your car for virtually all functions. Think of this as having your very own in-car butler.

In conclusion, touchscreens, as we know them today, are not the best interface solutions, primarily down to their potential to distract the driver. The most user-friendly setups are actually those that offer a touch interface along with physical buttons for common functions as well as voice controls. But as cars incorporate autonomous driving functions and free up the driver from the actual task of piloting the car, you can bet the touchscreen will be the primary human-machine interface. One way or another, the touchscreen stays.

All kind of automotive grade touch panel.