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When it comes to in-car controls, you want to be able to use them without taking your eyes off the road. To this end, knobs that you can grasp for and feel the

by kylec 11y ago

When it comes to in-car controls, you want to be able to use them without taking your eyes off the road. To this end, knobs that you can grasp for and feel the current setting are great. Knobs without a tactile indication of the current setting are OK, as you can find them without looking and only glance down to see that you are selecting the appropriate setting. Buttons are worse because you have to glance down to find them, but once you do you should be able to use them and know that the input was registered through the tactile feedback. Touchscreens, on the other hand, are just bad for this. You have to look at them the entire time you're operating them, or else your hand might change position and not press what you intended to press. You also need to look at the screen to see that your press registered what you wanted to do. All of this looking at the screen means your eyes aren't on the road where they belong.

Someone1234 11y ago
I have to say I agree. We have a car made in 2000, it has knobs and dials for everything, you can configure the AC/heat completely without looking at it after some familiarity with the controls. The radio you can configure the station and volume without looking. We also own a Prius made in 2014. They've either turned everything into a flat button, or worse it requires the touch screen to configure. And while the Prius does many more things than the 2000 car, the 2000 remains more configurable while driving by a mile. The Prius largely tries to not have you configure the AC/heat at all while driving by having an automatic mode and you can set the target temp', but this completely ignores other scenarios where people want to be hit with hot/cold and don't care what the actual temp is, or that the temp doesn't measure the sun hitting you on your bare arm constantly making you feel hotter than you actually are. Ultimately cars were better ergonomically designed pre-touchscreen, when they did less. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to voice control the AC/heat, but until then it is a step backwards.
- tomtang0514 11y ago
  I definitely prefer knob and large button like those from a 2007, 2008 base model family sedan without a screen. But some times you need touch screen for this or that kind of extra feature. So my personal favorite system so far are iDrive and the new mazda system which let you control functions on a screen with a button/knob and preserve temp and volume control as separate knobs. BTW the worst system I've used are the ones which don't have usable physical button and doesn't let you complete your task fast in the touch screen. Yes I'm talking about you, Ford and Cadillac. And Mercedes, it's 2015 and you still have a dial pad in the center console, what's going on?
- cc438 11y ago
  "this completely ignores other scenarios where people want to be hit with hot/cold and don't care what the actual temp is, or that the temp doesn't measure the sun hitting you on your bare arm constantly making you feel hotter than you actually are." Exactly! I hate the ubiquity of automatic climate control systems these days. Everyone that has a car equipped with one just uses the "set point" knob like regular manual controls. It's full cold, full hot, or off with "in-between" settings managed via fan speed. They don't work for the reason you've stated even when used "properly". I've also noticed that most systems refuse to switch off the A/C compressor unless you choose a set point several degrees above ambient. It's a waste of gas, especially when it's 68-70F with low humidity outside.
- ScottBurson 11y ago
  Huh? Our 2006 Prius has buttons on the steering wheel for adjusting the target temperature. Does yours not have these?
varelse 11y ago
This is where I always thought HUDs would come into play. And yet, apparently, mostly, no... One could probably have integrated this into Glass as well, but given the snail's pace of Android Auto (and the raging quality issues of Android in general), no yet again. I would have loved a HUD manipulated through steering wheel controls. From what I've heard, this was too overwhelming for the previous generation of American drivers. I wonder if the next generation would fare better.
eclipxe 11y ago
Tesla has steering wheel (physical) controls that map to Radio, AC, etc.
- eric_h 11y ago
  Which is even better than a physical knob you have to remove your hand from the steering wheel to operate.
lazyjones 11y ago
> All of this looking at the screen means your eyes aren't on the road where they belong. ... which is why the HUD (for velocity, navigation) in my 6 years old BMW is my favourite feature. I don't understand why so few manufacturers offer one.
- darkmighty 11y ago
  Patents?
- greglindahl 11y ago
  Are there studies that show that a HUD is better than a dashboard display for velocity and navigation? I can see that a HUD for showing animals detected by infrared is something you can't show on a dashboard.
  - darkmighty 11y ago
    Augmented reality would be a little tricky as you have to eye tracking too (to detect the correct alignment of objects).
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
henrikschroder 11y ago
When I test-drove a Tesla, I was actually surprised that the touch-screen controls weren't as bad as I expected, compared to physical buttons. They're worse, for sure, but they've actually tried to minimize the problems, contrast ratio is high, buttons are clear, and feedback is as good as it gets without being tactile. Some buttons are also located on the edges, which allows you to feel out their position.

by kylec 11y ago

Someone1234 11y ago

I have to say I agree. We have a car made in 2000, it has knobs and dials for everything, you can configure the AC/heat completely without looking at it after some familiarity with the controls. The radio you can configure the station and volume without looking. We also own a Prius made in 2014. They've either turned everything into a flat button, or worse it requires the touch screen to configure. And while the Prius does many more things than the 2000 car, the 2000 remains more configurable while driving by a mile. The Prius largely tries to not have you configure the AC/heat at all while driving by having an automatic mode and you can set the target temp', but this completely ignores other scenarios where people want to be hit with hot/cold and don't care what the actual temp is, or that the temp doesn't measure the sun hitting you on your bare arm constantly making you feel hotter than you actually are. Ultimately cars were better ergonomically designed pre-touchscreen, when they did less. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to voice control the AC/heat, but until then it is a step backwards.

tomtang0514 11y ago
I definitely prefer knob and large button like those from a 2007, 2008 base model family sedan without a screen. But some times you need touch screen for this or that kind of extra feature. So my personal favorite system so far are iDrive and the new mazda system which let you control functions on a screen with a button/knob and preserve temp and volume control as separate knobs. BTW the worst system I've used are the ones which don't have usable physical button and doesn't let you complete your task fast in the touch screen. Yes I'm talking about you, Ford and Cadillac. And Mercedes, it's 2015 and you still have a dial pad in the center console, what's going on?
cc438 11y ago
"this completely ignores other scenarios where people want to be hit with hot/cold and don't care what the actual temp is, or that the temp doesn't measure the sun hitting you on your bare arm constantly making you feel hotter than you actually are." Exactly! I hate the ubiquity of automatic climate control systems these days. Everyone that has a car equipped with one just uses the "set point" knob like regular manual controls. It's full cold, full hot, or off with "in-between" settings managed via fan speed. They don't work for the reason you've stated even when used "properly". I've also noticed that most systems refuse to switch off the A/C compressor unless you choose a set point several degrees above ambient. It's a waste of gas, especially when it's 68-70F with low humidity outside.
ScottBurson 11y ago
Huh? Our 2006 Prius has buttons on the steering wheel for adjusting the target temperature. Does yours not have these?

varelse 11y ago

This is where I always thought HUDs would come into play. And yet, apparently, mostly, no... One could probably have integrated this into Glass as well, but given the snail's pace of Android Auto (and the raging quality issues of Android in general), no yet again. I would have loved a HUD manipulated through steering wheel controls. From what I've heard, this was too overwhelming for the previous generation of American drivers. I wonder if the next generation would fare better.

eclipxe 11y ago

Tesla has steering wheel (physical) controls that map to Radio, AC, etc.

eric_h 11y ago
Which is even better than a physical knob you have to remove your hand from the steering wheel to operate.

lazyjones 11y ago

> All of this looking at the screen means your eyes aren't on the road where they belong. ... which is why the HUD (for velocity, navigation) in my 6 years old BMW is my favourite feature. I don't understand why so few manufacturers offer one.

darkmighty 11y ago
Patents?
greglindahl 11y ago
Are there studies that show that a HUD is better than a dashboard display for velocity and navigation? I can see that a HUD for showing animals detected by infrared is something you can't show on a dashboard.
- darkmighty 11y ago
  Augmented reality would be a little tricky as you have to eye tracking too (to detect the correct alignment of objects).

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

henrikschroder 11y ago

When I test-drove a Tesla, I was actually surprised that the touch-screen controls weren't as bad as I expected, compared to physical buttons. They're worse, for sure, but they've actually tried to minimize the problems, contrast ratio is high, buttons are clear, and feedback is as good as it gets without being tactile. Some buttons are also located on the edges, which allows you to feel out their position.