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I'm sure this image is heavily photoshopped, but it looks like they're trying to make a center console that's half touch screen, half physical controls. I wonde

I'm sure this image is heavily photoshopped, but it looks like they're trying to make a center console that's half touch screen, half physical controls. I wonder what that will look like in reality. https://www.ford.com/is/image/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_us/ford/nameplate/f-150lightning/2022/collections/dm/22_FRD_F15_BEV_53744_v2.tif?croppathe=1_3x2&wid=3840 https://www.ford.com/is/image/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_u...

post_break 5y ago
It already exists in the electric mustang, and looks exactly like that. Go to 10:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4n5iPqxpaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4n5iPqxpaw
- seanalltogether 5y ago
  Very cool, I love it, I hope more automakers figure out clever ways to keep analog controls mixed in with touch.
  - FridayoLeary 5y ago
    For my part i hope that they figure out that not literally everything needs to be crammed on to a flashy screen. The purging of tactile controls must stop.
mkmk 5y ago
This interface is already in production in the electric mustang. The buttons are all touchscreen, with the exception of the physical center wheel which is embedded in a hole in the screen. The photo on this article may be helpful: https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/im-obsessed-with-the-ford-mustang-mach-e-physical-touchscreen-volume-knob/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/im-obsessed-with-the-ford-...
- WORMS_EAT_WORMS 5y ago
  Disgusting and awesome. I hate and love it. Just a mind bending and creative design all around.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  Probably quite functional, but it looks like a tumor on top of the screen.
  - space_ghost 5y ago
    Ford missed a trick by not making it magnetic and easily removable.
    - jaywalk 5y ago
      Then they'd have to add extra hardware to detect whether it's there or not, and change the interface accordingly. And for what? I can't imagine an actual use case to justify it.
- mavhc 5y ago
  It's just stuck on the touchscreen I thought, like that microsoft puck thing for their non portable Surface device
  - johnwalkr 5y ago
    Yes that’s right[1] 1. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-electric-suv-volume-knob-secret/ https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-ele...
tw04 5y ago
It's not half and half, it's touchscreen with a physical volume knob which in my opinion is the right way. Having touch controls for volume is a horrible idea (my car has touch control for everything and I despise trying to get the volume adjusted quickly). https://i.imgur.com/Lw4GgNW.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Lw4GgNW.jpeg
- WillPostForFood 5y ago
  If a touchscreen is bad for volume, it is probably bad for most other up and down adjustments too (e.g. temp). I'd argue touch screens are bad for everything when you are driving, because you can't feel your way around.
  - zdragnar 5y ago
    I hate touchscreens in cars. Avoiding them is a big part of why my current ride is from 2011.
    - ddingus 5y ago
      Same. Want nothing to do with them. Also night driving. I love low interior indicator lighting. The big screens inhibit night vision. The older we get, the worse this is.
    - space_ghost 5y ago
      Touchscreens aren't as bad as the cheap capacitive switches that seem to be taking over the Appliance product space. Every appliance in my new house's kitchen has those damn capacitive switches and they only work ~10% of the time.
  - tw04 5y ago
    I don't disagree, I just tend not to adjust those as frequently. I think Ram has a nice balance between physical and touch: https://i.imgur.com/anDbKgG.jpg https://i.imgur.com/anDbKgG.jpg In general I prefer knob controls for things like temperature and volume, but the physical up/down is ok
greenie_beans 5y ago
Yuck! I don't look forward to this in my future lifetime of vehicles. I'll have to wait for "dumb" electric vehicles.
- AshamedCaptain 5y ago
  Good luck. This is like being a fan of non-touchscreen or non-capacitive touchscreen phones. Been there...
gabesullice 5y ago
This is already a reality in the 2020 Mustang Mach E https://www.google.com/search?q=2020+mustang+mach+e+interior https://www.google.com/search?q=2020+mustang+mach+e+interior
pionar 5y ago
I think it's all still touch screen, looks like that new trend, "Smart depth" or whatever it is.
intrepidhero 5y ago
Is anybody selling conversion kits to replace touch screen controls with physical or is that too hard/niche?
- jaywalk 5y ago
  How could you possibly cram everything that's controlled via the touchscreen into physical controls?
  - intrepidhero 5y ago
    You mean like in every car made before 2015? Do new cars really have that many more features? With the touchscreen cars I've rented or driven for work I'd have loved to have a little bluetooth or serial connected control cluster that sat near to hand with basic radio and climate controls. Something I could operate by feel. Seems like there are enough bad touchscreen consoles out there to make an aftermarket kit viable but maybe I underestimate the technical challenges. Maybe I'll just keep driving my junkers until voice control gets good.
    - jaywalk 5y ago
      The top level Settings menu in my 2020 Ford Explorer doesn't even fit on one page. It would end up looking like the cockpit of a commercial airliner if everything had to be mapped out to a physical control.
      - Scottopherson 5y ago
        Every action doesn’t need its own physical control. Knobs and buttons can be multipurpose. My mazda3 has touchscreen but it’s disabled because I can navigate and control everything with a single “command” knob.
        jaywalk 5y ago
        This is the configuration I've got in my vehicle, which I feel strikes the right balance: https://www.ford.com/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_us/ford/nameplate/explorer/2021/collections/equipment/3-2/21_FRD_EPR_400079_32.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg https://www.ford.com/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_us/ford/na...
chasebank 5y ago
Someone needs to start a dash company for these auto manufacturers. They are all hideous and have terrible functionality. Why would I ever want to control my heated seats through a touchscreen? Or A/C? Or Radio presets. I want to buy a newer vehicle but they are all so bad.
- jaywalk 5y ago
  You lost me at radio presets.
jonfw 5y ago
Range rovers have been doing something like this for a few years. Theirs can go between being radio controls and climate controls pretty seamlessly. I think it's a great compromise between touch controls and tactility
ubermonkey 5y ago
There's no real danger of FORD, of all companies, doing something usable or well-designed here.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Well, they one-upped Tesla on their touchscreen design, so I wouldn't count them out just yet.
  - ubermonkey 5y ago
    I still think massive touchscreens in cars are a horrible idea, so Ford doing better than Tesla at something I hate and wish would go away is not super convincing. :)
hugihlynsson 5y ago
What you are seeing there is a trend in UI design called Neumorphism.
kingsuper20 5y ago
It's odd that talking on a cell phone while driving is illegal, but messing with those user interfaces is perfectly safe.
jquery 5y ago
My Mercedes has this. Except the knob isn't on the screen, it's where the right hand would rest. In my humble opinion, It's superior to touch screen experiences, at least while driving the vehicle. That said, dedicated knobs (such as a knob for a/c) are still the best for some things.

post_break 5y ago

It already exists in the electric mustang, and looks exactly like that. Go to 10:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4n5iPqxpaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4n5iPqxpaw

seanalltogether 5y ago
Very cool, I love it, I hope more automakers figure out clever ways to keep analog controls mixed in with touch.
- FridayoLeary 5y ago
  For my part i hope that they figure out that not literally everything needs to be crammed on to a flashy screen. The purging of tactile controls must stop.

mkmk 5y ago

This interface is already in production in the electric mustang. The buttons are all touchscreen, with the exception of the physical center wheel which is embedded in a hole in the screen. The photo on this article may be helpful: https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/im-obsessed-with-the-ford-mustang-mach-e-physical-touchscreen-volume-knob/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/im-obsessed-with-the-ford-...

WORMS_EAT_WORMS 5y ago
Disgusting and awesome. I hate and love it. Just a mind bending and creative design all around.
MattGaiser 5y ago
Probably quite functional, but it looks like a tumor on top of the screen.
- space_ghost 5y ago
  Ford missed a trick by not making it magnetic and easily removable.
  - jaywalk 5y ago
    Then they'd have to add extra hardware to detect whether it's there or not, and change the interface accordingly. And for what? I can't imagine an actual use case to justify it.
mavhc 5y ago
It's just stuck on the touchscreen I thought, like that microsoft puck thing for their non portable Surface device
- johnwalkr 5y ago
  Yes that’s right[1] 1. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-electric-suv-volume-knob-secret/ https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-ele...

tw04 5y ago

It's not half and half, it's touchscreen with a physical volume knob which in my opinion is the right way. Having touch controls for volume is a horrible idea (my car has touch control for everything and I despise trying to get the volume adjusted quickly). https://i.imgur.com/Lw4GgNW.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Lw4GgNW.jpeg

WillPostForFood 5y ago
If a touchscreen is bad for volume, it is probably bad for most other up and down adjustments too (e.g. temp). I'd argue touch screens are bad for everything when you are driving, because you can't feel your way around.
- zdragnar 5y ago
  I hate touchscreens in cars. Avoiding them is a big part of why my current ride is from 2011.
  - ddingus 5y ago
    Same. Want nothing to do with them. Also night driving. I love low interior indicator lighting. The big screens inhibit night vision. The older we get, the worse this is.
  - space_ghost 5y ago
    Touchscreens aren't as bad as the cheap capacitive switches that seem to be taking over the Appliance product space. Every appliance in my new house's kitchen has those damn capacitive switches and they only work ~10% of the time.
- tw04 5y ago
  I don't disagree, I just tend not to adjust those as frequently. I think Ram has a nice balance between physical and touch: https://i.imgur.com/anDbKgG.jpg https://i.imgur.com/anDbKgG.jpg In general I prefer knob controls for things like temperature and volume, but the physical up/down is ok

greenie_beans 5y ago

Yuck! I don't look forward to this in my future lifetime of vehicles. I'll have to wait for "dumb" electric vehicles.

AshamedCaptain 5y ago
Good luck. This is like being a fan of non-touchscreen or non-capacitive touchscreen phones. Been there...

gabesullice 5y ago

This is already a reality in the 2020 Mustang Mach E https://www.google.com/search?q=2020+mustang+mach+e+interior https://www.google.com/search?q=2020+mustang+mach+e+interior

pionar 5y ago

I think it's all still touch screen, looks like that new trend, "Smart depth" or whatever it is.

intrepidhero 5y ago

Is anybody selling conversion kits to replace touch screen controls with physical or is that too hard/niche?

jaywalk 5y ago
How could you possibly cram everything that's controlled via the touchscreen into physical controls?
- intrepidhero 5y ago
  You mean like in every car made before 2015? Do new cars really have that many more features? With the touchscreen cars I've rented or driven for work I'd have loved to have a little bluetooth or serial connected control cluster that sat near to hand with basic radio and climate controls. Something I could operate by feel. Seems like there are enough bad touchscreen consoles out there to make an aftermarket kit viable but maybe I underestimate the technical challenges. Maybe I'll just keep driving my junkers until voice control gets good.
  - jaywalk 5y ago
    The top level Settings menu in my 2020 Ford Explorer doesn't even fit on one page. It would end up looking like the cockpit of a commercial airliner if everything had to be mapped out to a physical control.
    - Scottopherson 5y ago
      Every action doesn’t need its own physical control. Knobs and buttons can be multipurpose. My mazda3 has touchscreen but it’s disabled because I can navigate and control everything with a single “command” knob.
      - jaywalk 5y ago
        This is the configuration I've got in my vehicle, which I feel strikes the right balance: https://www.ford.com/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_us/ford/nameplate/explorer/2021/collections/equipment/3-2/21_FRD_EPR_400079_32.jpg/jcr:content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg https://www.ford.com/content/dam/vdm_ford/live/en_us/ford/na...

chasebank 5y ago

Someone needs to start a dash company for these auto manufacturers. They are all hideous and have terrible functionality. Why would I ever want to control my heated seats through a touchscreen? Or A/C? Or Radio presets. I want to buy a newer vehicle but they are all so bad.

jaywalk 5y ago
You lost me at radio presets.

jonfw 5y ago

Range rovers have been doing something like this for a few years. Theirs can go between being radio controls and climate controls pretty seamlessly. I think it's a great compromise between touch controls and tactility

ubermonkey 5y ago

There's no real danger of FORD, of all companies, doing something usable or well-designed here.

rootusrootus 5y ago
Well, they one-upped Tesla on their touchscreen design, so I wouldn't count them out just yet.
- ubermonkey 5y ago
  I still think massive touchscreens in cars are a horrible idea, so Ford doing better than Tesla at something I hate and wish would go away is not super convincing. :)

hugihlynsson 5y ago

What you are seeing there is a trend in UI design called Neumorphism.

kingsuper20 5y ago

It's odd that talking on a cell phone while driving is illegal, but messing with those user interfaces is perfectly safe.

jquery 5y ago

My Mercedes has this. Except the knob isn't on the screen, it's where the right hand would rest. In my humble opinion, It's superior to touch screen experiences, at least while driving the vehicle. That said, dedicated knobs (such as a knob for a/c) are still the best for some things.