4 ms·

It seems like they could’ve used the occupancy sensor to detect a passenger. A passenger playing a game on the screen which are also where your only instrument

It seems like they could’ve used the occupancy sensor to detect a passenger. A passenger playing a game on the screen which are also where your only instruments are located seems like an unnecessary added distraction so I’d say they made the right call.

userbinator 5y ago
which are also where your only instruments are located I think this is the most important fact to note here. If the primary instruments were on a separate display, this would not have been as severe of a concern. It's another reason why having a single touchscreen as the interface of a car is a horrible idea. I've seen a lot of newer cars where the instruments are all in the center instead of immediately behind the wheel, and I always thought that design was less usable and more distracting --- a glance downwards is easier than one sideways and down.
- mechinn 5y ago
  I wonder if any research has been done about safety around touch controls? It's so much easier to reach over and hit a physical button or rotate a physical dial that you know is in the same spot every time without having to look at it compared to a touch interface that will by adjust depending on the app running. Like I appreciate the power that something like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto bring to the infotainment system but every time I can't control something from the physical buttons on the wheel I know I'm not going to be as focused on the road as I should be reaching over and hoping that I am correctly aiming at what I'm trying to touch and that's already after probably quickly looking away from the road to find where to aim in the first place
  - laumars 5y ago
    I completely agree. Years ago when smart phones were just emerging, people made the same complaints about them too; saying you cannot walk and text at the same time like you could with the old feature phones with physical keyboards. I believe public opinion was so vocal about this draw back that were some research projects done using gel screens that could offer a tactile responses dynamically. But then all that seamed to fizzle out and everyone stopped moaning about tactile feedback on touchscreen phones. Fast forward a few years and the Raspberry Pi was released. My first RPi project was to built a new in car entertainment system. I used Go v1.0 (at that time even methods weren’t supported) and built a media player with text to speech. The entertainment system had 6 buttons: 1. Previous artist 2. Previous album 3. Previous song / replay song 4. Skip song 5. Skip album 6. Skip artist The media centre would then use text to speech to read the artist, album and song details out over the speakers before playing the tracks. This system was designed so I never needed to take my eyes off the road and it worked amazingly. Unfortunately I’m not an electrical engineer so the device was ugly and started to fall apart quite quickly. I think it only lasted < 1 year. But I learned a lot from that experiment: there is a lot of missed opportunities for innovation in the car entertainment domain.
    - spurgu 5y ago
      > Years ago when smart phones were just emerging, people made the same complaints about them too; saying you cannot walk and text at the same time I'm still annoyed by this when texting while driving and having to look at the screen. Downvote all you like, your moral judgement is not gonna change what I do. I loved the T9 keyboard in my right hand and steering wheel in the left. I'm good at steering with my left knee (unless we're talking slow speeds and bendy road) so taking my hands off is not an issue - the issue is taking my eyes off the road, constantly switching between road/phone/road/phone, which is annoying as fuck.
- dylan604 5y ago
  >which are also where your only instruments are located >I think this is the most important fact to note here. I think the fact that you are encouraging the "driver" to actively be distracted and not paying attention is a much larger issue than if the speedometer is visible or not. Nobody pays attention to the RPM gauge in automatics. Maybe they look at a fuel gauge, maybe. For a Tesla, the fuel gauge is the battery gauge, so no need for that one either. Ensuring the "driver" is not paying attention though, that's never a good idea.
- natch 5y ago
  It’s not the only interface though. You have been lied to. The car can be driven while the screen software is rebooting, with no screen and manual controls.
  - saberdancer 5y ago
    You can drive it but where can you see the speed? (I am talking about Model 3)
joenathanone 5y ago
I tried playing a game while in FSD and the cabin camera is super sensitive when a game is open, when I reach my hand for the screen the car starts beeping and flashing warnings for me to pay attention to the road.
- bellyfullofbac 5y ago
  Why, why do they even offer games on the move if they (correctly) have such watchdogs? Makes me think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCeR_SWZM0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCeR_SWZM0, just adjust Chandler's line to "0-60 in 3 seconds, top speed of 160mph, 500 mile range!"
  - joenathanone 5y ago
    It supposed to be for road trips and the like, your passenger could play a game to occupy themselves, and once FSD is out of beta (if it will ever be) the driver too.
    - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
      Hmm, what's next, a coffee machine, a burger dispenser? Those are road trips essentials too. Tesla should just concentrate on the car, everyone has a damn gadget (phone, Nintendo Switch, etc) for games...
  - TheJoeMan 5y ago
    I appreciate being respected as a responsible adult. Why would you want some company thinking what’s best or you? I assume you also try to be a responsible driver.
    - buffington 5y ago
      > Why would you want some company thinking what's best for you? If you are a customer of a company, you're paying for what that company thinks is best for you. Whether they're right or not is another thing entirely. In this case, Tesla decided that what's best for you is a car with a touch screen with no tactile feedback that serves as the car's only interface for everything: current speed, tire pressure, potential collision warnings, HVAC status and controls, an app that makes fart sounds, and so on. The list of what it's used for probably has over 100 possible items, with one of those items being "play games." All of those features, including that last one, are features Tesla decided are best for its customers. Giving their customers a choice to play games or not while driving wouldn't even be up for debate if they never shipped software with games in the first place. Increasing a vehicle's safety isn't disrespectful and doesn't undermine responsible adult behavior. Adding features that invite drivers to be unsafe seems far more disrespectful. No one dies because their passengers can't play video games while driving on a vehicle's only interface. I think that "respecting responsible adults" is also just silly. Why make laws that punish drivers for texting and driving? Can't we just allow people to be responsible? History has made it crystal clear that when given the chance, people will choose to not be responsible often enough to be disastrous.
simmonmt 5y ago
… if you’re in a 3 or a Y. The S and X both have instrument cluster screens.
- tempestn 5y ago
  Even so, a passenger playing a game on the center screen would be reasonably distracting regardless I'd think.

userbinator 5y ago

which are also where your only instruments are located I think this is the most important fact to note here. If the primary instruments were on a separate display, this would not have been as severe of a concern. It's another reason why having a single touchscreen as the interface of a car is a horrible idea. I've seen a lot of newer cars where the instruments are all in the center instead of immediately behind the wheel, and I always thought that design was less usable and more distracting --- a glance downwards is easier than one sideways and down.

mechinn 5y ago
I wonder if any research has been done about safety around touch controls? It's so much easier to reach over and hit a physical button or rotate a physical dial that you know is in the same spot every time without having to look at it compared to a touch interface that will by adjust depending on the app running. Like I appreciate the power that something like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto bring to the infotainment system but every time I can't control something from the physical buttons on the wheel I know I'm not going to be as focused on the road as I should be reaching over and hoping that I am correctly aiming at what I'm trying to touch and that's already after probably quickly looking away from the road to find where to aim in the first place
- laumars 5y ago
  I completely agree. Years ago when smart phones were just emerging, people made the same complaints about them too; saying you cannot walk and text at the same time like you could with the old feature phones with physical keyboards. I believe public opinion was so vocal about this draw back that were some research projects done using gel screens that could offer a tactile responses dynamically. But then all that seamed to fizzle out and everyone stopped moaning about tactile feedback on touchscreen phones. Fast forward a few years and the Raspberry Pi was released. My first RPi project was to built a new in car entertainment system. I used Go v1.0 (at that time even methods weren’t supported) and built a media player with text to speech. The entertainment system had 6 buttons: 1. Previous artist 2. Previous album 3. Previous song / replay song 4. Skip song 5. Skip album 6. Skip artist The media centre would then use text to speech to read the artist, album and song details out over the speakers before playing the tracks. This system was designed so I never needed to take my eyes off the road and it worked amazingly. Unfortunately I’m not an electrical engineer so the device was ugly and started to fall apart quite quickly. I think it only lasted < 1 year. But I learned a lot from that experiment: there is a lot of missed opportunities for innovation in the car entertainment domain.
  - spurgu 5y ago
    > Years ago when smart phones were just emerging, people made the same complaints about them too; saying you cannot walk and text at the same time I'm still annoyed by this when texting while driving and having to look at the screen. Downvote all you like, your moral judgement is not gonna change what I do. I loved the T9 keyboard in my right hand and steering wheel in the left. I'm good at steering with my left knee (unless we're talking slow speeds and bendy road) so taking my hands off is not an issue - the issue is taking my eyes off the road, constantly switching between road/phone/road/phone, which is annoying as fuck.
dylan604 5y ago
>which are also where your only instruments are located >I think this is the most important fact to note here. I think the fact that you are encouraging the "driver" to actively be distracted and not paying attention is a much larger issue than if the speedometer is visible or not. Nobody pays attention to the RPM gauge in automatics. Maybe they look at a fuel gauge, maybe. For a Tesla, the fuel gauge is the battery gauge, so no need for that one either. Ensuring the "driver" is not paying attention though, that's never a good idea.
natch 5y ago
It’s not the only interface though. You have been lied to. The car can be driven while the screen software is rebooting, with no screen and manual controls.
- saberdancer 5y ago
  You can drive it but where can you see the speed? (I am talking about Model 3)

joenathanone 5y ago

I tried playing a game while in FSD and the cabin camera is super sensitive when a game is open, when I reach my hand for the screen the car starts beeping and flashing warnings for me to pay attention to the road.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
Why, why do they even offer games on the move if they (correctly) have such watchdogs? Makes me think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCeR_SWZM0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TCeR_SWZM0, just adjust Chandler's line to "0-60 in 3 seconds, top speed of 160mph, 500 mile range!"
- joenathanone 5y ago
  It supposed to be for road trips and the like, your passenger could play a game to occupy themselves, and once FSD is out of beta (if it will ever be) the driver too.
  - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
    Hmm, what's next, a coffee machine, a burger dispenser? Those are road trips essentials too. Tesla should just concentrate on the car, everyone has a damn gadget (phone, Nintendo Switch, etc) for games...
- TheJoeMan 5y ago
  I appreciate being respected as a responsible adult. Why would you want some company thinking what’s best or you? I assume you also try to be a responsible driver.
  - buffington 5y ago
    > Why would you want some company thinking what's best for you? If you are a customer of a company, you're paying for what that company thinks is best for you. Whether they're right or not is another thing entirely. In this case, Tesla decided that what's best for you is a car with a touch screen with no tactile feedback that serves as the car's only interface for everything: current speed, tire pressure, potential collision warnings, HVAC status and controls, an app that makes fart sounds, and so on. The list of what it's used for probably has over 100 possible items, with one of those items being "play games." All of those features, including that last one, are features Tesla decided are best for its customers. Giving their customers a choice to play games or not while driving wouldn't even be up for debate if they never shipped software with games in the first place. Increasing a vehicle's safety isn't disrespectful and doesn't undermine responsible adult behavior. Adding features that invite drivers to be unsafe seems far more disrespectful. No one dies because their passengers can't play video games while driving on a vehicle's only interface. I think that "respecting responsible adults" is also just silly. Why make laws that punish drivers for texting and driving? Can't we just allow people to be responsible? History has made it crystal clear that when given the chance, people will choose to not be responsible often enough to be disastrous.

simmonmt 5y ago

… if you’re in a 3 or a Y. The S and X both have instrument cluster screens.

tempestn 5y ago
Even so, a passenger playing a game on the center screen would be reasonably distracting regardless I'd think.