WhiteStar dashboard?

[dpeilow]

The centre console controls on my Audi are all buttons, and pretty flush and flat ones too. The only exceptions are the volume and fader on the radio. If I need to alter the climate control or station, I need to make a quick glance across. I can honestly say that in 6 years I hadn't given it a thought until this thread.

 

[SByer]

Sorry, occupational hazard, thinking about UI all the time.

Oh, and did I mention I deeply hope it's a capacitive touch screen? A pressure based one would just suck.

There are opportunities with a touch screen you can't get with physical buttons. The volume control, for example, could expand to a nearly full-screen slider as you touched it, giving quick, fine, direct control. The radio frequency display could itself be a scrubby slider. You could also think about using a very, very few multitouch gestures - e.g., two fingers rotating always doing radio volume, no matter the mode things were in.

 

[vfx]

The videos -mainly the one with Doug riding aboard the Model S talks about the the console being a haptic screen

Context here:
Touchscreen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[lorencc]

Yeah. The computer knows where your finger is, so it can vibrate the screen when you are over a button or slider. Many different kinds of tactile/haptic textures are possible so you can tell one button/slider from another.

 

[TEG]

Over on the specs page, I had previously made haptic into a link to this:
HowStuffWorks "Introduction to How Haptic Technology Works"

 

[SByer]

Haptic doesn't speak to whether the touch sense is pressure or capacitive on input, just that there's some form of tactile feedback.

PC Laptop touchpads are usually pressure based. The iPhone is capacitive.

 

[EVnut]

I must just be getting old. I LIKE knobs. Especially for things like volume. I have had every iteration of volume control on countless devices over the years. Give me a mechanical knob every time, and I'll be happy. And in the end, isn't it all about what makes Darell happy?

So odd to hear myself say this. I'm the biggest gadget guy I know. I've designed several UI's for electronically-controlled LED flashlights, dang it! But there are some things that are better served with mechanical buttons and knobs - and the dash controls in a car is one (or more) of them, IMO! (I'm not sure my grammer is working here, but you get the idea).

 

[TEG]

I prefer vertical sliders for volume controls.

 

[roblab]

The dash on my daughter's Acura MDX has a screen above and buttons below. LOTS of buttons, and more on the steering wheel. One of the responses is "overwhelming". 46 buttons, 3 multifunction knobs, 10 more buttons on the steering wheel. Plus the screen. So maybe haptic touch would cut down on some of that...

Rob

 

[Michael]

The more shots I see of the large screen, the more intrusive it seems with all the extra light it appears to emit during night time driving.

 

[Kevin Harney]

It was fairly dark inside a building at night and it did not really bother me as too bright. Perhaps there is a dimmer switch on it .....

 

[efusco]

I'm quite sure there'll be a night mode that will automatically dim when headlights are on. Let's all remember this was a prototype, not a final product.

 

[vfx]

When my headlight switch is in "Auto" mode, a photocell on the dash makes them go on automatically -even in tunnels. The instruments light up (there is a brightness knob) and the display screen also switches to night mode. GPS maps go from a light background to black. Oceans and skys go from bright blue to twilight blue.

I mentioned earlier that we were actually quite fortunate to have a day and night showing of the car. Usually it would be months before we would see a working prototype all lit up at night. Considering all the trick neon effects integrated into the car's bodywork, I think they were quite proud to show off those features.

 

[DaveD]

Considering all the trick neon effects integrated into the car's bodywork, I think they were quite proud to show off those features

Just to be clear about this, those lighting effects, in particular, the blue accent lights in the headlights, etc., are done with LEDs, with one LED per accent "stripe". I was talking to Zak about them at the unveil and he was quite happy that they were cheap energy-wise to do, since they would be on much of the time, giving it a distinctive visual signature.

 

[SByer]

Lighting of the future, man, lighting of the future...

 

[vfx]

Right. I should have said "neon look".

Of course they are LEDs. They are the light of the future.

They better have LED headlights on the final car. The Roadster is already dated!

 

[DaveD]

They better have LED headlights on the final car. The Roadster is already dated!

I can't speak to that - all I was referring to was the blue accent lighting. I agree that it would be nice to have LED headlights, but the cost of those is still not cheap.

 

[vfx]

...all I was referring to was the blue accent lighting.

There is orange accent lighting as well.

 

[dpeilow]

Braille iPhone for the blind | Metro.co.uk

The 'tactile' technology emits electrical pulses from the flat screen which feel the same as Braille.

This looks like a technology that might be very useful for the Model S dashboard to allow you to reach across and not take your eyes off the road.

 

[doug]

Next thing you know, the blind will be driving EVs and will stop complaining about the lack of noise.