[Lobogris]

The best option would be a heads up display (HUD) which is on your windscreen coupled with buttons on the steering wheel as well as voice commands. In my former Toyota Prius, one has a digital display just at the bottom of the windscreen in the same place as the speedometer and when you touch a button on the steering, the same button cluster is electronically displayed on the heads up display. As you move your fingeres on the buttons, you can see them selected in the HUD as well. This makes it easier and safer. Of course you learn that the right hand side up and down is for the volume or temperature and then you can do it by touch in any case.

Touch screens are the way forward. One can do without adjusting the temperature for a minute while driving if the adjustement is hard to make. One can wait for a traffic signal or an empty stretch and then adjust it. Afterall people look at their speedometer quite often and they have to take their eyes off the road to do so. The trick is to do so just for a fraction of a second while looking at the road in your peripheral vision and to do so only when it is safe. We all do this hundreds of time an hour while driving as we need to constantly check our speed. The same applies to a quick adjustment on a touch screen. If the input needed is complicated, one can wait till one is stopped.

[sids1811]

Hello All

My discussion is regarding the current trend of shift of in-car entertainment systems to touch screens. I personally feel that such touchscreens are making us lose attention on road while driving and how good a driver may be, he is getting his eyes off-road while driving to use the screen.

Talking from personal experience had been using an i20 for the past many years and over time had developed a sense of using the normal functions without even looking at the system controls. Have been driving a Creta now for the last few months and have many a times sensed that I have tried to locate the control while driving and for that have shifted my sight from the road to the scree.

The touch screens now have got multiple functions incorporated into them, all controlled by the same screen. without seeing the screen it gets rather difficult to use the features. On earlier systems all buttons were separate, had a tactile touch to them and without seeing them also u always knew how to use them in some time. to give a small example, Now even to select a preset FM station you have to see the system and that is what makes you lose attention on the road.

All around the net, that in times to come, all controls will be by the screen only(including the Climate Control) and my only take is that when we have no dedicated controls for separate functions, this might lead to people watching the touch screen rather than the road.

Once again, this is my personal opinion and might not be the case with all, just wanted to pen down my observation

Drive Safe

[Kenneth Keymer]

Most of them actually state that they're best accessed when the car is stationary, however new tech is on its way with Mercedes' latest voice commands in multiple languages. So touchless control will most likely be an ideal fix for this whole ordeal. However distractions are distractions and you'd rather have your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. Cheers.

[sumeet007]

It takes a fraction of a second to make a wrong judgement, especially at high speeds in highways, especially so in our chaotic roads where you have to constantly expect the unexpected, at every twist and turn. IMHO, touch screens are a needless distraction.

That is the reason why HUDs (Heads up displays), showing useful info including turn by turn navigation, speed etc, are getting increasingly popular and a must have accessory in higher end cars, while after market cost effective ones are available for other cars. Other innovations like gesture control, voice activated controls, are increasingly becoming smart and useful practicality now a days.

[vsathyap]

Hi All,

I recently upgraded the ICE on my K10 AMT to a Pioneer Touchscreen system (AV-HX 2890BT), thanks to Maruti's lousy-sounding factory fitted Nippon system.

I upgraded to a touch screen HU since its pretty much a de-facto standard now on most new cars that are coming up in the market and a large screen also helps in things like having an option for a reverse camera, GPS, screen mirroring, or play videos while sitting in the car (obviously, while I am not driving).

Initially, I was really happy with having the latest tech-gadget in my car - what with all the touch screen, ability to play videos, having Bluetooth connectivity, etc. But soon, I realized that having a touchscreen is not very user friendly when one is operating the unit while driving (to change tracks, source, mute, etc.) In order to make the unit look cool and futuristic, manufacturers are now taking away all buttons and are replacing them with on-screen buttons which lack the all important tactile feedback.

I found out that it was very difficult (and probably dangerous) for me to do basic things like change radio channels, change source, change tracks, or even turn off the unit! This thing doesnt even have a power ON/OF button and this needs to be done by on-screen menus!

Although the unit I bought has buttons, they are all laid out on a single panel on the left, and the panel does not have tactile "separations" between buttons. So, if I need to change the track, I need to really "look" at the unit and make the change.



The unit looks like the image above and although it appears that the buttons are separate, except for the beveled middle button that looks like Windows "start menu", all the others are on a single plastic panel. So, for example, I have turned off the display multiple times while trying to change the track since these are place one above the other and also, I have selected the "mode" option instead of decreasing the volume - all while not looking at the unit and going by feel.

Even worse, some operations are fully touch-screen based making it really hard to perform these tasks while driving. Taking my eyes off the road for even a second means that I'm giving the opportunity for a mishap - which I'm really not comfortable with.

I'd just thought of having a poll on this form to see what members prefer with their HUs. Some cars like the Tesla have a massive screen unit which performs all operations. This is something I'm not really comfortable with. Call me old fashioned but I really liked the old-school HUs which had dedicated "separate" butons for each action and that satisfactory feel of a button being pressed is something I miss on the new unit.

P.S.: Although this unit comes with steering control options, I cannot use it on my Alto since the steering does not have any buttons on it! Moreover, not everything can be accomplished with steering controls.

[wrongturn]

If I have to choose I will say an all touch screen AVN as the tactile/ physical buttons will malfunction or fail eventually, the on screen would never.

That said, in a car player's the remote is overlooked by a majority of users and the poor thing spends its life time in the box it came with. It's easy of the drivers and co passenger to use the car player buttons but when between a fight to change the song the rear passengers jump out in front to press the buttons it gets messy and I feel kind of uncomfortable and that's why I ask people to use the remote in my car, it's better they fight for the remote amongst themselves and let me drive in peace.

[greenhorn]

tactile ftw. i use the feel of the buttons to figure out which is which, something that even touchscreens with tactile feel are yet to replicate

[vsathyap]

Originally Posted by wrongturn

...tactile/ physical buttons will malfunction or fail eventually, the on screen would never.

That said, in a car player's the remote is overlooked by a majority of users and the poor thing spends its life time in the box it came with....

Agreed with the physical buttons failing over time but isn't the screen equally susceptible to damage? What if some playful kid pokes the screen with a pointed object like a key?

Agreed on the remote control unit as well. I am now using the remote control that came with my HU to do the job of changing tracks etc - I find it more convenient and less "obtrusive" to my driving. Just that one needs time to memorize or make a mental map of the buttons on the remote. After that, its smooth sailing. I just hope and pray I don't lose my remote control or misplace it!

[RJK]

Physical Buttons anyday. We have a touchscreen in our 2014 Innova that came factory fitted with the car; I despise it. The touchscreen response is no where as fluid as a phone, so you have to press it firmly & takes a longer time than an actual button.

[SmartCat]

Similar thread here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...boon-bane.html

Talking about the dependability, build and feel of button-based HU is like reminiscing about this -



Button-based HUs will go the way of Nokia brick phone in a few years. There is no way they can compete with versatility and multi-functionality (reversing camera, TPMS, video display, park assist etc) of a touchscreen HU.

[wrongturn]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

Agreed with the physical buttons failing over time but isn't the screen equally susceptible to damage? What if some playful kid pokes the screen with a pointed object like a key?

Well there isn't any answers to 'what if?' but mostly eveyone uses touch screen mobile phones these days and children are more aware about the know how's of how things works unless it's a stupid kid. But then nothing is everlasting, I just want a car AVN with thin bezels, capacitive touch and powerful hardware with android os, no physical buttons.

Originally Posted by RJK

Physical Buttons anyday. We have a touchscreen in our 2014 Innova that came factory fitted with the car; I despise it. The touchscreen response is no where as fluid as a phone, so you have to press it firmly & takes a longer time than an actual button.

It's because it has resistive touch, I don't know why but some car AVNs are still coming with the resistive touch that has become obsolete on mobile phones.

[dr_anurag]

Guys, just go through this -
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/hid...d-distracting/

Tactile memory is more stable and very soon the user gets accustomed to the placement of the buttons on the ICE HUs. One need not take eyes off the road while using most functions. Visual memory on the other hand necessitates actually looking at the object being used. While driving, this can be extremely dangerous.
Sure the touchscreen systems look cool, but is it worth it? Voice activated systems should be the future. Voice commands to control ICE functions would make driving much safer.

[NetfreakBombay]

I chose "I don't care / Does it even matter?", my rationale is :

Only time I use Button/Menu on HU is during configuration .(E.g: FM setup, Fader/Balance)

For everything else, I use steering controls. For example :

Blaupunkt Android head unit :
It came with connectors for steering input, got a Toyota adapter to work with controls on steering.

Pioneer Head Unit circa 2007:
I purchased this pioneer remote for use in Alto:

[trek]

Physical Buttons any day. I hate the large 'tv' that Volvo has fitted on the S90. Spoils the classy look of the cabin and a huge distraction too.

[Skyline_GT]

Physicial knobs and tactical buttons for me!
Somethings are better left as they are.
Nothing can take away the feeling of turning up and down the volumes by actually turning the knobs and the ticking sound that it makes.
Also in my opinion the touchscreens loose their sensitivity over time and can sometime be really frustrating to constantly swipe the screen to make things work. Not to forget all the dust the screen accumulates and the effort to swipe it clean everytime.
Physicial knobs and buttons on the other hand are more robust and abuse friendly.