Monday 13th June 2011

Researchers Working On Touch Screen Steering Wheel

It's like an iPad mixed with a steering wheel...

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Researchers from various German universities have come up with a prototype touch screen steering wheel.

But before you start worrying that we'll soon be expected to steer our cars as if we're using an iPod scroll wheel fear not - this is a steering wheel that uses a touch screen in its centre for controlling radio or navigation systems.

Although steering wheels already have wheel-mounted controls, the complicated nature of many modern cars and the multiplicity of gadgets and gizmos means drivers often have to look away from the road to focus on in-dash TFT screens.

This steering wheel aims to eliminate that (or at least minimise it). It's the creation of a team from University of Stuttgart, University of Duisburg-Essen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and is made from an 11mm-thick acrylic surrounded by a ring of infrared LEDS. At the bottom (the centre of the wheel boss, if you like) is an infrared camera, which detects reflections on the surface of the screen when you touch it

Following a series of tests, the team has concluded that the technology could significantly reduce the amount of a time a driver would need to take their eyes away from the road. The research team is apparently currently discussing with car makers the possibility of getting the system into a prototype vehicle.

[jaik]

This sounds like a terrible idea. How is removing tactile physical buttons and replacing them with a touchscreen going to stop people taking their eyes off the road?

Currently I use steering mounted controls (which are actually on the column, so don't have to be hunted for while the wheel isn't straight) without looking, and sometimes glance at an LCD to check the radio station or similar while doing so.

With a touchscreen I'd have to look at the steering wheel, which is closer than the current LCD and therefore going to take longer to focus on, to find the "button", press it, then keep looking at the screen to see if it's worked?

[jaik]

OwenK said:

For all those moaning, I'd like to mention that I bet this is intended for gestures, not buttons (which would definitely be a bad idea). So following the iPhone example, making a pinching motion with your fingers could turn the radio down. Gestures on a touchpad are intuitive, easy, and if designed to suit, could be performed mid-steer etc.

Almost as easy as, say, flipping a volume down paddle on my car. I say almost because I don't have to take my hand off the wheel to use mine