On tablets, ATMs, at the doctor's office, and at fast
food restaurants. They're everywhere, even in cars.
And now, right in the middle of the dashboard.
In short, I think the touch screens are the worst
possible interface to put in a car that you still have
to drive.
While Abuelsamid is not the only one critical of touch
screens, they're not going anywhere.
In 2022, nearly 80% of all vehicles will be equipped
with a center stack display, meaning a screen in
the center of the dashboard. Nearly all of
those will be touch screens.
That's a big jump from 2014.
Because the auto industry wants to be seen as forward
thinking. They don't want to seem like dinosaurs.
But there are some concerns about safety and usability.
The technology is not inherently bad.
Plus, the future could look vastly different.
It's not as simple as touch screen, good or bad.
It's about what you're using the touch screen for.
The roots of the modern infotainment system go back
decades. Changes in regulation are thought to
have sped up their adoption.
Touch screens, we think, really are an outgrowth of
the requirements to put in backup cameras probably
about ten years ago in the vehicle.
So you had to have a screen on the display so someone
could see what the camera was picking up.
As automakers installed screens in cars, new
possibilities began to open up.
So did new demands.
The transition happened in a relatively fast time, in a
relatively quick way.
And obviously the reason is that the amount of
information, the amount of interaction you have with
the car, is increasing.
So the demand of having more and more options to
interact with the car needs to increase.
It's a nice way to manufacture a vehicle
because now you can customize that interface for
the features in the car.
It's also a lot simpler and cheaper.
New companies like Tesla rely heavily on touch
screens in their vehicles, much more than many legacy
manufacturers. This does allow them to simplify the
interior design of the car and spare themselves a lot
of work.
It actually costs a lot of money to engineer all of
these buttons and switches and to have the wiring,
because you've got to have wires that run to all of
these different physical controls, doing the
validation of all this, making sure that it's going
to be durable over the life of a car.
Doing all of that in software is a lot cheaper.
But it's also what people have come to expect.
For customers, it used to be, you get into your car,
you hit all the right buttons, right?
You turn your radio on and off you go.
That's not how it works for my kids, right?
I mean, they are on the phone in the home, they get
into the car and traditional car feels like
two steps back in time.
One of the complaints about touch screens is that you
have to really look at the screen to use it.
If you have a, let's say you have a volume knob, I can
look at the road. I could feel for the volume knob.
I could know how much I've turned it.
Even if I hit a button, buttons aren't as good
necessarily for volume, but at least I feel that my
finger is on the button, I press it, I know it goes
down.
A touch screen is a little bit different because in
most cases you don't actually get tactile
feedback that you've pushed the screen correctly, or
you've pushed the button in a proper location.
I wouldn't want a touch screen for my hazard lights,
for my turn signal, for the horn, for volume, or for
people to turn off the radio quickly.
Also important is how the software is set up.
Some systems, like Tesla's, require users to click
through several menus to get the features.
Since 2021, the company has recalled about 265,000 cars
for issues with touch screens. Even advantages of
touch screens can be potential drawbacks.
Updates and attempts to improve the system can
confuse drivers.
We've heard from many Tesla customers, when they've
updated the Model 3 and the Model Y interface, they can
no longer find their rear defroster.
They knew where it was before, and now they can't
find it because now it's hidden in a menu and it's
not there on the screen.
That's a problem.
J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, which surveys
owners after the first 90 days of ownership, found
that infotainment systems were a serious sore spot.
While the largest number of complaints focused on voice
activation and smartphone connectivity, touch screens
were the third most common source of dissatisfaction.
Even the group's Vehicle Dependability Study, which
surveys owners after three years of ownership, found
that infotainment systems were the biggest source of
complaints still.
On safety, it's tough to say accurately how big of a
problem driver distraction is.
UK-based consultancy, the Transportation Research
Laboratory, in a 2020 report, found that
interacting with the touch screen slowed reaction times
by several car lengths.
Reaction times were slower than for drivers who were
texting while driving or even intoxicated.
We know that crash risk starts to increase when you
take your eyes off the road 2 to 3 seconds.
This is psychologist David Strayer.
In a 2017 study, he and a number of other researchers
found that interacting with screens could require
drivers to take their eyes off the road for a lot
longer than the 2 to 3 second threshold he's
describing. Some tasks took up to 40 seconds.
Text message takes about four and a half seconds.
And we know that in terms of the crash risk, we see
that you're about six times more likely to be involved
in a crash, which is why most states outlaw texting
while driving.
Strayer and research partners at AAA compared
Apple CarPlay and Google Android systems with those
installed by manufacturers.
They found that big tech's systems were a bit easier to
use than the native ones.
However, they still demanded attention from
users. Another study in 2019 found these systems
were harder to use for older drivers than younger
ones, and the U.S.
population is aging.
Road fatalities decreased in the U.S.
from 1980 until 2014.
That's mainly due to stricter road safety laws,
improved roads and sturdier cars.
Over the past decade, those numbers have started
climbing again. Strayer thinks the proliferation of
distractions is one of the likely factors contributing
to a recent spike in road deaths.
We've actually seen fatalities going up, and
that's the fatalities adjusted for per million
miles driven.
So something's going on that's actually making our
roads less safe.
And it corresponds with the kind of increased prevalence
of cell phones and touch screens and all the
electronics in the vehicle.
Some manufacturers are still asking for knobs and buttons
and similar controls for at least some functions.
Brands such as Mazda and BMW are including other
tools for controlling screens, such as a wheel in
the center console.
I personally prefer that because I find it gives more
precision in control.
I can twist it.
I can glance screen briefly and give it a twist without
having to think so hard about hitting the touch
targets.
Despite the concerns, it's unlikely that the touch
screen is going anywhere.
After all, they are present in nearly every part of
daily life, and they're getting bigger in size.
Mercedes debuted its MBUX Hyperscreen at the Consumer
Electronics Show in January 2021.
The massive screen covers the entire dashboard.
But companies are also trying to design screens
that work differently, in some cases to mitigate some
of the risks touch screens pose.
Continental has what it calls a "shy" touch screen
that can disappear into the dashboard, or one that's
used by a passenger without distracting a driver.
There are other technologies.
Natural 3D displays show images holographically.
Or 3D touch screens that have a raised surface in
places which can function as a button or a switch.
Other tools can be either alternatives or supplements
to screens. Voice controls are improving.
Head-up displays which project images onto a
windshield are becoming more sophisticated.
Going from head-up displays to augmented reality head-up
displays to project the technology in the car where
you project the information on the windshield to what we
call a big innovation is scenic view, where you
project the display information on a windshield.
So there is a huge area outside of screens or as an
alternative to screens.
Of course, as this is happening, technologies are
emerging that may enable drivers to take their eyes
off the road entirely.
And now a touch screen's not as big a deal or as you
start to move into things like robotaxis, where you're
not driving at all, you know, and software is
driving you around.