12 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
Vo l vo h a s te a m e d u p w i th Go o g l e to cr e ate a s afe r i n - c a r set- u p
t’s hard to find a new car
with a dashboard that
isn’t dominated by a large
infotainment touchscreen
- increasingly at the expense
of physical buttons and dials.
Tesla may still be the most
extreme proponent, but the
trend is reflected across the
whole industry.
The growing size of
touchscreens is linked directly
to their increasing use in all
aspects of society. Melanie
Limmer, the electronics boss
for the new Audi A3, said the
decision to remove some
physical buttons from that car
was because “more and more
people are getting into touch
functions with smartphones”.
Although many car
infotainment screens retain
physical controls as well, an
increasing number don’t – and
the rise of touchscreen-only
interfaces has led to questions
about how safe they are.
There are concerns that large
screens can cause a distraction
and that, without the tactile
response of a physical button
to assure users they’ve
selected the right option,
drivers are more inclined to
look away from the road to
operate them.
Still, the growth in the size
of touchscreens is a boost for
safety, according to Matthew
Avery, director of research at
leading UK automotive safety
body Thatcham Research.
“Large infotainment
screens are not necessarily
a n i s su e , b e c a u s e th ey a l l ow
for bigger icons and less
crowded displays,” he said.
“Small screens with fiddly
icons are a greater concern.”
Avery also said the
latency of such systems is
crucial: “Screens must be as
responsive to touch as you
would expect a smartphone tobe. Clarity and user interface
commonality across vehicles
is also fundamental, allowing
drivers to more instantly
recognise the icon they
intend to press.”
Avery cites the Apple
CarPlay and Android Auto
smartphone mirroring systems
as key to that, because they
work the same across every
m o d e l of c a r. T h ey a l s o r e p l a ce
any need for drivers to use
smartphones while driving.
The government is currently
working to close loopholes that
have enabled some drivers
to escape penalties for using
smartphones for functions
other than making phone
calls while driving. But someof the same concerns about
such distractions could apply
to touchscreens. Highways
England boss Jim O’Sullivan
has said: “We don’t like them
from a safety perspective.”
But touchscreens in cars and
smartphones aren’t directly
comparable, of course. When
considering further limitations
on mobile phone usage while
driving, the Transport Select
Committee ruled out banninghands-free calls. That was
despite research suggesting
the risks were largely down to
the cognitive demands they
place on a driver “engaging
with someone who is not in
their shared environment”
rather than the actual
operation of the smartphone.
For those involved in
touchscreen development,
the systems aren’t just styled
on smartphones: they’re a
way of supplementing them.
“Safety comes in many
forms,” said Google’s Harris
Ramis, who works on the new
Android-based touchscreen
operating system, a version of
which will be used in all future
Volvo and Polestar models.
“Today, people pull out their
phones and use them whiledriving anyway, so when we
started thinking about safety,
we did so from the perspective
of e n su r i n g th ey h ave a cce s s to
the services they want that are
built for in-car use, to ensure
they leave their phones where
they need to be.”
Ramis referred to that
approach as “driver distraction
optimised”. Effectively, this is
recognising that people want to
use the phone system or music
services on their smartphones
and finding ways to offer that
as safely as possible via a car’s
infotainment system. “We
spent a lot of time working
to ensure the system is built
for use while driving, so it
doesn’t distract,” said Ramis.
To ensure that, the newVolvo Android system – which
will be seen first on the
forthcoming XC40 Recharge
P8 EV – is a fixed template
design, with the basic controls
required to be in the same
place across all apps, ensuring
user familiarity. That applies
even to the ‘third-party’
a p p s th a t w i l l b e of fe r e d o n
Android systems.
Another key function offered
by the new Volvo system is
voice control, the increasing
use of which could remove the
need to use a touchscreen or
any physical controls. Voice
control has been widely in use
across car brands for years,
with the Volkswagen Group,
Mercedes-Benz and BMW alloffering their own versions.
Ödgärd Andersson,
Volvo’s digital boss, said:
“Voice commands make total
sense when you’re driving.”
Thatcham’s Avery agreed: “It
brings clear benefits in keeping
the driver’s eyes on the road.”
But he also said: “Functions
like this are often built in some
years ahead of a model hitting
the road and are therefore
Are touchscreens a good thing?
Big screens, such as
in Tesla’s cars, areregarded as safer
Safety concerns about in-car touchscreens are giving rise to new developments