Well-known car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Opel, Volvo and Co. have been installing touchscreens in various car models for some time. Times have never been more exciting for the automotive industry than they are now. More and more touchscreen manufacturers have specialized in the automotive industry and are delivering proven touchscreen technologies that promise UI designers even better user functionalities and greater usability than before.
What matters
If capacitive touchscreen solutions are to be used in a car, various factors must be taken into account.
Differences in design
Every car manufacturer has different design specifications. The interior of the car is different for every manufacturer and model. The touchscreens to be installed must integrate well into the interior. This requires flexible touchscreen technologies that are intuitive to use, visually appealing and react quickly even to light touches.
Interference resistance
The larger the displays, the greater the number of electrodes responsible for the touchpoints of the touchscreen surface. As a result, the risk of so-called "ghost touches" increases enormously. With the right technology or .dem right touch controller, this risk can be minimized.
Improving the user experience
If the user uses a smartphone, he can give it his full attention. In the car, this would be dangerous for safety reasons. This is because the driver must be able to direct his full concentration to the road traffic - not to the touchscreen. This has posed new challenges for the touchscreen industry so far. However, they now also come up with solutions that are both intuitive and easy to use and greatly improve the user experience through haptic feedback.
Stable production
The selected touchscreen solution must be suitable for mass production. This is the only way to ensure that the desired functions work as desired in every car model sold. And there are no fluctuations in the application. For this reason, many car manufacturers prefer experienced touchscreen producers. It is also often avoided to jump on the innovation bandwagon with every technological innovation without first having extensively tested the quality and functionality.
Result
The drivers of the future will be spoiled by the quality of their smartphone touchscreens. Which raises the bar for the automaker than usual. After all, what is already found to be good on a smartphone must not be worse on a new car. Especially not if the price of a touchscreen in the car is a lot more expensive than the purchase of a smartphone or tablet.
