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Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by csours on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @12:13PM (#23405075)
Disclaimer, I work for GM, any thoughts or opinions are solely my own. I do not work on car user interface.

I agree that anything you need to do while driving should be a physical interface, but some of the 3D haptic stuff looks really cool.

I don't think touch screens are going away because the display is so valuable, and there's so much stuff that is non-critical that you can configure from a touch screen.

Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by GuB-42 on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:17PM (#23406741)
Touch feedback would be a massive improvement. I've seen countless patents about them but in practice, all we get are vibrators.

The only convincing tactile feedback I've experienced is in the MacBook trackpad, even the much publicized "Taptic Engine" of the iPhone feels like a vibrator. And while the MacBook trackpad is convincing at emulating clicks, it is the only thing it does.

Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by derefr on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:28PM (#23406921)
Have you tried the “HD Rumble” feature of Nintendo Switch games? It’s about on the same level as the “Taptic Engine”, but it’s been made use of for a far-larger variety of use-cases, so it’s helpful to get a real sense of what the possibilities are of that level of tech.
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by endorphins on Thursday June 04, 2020 @01:22PM (#23419263)
The problem is touch feedback happens after the interaction and doesn't really help you find/recognize a control by touch.
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by rurban on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @05:10PM (#23408802)
When I visited the SRI and NASA UI design groups in the early 90ies, any feedback if touch, force, audio even smell was being considered and implemented. Touch and force feedback was extremely advanced there, nothing ever made it outside. They even had early versions of Google Glass, so that they can work hands free.

But those SpaceX touchscreens are very bad UI design. Would not make it in any car or plane. Those buttons need to be physical. Remind me on the Apple touch bar, when you need to use it at 3g.

Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by csours on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @03:25PM (#23407564)
I don't have first hand experience with this, and I'm not endorsing it, but it sure looks cool to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2VkcyvtMXI
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by 6gvONxR4sf7o on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:24PM (#23406848)
I don't think critical vs noncritical is the important distinction for cars. It's distracting vs not distracting. The physical knobs and stuff in my car I don't have to look for to use. A touchscreen button requires much more careful finding and pressing since you can't just root around for it.
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by hirundo on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:01PM (#23407963)
Why not a voice menu? In addition to a physical interface. For most functions recognizing just a handful of words would do the job, like <wakeup word>, one, two, three .... You could shut off the air conditioner like

  you: "hello hal"
  hal: "say one for radio, two for air cond..."
  you: "two"
  hal: "say..."
  you: "three"
You wouldn't want a voice recognition app to steer or brake, but it would be reliable enough for changing the radio station or toggling overdrive. Are there high end cars that have voice control stock?
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by richardwhiuk on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:06PM (#23408021)
Almost all high end cars have voice recognition for many years.

The universal impression I get is that it sucks.

Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by csours on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @06:22PM (#23409593)
I can use Google Assistant with Android Auto via bluetooth/usb in my truck and when bluetooth isn't screwing up, it works great.
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by jjeaff on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:17PM (#23406739)
And you can't put customized ads on a physical switchboard.
Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by GuB-42 on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:33PM (#23406984)
Of course you can. If it has any form of display, it can display customized ads. Some radio stations manage to put ads on the 14-segment display that is supposed to show the station name and/or frequency.

And if it doesn't, there is always room for a sticker. Buy a new laptop and you are going to see half a dozen ads before you even turn it on: on the box, on leaflets inside the box, and in the form of stickers,... It seems that only Apple doesn't play that game, but the privilege is expensive.

Re:Software Engineering Within SpaceX by avmich on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @06:40PM (#23409798)
> Some radio stations manage to put ads on the 14-segment display that is supposed to show the station name and/or frequency.

We can talk about hardware protection against ads. The hardware would need to recognize allowed data - like station name and frequency - and reject disallowed, like attempts to make a running text. This will limit functionality; maybe it's worth it.

We can talk about software protection - when user controls some layer of software. We can implement it as a type system, with the same result (only now we can modify the software layer if we need). Type system which makes ads non-representable looks like a nice solution.

Guilty myself in writing a game resembling Tetris on a 8-segment display (blocks moving horizontally), so yes, people can be inventive...