matthaeus

Adding a little bit of context:

I've owned a Model X for six years now and while Tesla's touchscreen UI is probably still the best in the industry, it is so surprising how many simple fundamentals of interface design they are not getting right.

I'm a UI designer myself and had some fun making this prototype that shows how easy it would be for car makers to improve usability and safety of their interfaces by making better use of the screens in their vehicles.

This won't eliminate the other downsides of touch interfaces in cars, but if we're stuck with them anyway, they might as well be as good as they can be.

Since releasing the "demo" video of my VR desktop operating system prototype, I've been spending some time diving deep into some of the design decisions and technical challenges along the way. It's been great capturing this on video to make sure the thinking doesn't get lost over time. Maybe this will be an interesting look at the process of making up a new interface for some here.

Thanks! The way I think about hand tracking is that it has its applications, but has to be used very thoughtfully. The mouse is approachable and gives me access to my entire field of view just by moving my wrist a bit. Hand tracking can feel amazingly natural, but lifting my hand/arm and possibly reaching out is a lot more work which people won't realistically want to do too much over the course of a day. If moving windows closer/further is a big use-case (which it isn't in my concept), I'd rather find an easy way to to that with the mouse than forcing people to reach out.

Yeah pixels per degree in common VR headsets is probably another 3x or 4x off :( No big deal, they just have to become lighter AND better :D

Yeah totally agree that this has no chance until HMDs get a lot more comfortable to wear, and better especially in the resolution department.

This is not a "2D apps on virtual screens" concept though. Every app can be freely moved, meaning there are no limitations to how you set up your workspace(s).

Also, I agree that there are SOME apps that will greatly benefit from making use of immersive/3D/stereo. But the significant majority of apps that you use today are great in 2D and will remain really great in 2D.

Niiiice. How did you manage to get this to look this thin?!

Sweet!

Cool, I'm now enlightened... and depressed

I want that re-share feature in every messaging app!

1/5 Apparently I don't know anything about my friends.

Cool info graphic in the end though!

http://youmewe.it/result.html?M0=10&O1=10&M2=6&M3=9&M4=16&M5...

That's how I imagined it too. Single finger would be reserved for getting back to a more conservative input mode.

Try tapping in the very bottom right corner with one finger. There's an invisible button that shows the fake Driving Directions UI. Then tap on that with 5 fingers at once to make the hints appear. They are just static graphics too though.

Fair points. I'm most excited about this actually:

>...good ideas here that could be used in other domains.

I'd love to see more touch UIs that serve as secondary input mechanism for something else. If I had a big color picker for Photoshop in my iPad I would already be ecstatic!

Do you have an iPad? Save a bookmark to your homescreen for this URL: http://matthaeuskrenn.com/new-car-ui/prototype/

Nice! I knew I couldn't fool anyone with my wannabe professional -dB label there.

> Not the author, but the way I see it this is specifically an interface for adjusting things eyes-free when driving. In an actual implementation, there would be some sort of physical switch between the in-drive control (demoed here) and a high-density "at rest" operation for passengers or more specific tasks (e.g. configuring the GPS).

Yes!

Interesting ideas. Maybe this is just me, but my wrists suck at twisting.

The thing is though: What if in the future, every car primarily has touch interfaces? Touch screens certainly took over a lot of other product categories by storm. I'd rather be on the side of exploring out-there concepts now, and hopefully have some cool solutions in the future.

I like your audio equalizer analogy.

If you look closely in the beginning of the video, you'll see that I'm proposing for this to be a special mode that would only be invoked from time to time. So as you are suggesting: It's all about showing the right controls at the right time.

The beauty about touch screens as input mechanisms is that they can obviously show an infinite number of interfaces. I absolutely agree that there's a right time for the right interface. My proposal is just one possible way to use a touch screen for input.

I love that rant.

I think you got it right. My proposal was definitely not meant to be the end of the conversation. Much rather the beginning. I'm sure there are huge opportunities in exploring a more diverse set of input mechanisms (and their combination).

In this case, I'm simply trying to make a point that touch screens can be more control panels with buttons and sliders on them.

You're making a bunch of good points. All of them show that there's still a lot to try, learn and discover in this space.

And keep in mind: I was thinking of this as being an additional mode to whatever the more "standard" interface would be. You could always have your standard AC controls (on a tactile-feedback-less screen though) but this quick input mode could be invoked when you know what you're doing.

I originally posted this as a "Show HN". Does HN update titles automatically sometimes?