The never-ending growth of in-car displays: Is bigger always better?
In recent years, in-car interfaces have been getting bigger and bigger. According to IHS Markit, the average size of a vehicle’s center display in 2018 was 7.7 inches, and this figure is expected to grow to 8.4 inches by 2024. But despite this growth, can displays avoid becoming an overly dominating and distracting factor of the driving experience?
Size, number and positions
The start of the current vehicle display trend can be traced back to 2012, when Tesla implemented a large, 17-inch tablet-like screen in the center console of its Model S luxury sedan. Since then, various manufacturers have been pushing the limits in attempts to distinguish their brand from competitors while offering customers that ‘wow’ factor. Particularly in the premium vehicle market, technological innovation — including the latest and greatest interfaces — has become an extremely important factor in the consumer’s purchase decision. The reasons for this trend perhaps aren’t too surprising. As the selection and complexity of vehicle functions increases, so too does screen size. Larger screens allow for more data to be displayed. What’s more, consumers are already used to interacting with larger displays — just look at the increasing size of smartphone screen.
Take a quick look at new and upcoming cars and you’ll instantly get a sense of the shift in cockpit design. The Porsche Taycan, for example, takes design cues from the original 911, but with a significant reduction in the number of physical buttons. A main touchscreen sits in the center of the dashboard, and drivers can opt for an additional screen for the front passenger. In the center console sits another angled screen with integrated handwriting recognition.
The Mercedes EQS takes things to a whole other level with an optional MBUX ‘hyperscreen’. Three displays seamlessly merge with each other to form a continuous interface that extends over a width of 56 inches in the cockpit.
Chinese EV start-up Byton takes a different approach with its M-Byte off-road vehicle. The concept car features a massive 48-inch display across the dashboard, from one A-pillar to the other. While not quite as large as the screen in the EQS, the M-Byte also features a center console screen as well as another screen on the upper half of the steering wheel.
Looking at these examples shows that it’s not just about the size of the screen, but the number of displays and the various positions and configurations. Today, displays can be found across the instrument panel, in the rear-view mirror, embedded in the A-pillars, in the front, rear and overhead consoles, in the backs of the front seats for rear passengers, projected onto the windscreen as an HUD, and even on the steering wheel. Automotive designers are finding ways to embed display panels in almost every interior surface of the vehicle, and this is sure to have a profound impact on how consumers will experience the vehicle of tomorrow.
How can distractions be prevented?
Greater digitalization within the car certainly brings with it a new and exciting driving experience and contemporary aesthetic. But the trend also has its criticism, particularly in the area of safety. In Germany, the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court, for example, has ruled that the focus on touchscreens promotes distraction, putting the screen in a Tesla on the same level as a mobile phone. The court also argues that the lack of physical buttons makes it more difficult to operate.
Some manufacturers are taking active steps to avoid driver distraction. In the Mercedes EQS, if the driver takes their eyes off the road to watch the movie playing on the front passenger’s screen, the system automatically stops the film. Once the driver’s eyes return to the road, the film resumes. The system is even precise enough to distinguish between watching the movie and looking in the side-view mirror.
But there are further points to consider so that large interfaces don’t present a danger. Familiarity is one of these points. While vehicle manufacturers have the freedom to define a cockpit in a way that reflects the look and feel of their individual brand, that freedom shouldn’t be taken as an excuse to radically overhaul interfaces to the detriment of usability and, more importantly, safety.
If in-car menus and systems are consistent and work in a similar way to a customer’s phone screen, they’re less likely to be a distraction. Drivers all know how to tap, swipe and zoom in on existing screens, so why force them to learn how to use yet another interface? This isn’t to say that there’s no room for new features, but there’s also no need — or even benefit — in undermining tried-and-tested UX principles. By balancing innovation with familiarity, manufacturers can create custom vehicle interfaces that are bold and unique, yet also intuitive and memorable, demanding little cognitive demand from drivers.
It’s also important that vehicle interfaces are not treated as a detached element or mere afterthought, but rather as a considered, integral part of the car that genuinely works well in the driving situation. Positioning of touchscreens is a key factor here. While earlier screens tended to sit lower in the car’s dashboard, newer interfaces have been brought upwards and closer to the driver’s line of sight. This means that the driver only has to move their eyes away from the road for a very short time to check navigation, for example. Continued investment in voice recognition technology will also allow more tasks to be performed without having to look at a screen at all.
The flexibility to create custom and considered interfaces
Incari’s software development platform can help vehicle manufacturers to satisfy these considerations. It allows users without conventional programming skills to design custom vehicle interfaces in 3D, while at the same time generating very clean programming code.
The platform provides a common software environment for developers and designers who are already in the prototyping phase. It also significantly simplifies the work of car manufacturers, bringing together information displayed and entered on in-car screens. In this overview, displays and structures for drivers’ input commands can be changed quickly without developers having to be even remotely familiar with the underlying software.
With such simplification, flexibility, and customizability, Incari’s platform ensures that, regardless of the display size, the interface becomes not just an integrated part of the car itself, but also an integrated part of its overall development.
The agile-friendly workflow and modular architecture of Incari Studio support the complete UI/UX creation process. Focused on team collaboration, it unifies the work of designers, developers, and suppliers on one platform while providing improved tools for logic coding, 3D animation, technology integration, and a lot more. Subscribe to Incari Studio here.
