Touchscreens are soooo 20th century. The updated Volkswagen Golf, due in 2016, will add gesture controls to its "Star Trek"-style touchscreens, AutoExpress reports. Volkswagen presented this new in-car technology in the Golf R Touch concept at the CES Asia show in Shanghai this week, previewing the production version of interior tech that the facelifted Golf will receive when it goes on sale in late 2016.
The driver and passengers will be able to use new gesture motions to change the climate control settings in the car, raise or lower the volume of the stereo and open and close the sunroof, in addition to other functions. Finding and reaching buttons or accessing different menus on the infotainment screen will be simplified (so VW says) though gesture control, though touch-free scrolling has already been previewed in the form of the Discover Pro infotainment system's proximity sensor in the current-generation Volkswagen Golf.
Gesture control as a technology has been introduced in various devices over the last few years with video games pioneering its use, and Volkswagen, along with other automakers, is keen to take advantage of its potential for reducing distracted driving.
VW previewed new interior tech in the form of the Golf R Touch as CES Asia this week.
"The interior features a preview of future VW interior technologies, with smartphone applications redefined for automotive use. The gesture control will become reality in the Golf at the end of next year," VW R&D boss Hans-Jakob Neusser told AutoExpress.
Functions that aren't manipulated via gesture control, like navigation, station selection, and maintenance features, will be accessible via a large touchscreen with haptic feedback. Just how large will the screen be? The Golf R Touch concept showed at CES Asia featured a 13-inch touchscreen and a completely digital instrument panel that could be set to display various functions when needed. The aim of this is to create an interior that features as few buttons as possible.
Volkswagen promises that its cars will be the first to market with gesture control, though BMW has also previewed similar controls for the iDrive infotainment system on the next-generation 7-series.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
