Big screen and physical keys, behind the car, "open fire and fight in secret"

In the era when the big screen of cars is rampant, there will always be some players who "don't merge".

In the new Fit just listed, the new car interior does not use full touch function, but returns to the traditional physical buttons. Mazda, which is also a Japanese brand, also announced earlier that all its new cars will cancel the design of large-size touch screens and return to the more traditional layout of small screens and physical buttons.

Honda and Mazda do the opposite. Instead of being excluded by the industry, they have been recognized by many netizens. In the era of big screen, small screen design has become a clear stream. Keeping more physical buttons reduces the probability of traffic accidents to some extent.

Some research data show that in serious traffic accidents with casualties, the proportion of accidents caused by distracted driving is as high as 70%. There are many reasons for being distracted while driving, such as playing mobile phone, chatting and setting navigation. The addition of large screen will really increase the possibility of driver's distraction, and some models even prohibit drivers from manipulating the screen while driving.

With the development of automobile intelligence, in-vehicle interconnection system is no longer a touch stage, and now voice control is also a general trend. It does improve the driving safety of touch-free operation, but in terms of system response speed, voice control is always inferior to touch, not to mention physical keys.

From this point of view, will the future automobile human-computer interaction design develop to the coexistence mode of voice control, touch control and physical buttons?

The development of large-screen car is inseparable from the "big screen" interior pioneered by Tesla-a tablet computer is directly embedded in the center console. From the perspective of sales volume and word of mouth, Tesla's big screen strategy is undoubtedly successful. It integrates all the physical buttons into a big screen in the center console, and even the dashboard is not spared. This design also pioneered the later scientific cockpit.

Tesla's oblique sword didn't disappoint us. The big screen can indeed replace the instrument panel, air conditioning panel and so on. Even extended to novel functions such as autonomous driving and car networking. In the era when the in-vehicle system is still in the era of satisfying multimedia functions, Tesla's big screen has achieved a quite high level of functionality.

As Tesla's big screen entered the mainstream market, many low-end models began to blow up a big screen tide. However, the initial large-size screen was accompanied by the immature in-vehicle system, which brought problems such as unsmooth operation interface, high touch delay and poor software. This kind of car not only affects the user experience, but also affects the driving safety, which is totally meaningless.

Of course, with the continuous iteration of technology, today's car level is comparable to the fluency of smartphones such as Android and Apple. Coupled with the application of car networking, the experience of human-computer interconnection is higher. The layout of software ecology also makes the automobile system have more possibilities, which also makes many people fall in love with big-screen cars. The "rise and fall" of big screen design began to move towards the foreground, and the traditional physical buttons became more marginalized.

Traditional automobile interiors are mostly based on physical buttons. Even for luxury models in the 1990s, the number of physical buttons directly determines the luxury of the whole interior. The more buttons, the more configurations of this car, and the higher the level of technology. For the current car interior, the screen size actually represents the advanced degree of the car.

After the "big screen car" headed by Tesla entered the market, the automobile industry set off a big screen storm. Later, SAIC Roewe RX5 introduced a large-screen car equipped with zebra system, BYD's rotatable central control large screen and so on. By 2020, even Toyota Corolla and Lei Ling, which mainly focus on Jian Yuepai, have begun to play with big screens, and car companies seem to agree with the feasibility of big screens. The trend of "big screens are smart" is becoming more and more mainstream.

The appearance of big screen replaces the function of mobile phone to some extent, making users seamlessly connected in the end-to-end experience. In addition, the rise of smart phones is accompanied by the development of speech recognition function. At present, the voice interaction function can not only control the software, but also control some hardware in the car, such as air conditioning and sunroof.

Of course, in order to realize all intelligent functions, the screen is often only the carrier, and the truly intelligent interaction depends on the chip of the vehicle system and various software algorithms. At present, most car companies have not reached a high level of intelligence, so it is really necessary to keep physical buttons.

Taking the most basic air conditioning control as an example, the user sends out a voice command "I am cold" and the system automatically heats up. Many people think this operation is cool, but in practical application, this voice command is often more complicated than the operation of turning the air conditioner knob by hand. There are also some models that directly integrate the air conditioning panel into the touch screen, providing users with two choices: "touch" and "voice control". Compared with the traditional key operation, some car owners bluntly said that this design is "taking off pants and farting".

In addition to the difference in operation, the physical buttons also have a "blind operation" attribute, which users can operate without leaving the driving sight, which is incomparable to the touch screen. In terms of touch control, physical buttons respond faster and have feedback. In the form of buttons, car companies have also introduced knob buttons, organ buttons and pull-up buttons, which will actually bring users a better touch experience.

Of course, the core of human-computer interaction is always the car-machine system. The big screen and physical buttons are just a carrier of interaction. The former may become the mainstream trend, but the use of physical buttons is believed to continue for some time.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.