Touch Screen Steering Wheels

German Researchers have developed a prototype of a touch screen steering wheel to help keep people from taking their eyes of the road while driving.  After recent studies performed by the researchers in Germany they have concluded that the touch screen steering wheel has reduced the need for the driver to take their eyes off the road.

The concept has been long awaited by car owners all over the world. With changing technology society has become more and more distracted behind the wheel. The new touch screen design allows drivers to display maps, play music and make phone calls without handling other objects such as phones, GPS devices and music players and adapters.

The new touch screen uses the same basic principles as most of today’s touch screen devices.  For instance to zoom in users simply pinch their fingers together on the screen and to zoom out simple perform the opposite action.  The new touch screen steering wheels also allow the user to play music by simply tracing a triangle with their finger on the screen.  The touch screen design is capable of performing up to twenty commands thus far with the capability for more in the future.

The researchers have also said that this new touch screen technology could be combined with visual heads up display technologies. They have also said that this technology could also act as a sensor to alert drivers of traffic and remind them to focus on the road.

The top use of this touch screen technology would be navigation as the user can simply use their thumbs to navigate the screen while keeping their hands gripped firmly to the steering wheel the whole time.  Another safety feature consumers may be wondering about is the thought of airbags. The developers have thought of safety and have designed the touch screen to be thin enough to break and allow the airbag to deploy in the same fashion as it would in a regular steering wheel.

This new technology was recently presented at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver.  The developers are talking with car companies about a near term implementation into vehicles even if not full scale at first.

When the new touch screen steering wheel technology makes it appearance in the automotive market people will be quick to judge its impact on safe driving. However, every critic has taken their eyes off the road to send a text, answer the phone, or adjust their radio or GPS system.  Now think of the possibility of have the ability to do all these things at your fingertips without ever having to take your hand off the steering wheel.  That is the focus of the new touch screen steering wheel developers and they feel that this possibility is already within reach.

Look for this option in your next new vehicle and be ready for the impact that this new device will have on the drivers of the future. What the next step is from here no one knows but the next step may be cars that drive themselves as society sits back and enjoys the ride.