Editor's introduction: The emergence of intelligence, people began to pursue the comfort of life, but also promoted the development of car touch display. This article starts from the entry of the car HMI, telling the evolutionary history of vehicle design, interested partners let's take a look at it.
I. Introduction
The current automotive electronics is affected by the trend of automotive intelligence and electrification, and has been widely used in various fields of automotive. The automobile industry has also become one of the important industries in the development of the national economy in the mainland. In the scene of human-vehicle interaction, the main interactive interface is the car touch display, with the continuous development of automotive electronic technology, the car touch display screen is not only larger and larger, but also more and more built-in functions.
However, the touch screen is not the best in-car interaction solution, can you believe it? As a designer, if you want to quickly enter the HMI, you always have to know what the HMI is, and what is it, right? After a number of "bursting liver nights", the author finally came out with a quick start channel for your "liver", talking to you about the evolutionary history of in-vehicle design, and why touch screens are not the best solution in the on-board environment. Collect it quietly!!
Second, what exactly is an HMI?
1. A brief introduction to HMI
Speaking of HMI, many designers may feel both familiar and unfamiliar, and many people who introduce HMI will say: HMI is the abbreviation of Human Machine Interface, that is, "human-machine interface", also known as human-machine interface.
HMI human-machine interface is the medium for interaction and information exchange between the system and the user... (I believe you have seen these words in many places, I will not repeat them), these explanations seem to understand after listening, but it seems not to understand....Translated and combined with the car, in fact, the car HMI is to let the driver and passengers interact with the vehicle in a more natural way through the car touch screen and buttons, push the rotation controller, slide and gesture functions, and even speech recognition technology.
2. Automotive HMIs are more than just interfaces
Automotive HMI is mainly the study of the human-computer interaction interface between people and cars, focusing on the experience of people and interfaces, people and car systems. It is not limited to the interface we are familiar with, but as a collection of functions. For example: switches, buttons, automotive dashboards, HUD head-up displays, voices, etc., are actually included in the design of automotive HMI.
Although HMI is more than just an interface, as a designer we start with the interface.
3. Screens carrying HMI
The existing carrier types in the car are: central control screen, instrument panel, co-pilot display, rear entertainment screen, ceiling display, rear tail light display system, HUD display, etc.
Our more common HMI carriers mainly have three: one is the dashboard, which is used to provide the basic operation information of the vehicle, such as: speed, speed, fuel consumption, etc.; the other is the center console, which is used to provide the control information of the vehicle, such as: settings, air conditioning, internal and external circulation, multimedia information, etc. There is also a rear entertainment screen, which is mainly used to increase the entertainment of the rear passengers. For example, you can watch video and video content, and high-end models have functions such as communication, office, Internet access, and external game consoles.
Third, the screens we are familiar with
There are many carriers that carry HMI, let's first talk about two of our common screens: the dashboard and the central control screen.
1. The "history" of the dashboard
Automotive Dashboard – Displays the instruments operated by the vehicle in the control panel directly in front of the driver.
You may not believe it, but around 1847, the dashboard was actually a plank. The main function is not the display of car speed, fuel consumption, speed, etc. that we see now. The earliest dashboard was actually a wooden plank that ran horizontally between the horse and the driver, and had little use other than to cover the splashing mud.
Later with the development of the car the engine was installed in front of the vehicle. The instrument panel retains its protective properties and acts as a barrier between the engine and the driver. But at that time, the driver wanted to know how much fuel was left in the fuel tank, but instead of looking at the instrument as it is now, he had to open the engine cover, and then insert the fuel gauge into the fuel tank, according to the oil stain print to determine how much fuel was left, driving was very inconvenient.
As a result, from the 1930s onwards, instrument panels began to incorporate various meters and fault indicators. Later, with the increasing complexity of car design and engines, it eventually evolved into the dashboards we see now.
2. A brief history of the development of the central control dashboard: from mechanical pointers to digital 3D displays
In fact, the earliest HMI is not used for the vehicle side, but for industrial use, such as common machine tools, manufacturing equipment. The earliest digital HMIs were introduced in the 1980s. There were not many additional functions in cars in that era, so most cars used purely mechanical dashboards.
First generation automotive instrument cluster: mechanical instrumentation
The first generation of the dashboard is a mechanical core instrument, in the mechanical period of the car dashboard interaction is very simple, single function, by the pointer display, knobs, buttons, levers, etc., that era of the car additional functions are not much, these functions are enough to display the amount of information at that time, although there is no screen, but basically can meet the needs of driving. Later, under the influence of the aircraft driving instrument, the car began to copy the central control layout of the aircraft, and various functional instruments were stacked on the car, which can be said to be completely unresponsive... (The car in the picture below, can you drive it?) I'm not quite good... ）
Second-generation automotive instrument panel: electric instrument cluster
Later, as the number of automotive electronic control modules began to increase, pure machinery has no way to display more complex instrument information, just at this time the second generation of electrical instrument panels were born, and the first generation of mechanical movement instruments compared with the addition of a lot of new features, the screen also from the vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), the development of liquid crystal display (LED) and small size thin film transistor display (TFT). The feedback of the car is more comprehensive and timely, but for deeper driving needs, the electric instrument is still unsatisfactory.
Third-generation automotive instrument cluster: fully digital instrumentation
With the development of computers, mobile phones, tablets and other electronic technologies. Dashboards are also constantly seeking updates, requiring more and more content to be displayed and further enhanced. At this time, the all-digital LCD dashboard, that is, the virtual car dashboard, finally conformed to the times.
Compared with the previous two generations, all-digital automotive instrumentation can be said to have made breakthrough progress. It is a networked, intelligent instrument. From the appearance alone, it is much taller than the previous two generations. Different from the previous two generations, this kind of dashboard does not have the previous pointers and other components, all the information is transmitted through the screen, powerful at the same time, the information is more logical and the display is more three-dimensional, the driver can receive the driving information faster, improve the driving safety of the driver.
Compared with mechanical instruments and electrical instruments, the fully digital instruments are more powerful, the display content is richer, the wiring harness connection is simpler and more comprehensive, and it meets the needs of driving more humanely.
Fourth-generation automotive instrument panel: HUD display
HUD (Head Up Display) head-up display, also known as head-up display system, refers to a multi-function instrument cluster centered on the driver of the vehicle. It can map important information onto a holographic half-mirror on the windshield glass, allowing the driver to receive information that optimizes the driving experience while focusing on the road.
The original HUD head-up display is used for fighter jets, fighter pilots need to look up at the enemy and look down at the cabin instruments during air combat, it is easy to produce visual interruptions and lead to operational errors, if serious may delay the fighter, and the HDU head-up display can effectively solve this problem.
HUDs are not just about space efficiency and improving the user experience, they are also used to improve driver safety. When the driver needs to view the information on the dashboard or center console, the line of sight needs to be shifted for at least 0.3 seconds, and the HUD projection information is directly in front of the driver's level view, which can make the driver's head tilt 20 degrees less, and the content of the dashboard can be viewed. This allows the driver to focus more on the road.
3. Touch screen in the car
As the functionality of the average car increases, designers need to design controls that allow drivers to manage new features. Two different approaches emerge: one is to add a physical button to each function. The other is to add a screen with dynamic content. The first method is popular in some car manufacturing in Germany, while the second method is more popular in automobile manufacturing in the United States and Japan.
In your mind, will you also be like me, think that there is the development of smart phones before there is a car information entertainment system, think that people are used to clicking on the required functions with their fingers on the car infotainment system because people have developed the habit of poking and poking at the top of the mobile phone screen. However, the fact is that as early as 1986, touch screen technology has been applied to cars.
1986 Buick's Riviera – the first production car with a touchscreen display. It is called the Graphic Control Center, or CCC, and houses a large number of important vehicle functions and displays. However, it is not like the touch screen we are familiar with now, but a very simple black display with green content.
The display has a climate control function, allowing the user to adjust the temperature and fan speed, etc., when the climate control is at the highest setting, the small fan displayed on the screen will turn faster. There are also basic functions such as displaying the remaining fuel in the fuel tank and the closure of the doors.
Buick began testing the system as early as 1984, and after two years of trials and tweaks, it was finally installed on the car in 1986, bringing fans this futuristic driving experience.
At the same time, in Japan, across the ocean, automakers have also begun to experiment with touch screen technology in their home markets, introducing the CUE-X concept car in 1985. The system offers a color touch screen with beautiful graphics. As you can see (below) the design and location of the functional controls are very similar to those of modern vehicles.
According to the general trend of technology development, touch screen technology should soon spread throughout the entire automotive industry, but things have not developed in this direction, early drivers are very resistant to touch screen technology, they do not want to take their eyes off the road for some less important information. And, then and now, cutting-edge technology has often been accompanied by high prices.
In the 1980s, the Rivala in Buick started at $19,831 (about 137,000 yuan). Therefore, due to the high cost and consumer resistance, the touch screen technology only exists in a few high-end and expensive cars, and the popularization of touch technology seems to be far away.
Later, with the development of technology, the emergence of GPS and electronic rearview mirror technology, so that car manufacturers began to pay attention to touch screen technology, coupled with the smart phones launched by Apple and Samsung at that time, promoted the popularity of touch screen technology. As technology continues to improve, hyundai's HMI is a hybrid of an automotive control center and an entertainment system.
Touch screens offer drivers an increasingly convenient driving experience, changing temperature settings, navigating routes to destinations, and watching videos. People are also more and more inseparable from this screen, and now the touch screen has become the standard in the car. With the rise of new energy vehicles, the new car-making forces represented by Tesla have a great role in promoting the development of HMI. Larger screens, automated control interfaces, and voice interactions have opened a new chapter in vehicle-machine interaction.
If there are any deficiencies in the article, welcome to leave a message in the comment area, and we will see you in the next issue.
Next trailer: Fast entry car HMI, read this article is enough! (Part 2)
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