Lexus has introduced a new navigation controller in the 2010 RX crossover, and it might be the most advanced human machine interface (HMI) controller yet. Called Lexus Remote Touch, it's the first controller to deviate from the rotary-type paradigm that we've seen in Audi MMI and BMW iDrive. Remote Touch instead mimics the computer mouse, and it's the first controller both to have user-adjustable haptic feedback and the first to have this feedback on two spatial axes.
For the reasons we discussed in the part one, Toyota decided several years ago that the its touch-screen control system wasn't the right choice for the future because it restricted the styling choices that could be made for the instrument panel (IP). Denso developed a prototype called Remote Touch Interface (RTI) and then Toyota tested it with consumers.
Apparently, there was no more physical or mental effort required by RTI compared to a touch screen. The RTI layout offered a screen with better visibility and it was physically more comfortable for people to operate the mouse-type controller than the screen, and the touch screen was harder to operate when the vehicle was moving.
When we first encountered RTI, we wondered why it didn't operate exactly like a computer mouse, so the enter button could be engaged with the click of a button. Toyota responded by reminding us that road shocks cold lead to inadvertent inputs. We also wondered why the RTI didn't incorporate a "Back" switch, much like the second-generation iDrive. But to Toyota, the substitution of a Back switch for the second Enter button produced some unanticipated human-factor trouble. That's because when you operate a thumb control, the pinkie finger involuntarily contracts, and then you're down the road to unanticipated keystrokes.
Remote Touch is the first and only navigation controller available with user-adjustable haptic feedback (that is, touch-related feedback). But this feedback is constant, not variable as the original iDrive was. Remote Touch also has several other adjustable parameters including the size and shape of the pointer, and the sounds of the feedback and pointer actions.
There's more to a vehicle's system of electronic controls than just its HMI controller, but we think Remote Touch is the best automotive remote-controller device on the market. -- Albert Austria, Vehicle Evaluation Engineer, Edmunds.com
altimadude00 says:
09:21 AM, 04/15/09
Is it just me, or does this force the rearrangement of car controls and further clutter the console?
greenpony says:
10:19 AM, 04/15/09
I didn't see a link to part I, so... http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/04/automotive-interfaces-part-i-touch-screen-or-idrive-.html
vvk says:
10:39 AM, 04/15/09
Remote Touch is not even "remotely" as good as the latest iDrive and MMI. It is missing the most important button of all -- the "back" button. Without it, you must always pay attention to the screen, unlike BMW and Audi systems that can be backed out by touch alone. RTI works really well to control the natigation system but not much else.
SnakeDoctor says:
11:13 AM, 04/15/09
wk -
Yes, RTI is mainly a Navi controller -- for now.
The BACK sw is in the corner of the display, consistent with current Lexus Navi HMI.
The haptic feedback helps with "blind operation," but you still must glance at the screen as on iDrive and MMI. I also find myself having to look down to operate the BACK sw on iDrive and MMI.
Evaluations of the new iDrive and MMI will be covered in the next few weeks -- stay tuned!
Regards,
Snake Doc
billt9 says:
02:23 PM, 04/15/09
Ya the Lexus "back" button is easy to press too...
"Back": Upper-right push --> Enter.
It's the same as closing a window in Microsoft Windows.
The idea seems to be making the control scheme intuitive to anyone who uses a computer.
billt9 says:
02:32 PM, 04/15/09
I tried configuring my desktop mouse's side button as a "back" button before, and I hated it.
I don't think I want a physical back button, as Lexus' product development research has shown.