I've owned a Model X for six years now and while Tesla's touchscreen UI is probably still the best in the industry, it is so surprising how many simple fundamentals of interface design they are not getting right.
I'm a UI designer myself and had some fun making this prototype that shows how easy it would be for car makers to improve usability and safety of their interfaces by making better use of the screens in their vehicles.
This won't eliminate the other downsides of touch interfaces in cars, but if we're stuck with them anyway, they might as well be as good as they can be.
Since releasing the "demo" video of my VR desktop operating system prototype, I've been spending some time diving deep into some of the design decisions and technical challenges along the way.
It's been great capturing this on video to make sure the thinking doesn't get lost over time. Maybe this will be an interesting look at the process of making up a new interface for some here.
Thanks! The way I think about hand tracking is that it has its applications, but has to be used very thoughtfully. The mouse is approachable and gives me access to my entire field of view just by moving my wrist a bit. Hand tracking can feel amazingly natural, but lifting my hand/arm and possibly reaching out is a lot more work which people won't realistically want to do too much over the course of a day.
If moving windows closer/further is a big use-case (which it isn't in my concept), I'd rather find an easy way to to that with the mouse than forcing people to reach out.
Yeah totally agree that this has no chance until HMDs get a lot more comfortable to wear, and better especially in the resolution department.
This is not a "2D apps on virtual screens" concept though. Every app can be freely moved, meaning there are no limitations to how you set up your workspace(s).
Also, I agree that there are SOME apps that will greatly benefit from making use of immersive/3D/stereo. But the significant majority of apps that you use today are great in 2D and will remain really great in 2D.
That's exactly what I focused on. :) I picked a very thin display panel and then hid it between the door and the glass. I'll probably post some more behind-the-scenes pictures of that.
I've owned a Model X for six years now and while Tesla's touchscreen UI is probably still the best in the industry, it is so surprising how many simple fundamentals of interface design they are not getting right.
I'm a UI designer myself and had some fun making this prototype that shows how easy it would be for car makers to improve usability and safety of their interfaces by making better use of the screens in their vehicles.
This won't eliminate the other downsides of touch interfaces in cars, but if we're stuck with them anyway, they might as well be as good as they can be.