Hyundai is experimenting with two touchscreens in the steering wheel

Hyundai is working on an i30 test car to test the use of a steering wheel on which two fairly large touchscreens are placed. The touchscreens can be used for all sorts of commands that can be set, such as indicating the direction.

The two touchscreens are positioned close to where the driver normally has his hands on the steering wheel and can therefore be operated directly with his thumbs. The screens can be configured as desired and up to five virtual buttons can be configured. The information shown on the two screens changes according to the menu selected and the specific driving situation. In addition, there is support for haptic feedback, for which two actuator modules are present per screen.

According to Hyundai, this innovation is part of a series of updates that the South Korean manufacturer has made to the steering wheels of its cars in recent years. The purpose of these two touch-sensitive screens in the steering wheel is to make certain commands more intuitive and easy to use. The company says it has often found a “substantial number of buttons” on its own cars and those of competitors in recent years. Hyundai wants to reduce this with, among other things, the screens in the steering wheel in order to create a ‘clean interface’.

Hyundai reports that it recently conducted a study together with a German institute into distractions drivers encounter while driving, and also looked at the user-friendliness of the two touchscreens in the steering wheel. In all tested situations, the ‘virtual cockpit’ of the test car would remain well below the distraction limits set by various motor vehicle safety organizations. In the most complex situations, test subjects would have experienced at most a small degree of distraction, which had no further influence on the driving task.

The virtual cockpit of which Hyundai speaks is also formed by a multi-layer display that replaces the traditional instrument panel behind the wheel. These are in fact two screens placed one behind the other with a space of 6 mm. According to Hyundai, this distance makes 3D effects possible and that would lead to less distraction when ‘guiding’ the driver’s attention. The most relevant information, such as the speed limit, is displayed on the front screen to instantly capture the user’s attention.

Although the i30 is an existing hatchback in the carmaker’s range, the new virtual cockpit is in early development and is still just a prototype. This means that no Hyundai cars with this concept will go on sale for the time being. When that will be the case is still unknown.