Gesture Control

[GrahamFR]

if its anything as advanced and accurate as my kinect, we should all apply for a bus pass now lol

[Booth11]

I'm not a fan of moving key controls onto touch screens, as is the current trend, because it's bloody unsafe! So moving towards gesture controls seems bonkers to me. Style over function. I think they, the car designers, should be concentrating their efforts on finding ways to operate all essential controls from the steering wheel. Surely it's much safer to keep your eyes ahead and learn how to navigate the key controls whilst holding the steering wheel. If they put their minds to it you could have an F1 style steering wheel in which the driver could access 'almost' anything without needing to look across to a sodding touch screen. Which is both dangerous and clunky whilst on the move.

I wholeheartedly agree.

The inability to deliver a seemless touch screen system, does not instill confidence in anything more advanced.  It's one thing to have useful driver aids but anything that significantly causes driver distraction is unsafe.

I'm all for advances in tech but the lines are becoming too blurred, people are forgetting the basic requirements of driving a car, number one being focus on driving the thing.  A car is not an oversized smartphone, nor should it be.

[fredgroves]

I fully agree that touch screen controls are bloody useless when you are moving and dangerous because they need so much attention to try to use them.

However, remember that by putting everything through a software control makes the car cheaper to make - one unit to fit and that's it.

That's why they do it, whilst trying to persuade us all that its progress.

Sooner or later every button will be on the touch screen menus, from setting the AC to opening the window or the bonnet.

I'm sure in 10 years someone will look at this thread and think "what were they all moaning about" but...

Actually, you know what the problem is today with the touch screens - they are like first generation "have to push quite hard" with no predictive assistance. If you look at something like a modern Iphone, they manage, with a tiny screen, to give you a keyboard that you couldn't possibly expect to hit the keys... yet you do - because of the combination of the right screen hardware and some clever software.

Unfortunately, car manufacturers seem to be the slowest at adopting new technology. My washing machine will have AI before my car does.

[Hawaii-Five-O]

Fredgroves & Booth11 - totally agree with you.

I have no problem using flat, responsive, intuitive, touch screens when the care is static. It's when you're on the move that they're troublesome and downright dangerous. Many on here have said how distracting and dangerous operating menus via the central flat screen can be whilst driving.

I'm no expert but surely, in the name of progress AND safety, we have to use a combination of heads-up, flat screen in binnacle (like the new TT) and voice control. That way we should be able to access any technology in the car without having to mess around with poky, unresponsive centralised flat screen consoles - which are dangerous!

So, where does that leave gesture control. Well unless the technology can read facial gestures, or use thought control [see Firefox movie with Clint Eastwood] it still leaves us taking our hands off the steering wheel to give the car a command. No thanks.

[matchboy]

I think it looks great    Saw a few pics of this a while back from whatever car show VW were at, and the inside looks fantastic!  It's the future people, embrace it!  I'm sure some of you said the same things about the smart phones when they came out  ..."a phone should be for calling and nothing else blah blah blah...."  - it's the way things are going, and I'm sure they've thought of the 'danger' factor while using the gesture control while on the move!

I'd certainly delay ordering an R400 to wait for this new tech to be in the facelift Golf 

[GrahamFR]

I think it looks great    Saw a few pics of this a while back from whatever car show VW were at, and the inside looks fantastic!  It's the future people, embrace it!  I'm sure some of you said the same things about the smart phones when they came out  ..."a phone should be for calling and nothing else blah blah blah...."  - it's the way things are going, and I'm sure they've thought of the 'danger' factor while using the gesture control while on the move!

I'd certainly delay ordering an R400 to wait for this new tech to be in the facelift Golf 

Im sorry but i just cannot believe that VW would bring out the R400 for six months then change to the FL. The R400 and ED40 will be facelifts without a shadow of a doubt

[Hawaii-Five-O]

Im sorry but i just cannot believe that VW would bring out the R400 for six months then change to the FL. The R400 and ED40 will be facelifts without a shadow of a doubt

Slightly off topic. Sorry OP. I distinctly remember reading somewhere that VW are moving to a shorter update cycle of 5 years between major model changes (Mk7 >> Mk8 >> Mk9 etc). So I strongly doubt they'll be facelifting the Mk 7. Can't remember my source though.

[GrahamFR]

Im sorry but i just cannot believe that VW would bring out the R400 for six months then change to the FL. The R400 and ED40 will be facelifts without a shadow of a doubt

Slightly off topic. Sorry OP. I distinctly remember reading somewhere that VW are moving to a shorter update cycle of 5 years between major model changes (Mk7 >> Mk8 >> Mk9 etc). So I strongly doubt they'll be facelifting the Mk 7. Can't remember my source though.

Ahh but to steer greatly back to the topic of the OP, his link does say Facelifted golf....

[Booth11]

I think it looks great    Saw a few pics of this a while back from whatever car show VW were at, and the inside looks fantastic!  It's the future people, embrace it!  I'm sure some of you said the same things about the smart phones when they came out  ..."a phone should be for calling and nothing else blah blah blah...."  - it's the way things are going, and I'm sure they've thought of the 'danger' factor while using the gesture control while on the move!

I'd certainly delay ordering an R400 to wait for this new tech to be in the facelift Golf 

There's no doubt it would or does look great 

It's not about failing to embrace new technology, as said I'm all for that (got an new iPhone 6 plus this week).  It's about the technology actually working, properly without distracting the driver.  If they can achieve that, then fantastic, but at moment it's just not the case, current tech fails miserably on that score.

The current VW touch screens are crude, buggy and a world away from smartphone tech we take for granted.  If they can't replicate that usability in a touchscreen, which let's be honest have been around forever now it seems, then I seriously doubt their ability to give us a gesture control system which will acheive their and our aspirations on that score.

[Booth11]

Im sorry but i just cannot believe that VW would bring out the R400 for six months then change to the FL. The R400 and ED40 will be facelifts without a shadow of a doubt

Slightly off topic. Sorry OP. I distinctly remember reading somewhere that VW are moving to a shorter update cycle of 5 years between major model changes (Mk7 >> Mk8 >> Mk9 etc). So I strongly doubt they'll be facelifting the Mk 7. Can't remember my source though.

Yeah, it was new model every 5 years with a facelift every 3 years.