Gesture Control

[matchboy]

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.

I don't have any problem with my touchscreen (other than it didn't work a few times first thing in the morning during the winter, but that only lasted a few mins).  Yes, they are no where near as slick as an iPhone or something like that, but for the car I think its just fine - it does its job.

Also, I don't see any difference between the new technology and an old school tape deck.  Everything distracts the driver.  Even a passenger can distract a driver.  It's up to the person in control of the car to assess the situation when using the dials/controls/gestures at the safest moment.  Fiddling around with your radio, whether it be an old school button/a dial/new fangled hand movements at the same moment as, say, coming towards a load of red lights on a motorway will result in you missing the brake lights/screeching to a halt - whether you're swiping with your arm or fiddling with a dial.  Best to wait till you've dealt with the situation on the road, then fiddle with what you need to do.  Same as mucking around with the temperature controls while going round a sharp bend - it's irrelevant whether it's a dial or whether you're twirling your finger round in a circle to up the temperature - either way you're not concentrating on the road, and you should be waiting until you're on a straight.  Personally, I don't like making calls while I'm driving, even though it's via bluetooth.  Often I'll ignore the call until I get home, as I don't like being distracted while driving.  Saying that, the feature is very handy 

And even if it doesn't work all that well, it still looks very cool 

[Booth11]

Blimey, tape decks in cars, that takes me back.

You make some fair points matchboy, but we're are so interconnected with our various 'devices' these days (I'm no different) that it's easier to get drawn into fiddling about with these things, and continuing to fiddle with them if they don't do what we want the first time, or the second, or the third.....and so on.   At least with a cassette you just shoved it in, listed to one side, ejected it, turned it over shoved it back in and listened to the other side.  In those days people did actually listen to whole albums and not just a collection of random tracks as is the modern way  so arguably there was less messing about once the tape was playing.

It takes more discipline to ignore today's tech when it gets a bit twitchy and focus on the driving.  Like you I try to avoid changing stereo, aircon settings etc, etc when the attention needs to be on the road, and make very few calls on the move.  But it's other drivers who are less disciplined that would worry me, you only have to look around when you're in traffic to see everyone head down and texting.  What do you think those people are going to be like with their fancy new gesture control?  Terrifying 

I'll be pleased if the current touchscreen tech in the MK7, and the forthcoming MIB Gen2 (if I ever get my R) is an improvement on the Mk6, which frankly, is a piece of crap!

[GrahamFR]

Blimey, tape decks in cars, that takes me back.

You make some fair points matchboy, but we're are so interconnected with our various 'devices' these days (I'm no different) that it's easier to get drawn into fiddling about with these things, and continuing to fiddle with them if they don't do what we want the first time, or the second, or the third.....and so on.   At least with a cassette you just shoved it in, listed to one side, ejected it, turned it over shoved it back in and listened to the other side.  Mind you, in those days people did actually listen to whole albums and not just flick from track to track as is the modern way 

It takes more discipline to ignore today's tech when it gets a bit twitchy and focus on the driving.  Like you I try to avoid changing stereo, aircon settings etc, etc when the attention needs to be on the road, and make very few calls on the move.  But it's other drivers who are less disciplined that would worry me, you only have to look around when you're in traffic to see everyone head down and texting.  What do you think those people are going to be like with their fancy new gesture control?  Terrifying 

I'll be pleased if the current touchscreen tech in the MK7, and the forthcoming MIB Gen2 (if I ever get my R) is an improvement on the Mk6, which frankly, is a piece of crap!

...T...a.a.a....p....e...? Nope, never heard of it

[Booth11]

Blimey, tape decks in cars, that takes me back.

You make some fair points matchboy, but we're are so interconnected with our various 'devices' these days (I'm no different) that it's easier to get drawn into fiddling about with these things, and continuing to fiddle with them if they don't do what we want the first time, or the second, or the third.....and so on.   At least with a cassette you just shoved it in, listed to one side, ejected it, turned it over shoved it back in and listened to the other side.  Mind you, in those days people did actually listen to whole albums and not just flick from track to track as is the modern way 

It takes more discipline to ignore today's tech when it gets a bit twitchy and focus on the driving.  Like you I try to avoid changing stereo, aircon settings etc, etc when the attention needs to be on the road, and make very few calls on the move.  But it's other drivers who are less disciplined that would worry me, you only have to look around when you're in traffic to see everyone head down and texting.  What do you think those people are going to be like with their fancy new gesture control?  Terrifying 

I'll be pleased if the current touchscreen tech in the MK7, and the forthcoming MIB Gen2 (if I ever get my R) is an improvement on the Mk6, which frankly, is a piece of crap!

...T...a.a.a....p....e...? Nope, never heard of it

Oh, you've not lived!

[matchboy]

Blimey, tape decks in cars, that takes me back.

You make some fair points matchboy, but we're are so interconnected with our various 'devices' these days (I'm no different) that it's easier to get drawn into fiddling about with these things, and continuing to fiddle with them if they don't do what we want the first time, or the second, or the third.....and so on.   At least with a cassette you just shoved it in, listed to one side, ejected it, turned it over shoved it back in and listened to the other side.  Mind you, in those days people did actually listen to whole albums and not just flick from track to track as is the modern way 

It takes more discipline to ignore today's tech when it gets a bit twitchy and focus on the driving.  Like you I try to avoid changing stereo, aircon settings etc, etc when the attention needs to be on the road, and make very few calls on the move.  But it's other drivers who are less disciplined that would worry me, you only have to look around when you're in traffic to see everyone head down and texting.  What do you think those people are going to be like with their fancy new gesture control?  Terrifying 

I'll be pleased if the current touchscreen tech in the MK7, and the forthcoming MIB Gen2 (if I ever get my R) is an improvement on the Mk6, which frankly, is a piece of crap!

...T...a.a.a....p....e...? Nope, never heard of it

Oh, you've not lived!

Don't you just hate people who are too young to remember tape decks in cars 

Yes, I'm very guilty of flicking between tracks - I never listen to a full album 

I totally agree about the other people - I see so many morons texting, actually on their phones (non bluetooth), not paying attention to their mirrors etc etc - so the thought of them waving their arms about turning the air con on is indeed terrifying 

[GrahamFR]

Blimey, tape decks in cars, that takes me back.

You make some fair points matchboy, but we're are so interconnected with our various 'devices' these days (I'm no different) that it's easier to get drawn into fiddling about with these things, and continuing to fiddle with them if they don't do what we want the first time, or the second, or the third.....and so on.   At least with a cassette you just shoved it in, listed to one side, ejected it, turned it over shoved it back in and listened to the other side.  Mind you, in those days people did actually listen to whole albums and not just flick from track to track as is the modern way 

It takes more discipline to ignore today's tech when it gets a bit twitchy and focus on the driving.  Like you I try to avoid changing stereo, aircon settings etc, etc when the attention needs to be on the road, and make very few calls on the move.  But it's other drivers who are less disciplined that would worry me, you only have to look around when you're in traffic to see everyone head down and texting.  What do you think those people are going to be like with their fancy new gesture control?  Terrifying 

I'll be pleased if the current touchscreen tech in the MK7, and the forthcoming MIB Gen2 (if I ever get my R) is an improvement on the Mk6, which frankly, is a piece of crap!

...T...a.a.a....p....e...? Nope, never heard of it

Oh, you've not lived!

Don't you just hate people who are too young to remember tape decks in cars 

Yes, I'm very guilty of flicking between tracks - I never listen to a full album 

I totally agree about the other people - I see so many morons texting, actually on their phones (non bluetooth), not paying attention to their mirrors etc etc - so the thought of them waving their arms about turning the air con on is indeed terrifying 

ok ok i remember seeing tape decks, I used to have my booster seat on the middle seat after all

[Booth11]

Don't you just hate people who are too young to remember tape decks in cars 

Yep 

ok ok i remember seeing tape decks, I used to have my booster seat on the middle seat after all

Booster seats!  They are for wusses, bloody pampered kids these days    Didn't have them in my kidhood, survived to tell the tale 

[monkeyhanger]

Don't you just hate people who are too young to remember tape decks in cars 

Yep 

ok ok i remember seeing tape decks, I used to have my booster seat on the middle seat after all

Booster seats!  They are for wusses, bloody pampered kids these days    Didn't have them in my kidhood, survived to tell the tale 

Me neither - I remember many a 320 mile trip between Hartlepool and Southampton sat in the boot of my Dad's Granada estate, being one of five kids. No gameboys or portable DVD players back to keep me entertained either, just the view out of the back window.

[charv94]

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.

Ferrari are slammed in the press for having the steering wheel with to many buttons and so difficult to comprehend that they wish they had a normal i drive style system

[Hawaii-Five-O]

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.

Ferrari are slammed in the press for having the steering wheel with to many buttons and so difficult to comprehend that they wish they had a normal i drive style system

A fair point but I'm sure VW/Audi group engineers could crack it. They're ergonomics are usually superb.