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Wow…that looks good.
“Stylistically”…they’ve mated a TL with an iPod. Brilliant!
That center stack and display readout should be in every one of their vehicles next year. That would be a move in the right direction.
No way the production version will actually look that cool, assuming there will actually be a production version.
Yeah I was thinking TL also with the center layout, pretty nice. The dashboard display looks ridiculously busy though.
I actually like that too. Although it does have an awful lot of buttons.
Why not make the nifty touch screen a bit bigger, and eliminate a few of those?
They’ll crap on themselves when they figure the cost to build it, and then just re-use some cobalt components.
When it’s just CGI, GM can design with the best of them, but CGI is cheap.
Imagine if they pick the wrong plastic, and it yellows after a few years like an old iPod or MacBook. Ewwwwww.
But, since it is from GM, the more important questions are does it work now and will it work and look this good after 5-8 years of use?
They’ve improved it since the second conceptproduction showpiece by adding actual tactile demarcations on the buttons, which is nice.
The iPod’s nontactile interface works because it has, basically, two buttons. It’s hard to confuse two buttons. The console of an average car has a lot more, and generally you’re not using an iPod while hurtling down the highway at 50km/h or faster, a situation in which it’s nice to have big, easy-to-spot/grab/use buttons.
The current Toyota Camry, whatever it’s other sins, has got this nailed. Big buttons with big labels and lots of spacing.
That said, the ergonomics still suck. The buttons don’t look to have much feedback; they appear to work like microwave-oven buttons. The pictograms are small and the buttons undifferentiated and not well grouped (note how the climate controls are on either side of the audio controls). This is like the Honda Accord, only worse.
That gauge cluster looks way, way too busy as well, but that’s another whole discussion.
Imagine if they pick the wrong plastic, and it yellows after a few years like an old iPod or MacBook. Ewwwwww.
To nipick: generally, iPod/iBook plastic doesn’t yellow noticably with time. Apple hasn’t used that kind of material since the gumdrop iMacs and B&W G3s, and even those didn’t turn much. The old, biege models did, but that’s ten years ago.
It looks like a one-eyed robot sticking its tongue out. And not in a nice way.
Bad idea…
Console controls should be able to be operated intuitively by feel. The driver should not have to take their eyes off of the road in order to seek the interface control (button, dial, slider, etc) that they wish to adjust.
You can operate an iPod with it never having to leave your pocket. This control console looks as distracting as a cell phone.
Volt Center Stack: “Stylistically it looks mainly final like crap.”
Fixed your headline for ya!
It’s hideous.
Fellow design engineers everywhere are laughing maniacally at this ergonomic and tactile nightmare. Console controls should be operable under poor lighting, at highway speed, and/or while wearing gloves, yet this has all the charm and ease of use of a VCR endlessly flashing 12:00 12:00 12:00.
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the 4-way button right next to the CD slot? I wonder how many people will press that and then wonder why their CD hasn’t come out. You want some inspiration for your center console, look to Volvo… pure simplicity.
BlueEr03 :
November 18th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that the 4-way button right next to the CD slot? I wonder how many people will press that and then wonder why their CD hasn’t come out. You want some inspiration for your center console, look to Volvo… pure simplicity.
To be fair, the eject button is on the other side of the slot.
vaporwear
there is no way that will age well