Bosch wasn’t the only automotive company at CES to debut a haptic touchscreen?the kind that registers inputs with a physical sensation like a vibration?Audi also brought one along. Two, in fact. Incorporated into a conceptual, forward-looking car-interior buck mimicking the e-tron Quattro concept‘s cabin, the display had three colossal screens; only the digital gauge cluster goes without touchability. We grabbed a seat in Audi’s pretend half-car to try out the interface that Audi says previews the next-generation A8 sedan.
Based on Audi’s next-generation MIB2+ infotainment architecture, the three screens are sharp and bright?Audi says the displays are AMOLED, or active-matrix organic LED?and don’t conform to the rectilinear display norm. The gauge-cluster screen, for example, is subtly curved, while the upper dashboard display isn’t a parallelogram, with its four sides tilted at different angles to create a leaning trapezoidal shape. Finally, the lower screen sits tilted just ahead of a palm rest on the center console. The few physical buttons on the dashboard can be found on the steering wheel; the only other hard input is the ignition button.
Astute Audi fans will note the lack of the brand’s signature MMI infotainment control knob, as well as the touchpad proliferating through the automaker’s current lineup. That’s because Audi refers to this control layout as MMI Touch Response, the future. And MMI Touch Respon...