Lexus Considers Move Back to Touchscreen Interfaces

[krew]

krew

Lexus to Move Back to Touchscreen Infotainment Interface

Switch is in the works.

View the original article post

 

[flexus]

Remote touch is great idea. Like a computer you can control the screen without moving. But in reality people want touchscreen.

 

[Deusex]

I Always liked the touch screen better, way faster and easier to use. Plus it makes the interior look much more futuristic. Just compare interior of Audi Q8 with RX. In my opinion all those touch screens on Q8 look much better. It makes RX in comparison look like it was made in 90's.
So for me Lexus made a right decision.

 

[RAL]

a return to fingerprint heaven ... Maybe there is an anti-print coating for plastic.

 

[spwolf]

I Always liked the touch screen better, way faster and easier to use. Plus it makes the interior look much more futuristic. Just compare interior of Audi Q8 with RX. In my opinion all those touch screens on Q8 look much better. It makes RX in comparison look like it was made in 90's.
So for me Lexus made a right decision.

It is pretty ironic that main reason Lexus ever got away from touchscreens was that media wrote how it was same as Toyota and how Germans have much better remote interfaces and how touch screens were passe...

 

[mediumhot]

We have had feedback that there are some things that functionally, you have to dig down through menus to get to. The consumers don’t like that, both with us and competitors

This has zero to do with input method. I'm frankly not sure what he wanted to achieve here by saying that.

I'm not surprised Lexus is once again chasing a trend that's really not a trend anymore. By the time they do touchscreens something else will come up and they will be late once again. Remote Touch was a great idea ruined by poor execution and Lexus didn't do whole a lot to improve it. Touchpad itself does not adapt sensitivity while vehicle is moving, it's cluttered with options to tap on screen with such a small touchpad surface and thus it requires some learning curve. But everything was fixable. Side window on the main screen lacked hardware number keypad next to touchpad for example. There is no need to track all the way to the right of the screen to get to the list, instead list should have been numbered from 1-0 and you could easily access any item on the list by simply pressing a numpad key. So solutions were there they were just not implemented.

There is no better input method than muscle memory while hand is resting. As soon as touchscreen requires you to lift your hand and take your eyes of the road for significant time (or like new Audis that require you to look down to adjust climate control for a lot longer than you would with simple knob) that's already a problem. Btw new Audi interiors are horrible, look great on pictures but in person its just a mess. Great for Audi cause its cheaper for them to build screens instead of switch gear but that screen galore of redundant information is comical. Especially all digital dash on both Audi and BMW looks mega cheap and just poorly implemented, that's one aspect of interior design that Lexus still kills with proper mixture of analogue and digital.

 

[ssun30]

It is pretty ironic that main reason Lexus ever got away from touchscreens was that media wrote how it was same as Toyota and how Germans have much better remote interfaces and how touch screens were passe...

Which is true. 2000s touchscreen tech were terrible while wheel controls work really well till this day.

 

[meth.ix]

a return to fingerprint heaven ... Maybe there is an anti-print coating for plastic.

read this article: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a26343509/ppg-smudge-resistant-infotainment-screen/

 

[Joe]

The RTI touchpad has a lot of pros and cons.
Personally, I like it, but not every aspect of it. For me, I think it has more to do with the menu structure than the use of the touchpad itself. Some people like to use it with lowest force feedback, I like it in the highest feedback position. The main issue remains the input of town and street destinations for GPS functionality. To scroll over the screen's keyboard I use two fingers without leaving the touchpad and pushing the pad down as 'enter' function instead of tapping it twice. For me this is the easiest way to do it, but it remains rather dangerous to do this while driving.

The other issue is the number of functions that are hidden in the central menu without direct button access. This is mainly the case with LS and LC. It is simply too complex to get to the extended seat controls and climate controls (even if the Climate Concierge is doing a great job).

So mostly it is not very intuitive, but as a user you get used to it over time.

Ideally, the combination of touch screen and touch pad would be a nice one. But then again, there is a strong need of rethinking of the menu structure to make it more intuitive.

After all these years working for the Lexus brand, I am still surprised of the fact that Toyota and Lexus are rather slow on reaction to customers' requirements. I suppose this is one of the downsides of the Toyota Kaizen philosophy, which slows down the actual go-to-market procedure apparently? Or perhaps it has to do with the financial investment to use a certain number of parts over the years in different models?

 

[TroyHoward]

What sucks for me (my personal gripe)... I was planning to buy a used LS500 in 2020 after my RAV4 lease matured in March. But now, knowing that the touchscreen interface is coming back to the Lexus brand, I will absolutely wait to purchase my LS500 just because of that. I like many don't care for the mouse pad but I was willing to deal with it since there was no other option. That appears to be no longer the case, which is great.

If I'm fortunate, Android Auto will be available as well since I'm an Android user solely. That wasn't a deal breaker but it would be a bonus.

 

[Jezza819]

I've seen more durability issues with touch screen units over the years versus non touch input systems. After a few years the touch doesn't respond then it's thousands of dollars to fix. I would rather stick with non touch interface systems.

 

[Joe]

What sucks for me (my personal gripe)... I was planning to buy a used LS500 in 2020 after my RAV4 lease matured in March. But now, knowing that the touchscreen interface is coming back to the Lexus brand, I will absolutely wait to purchase my LS500 just because of that. I like many don't care for the mouse pad but I was willing to deal with it since there was no other option. That appears to be no longer the case, which is great.

If I'm fortunate, Android Auto will be available as well since I'm an Android user solely. That wasn't a deal breaker but it would be a bonus.

Android Auto and Apple Car Play are normally planned for all models in the future. Introduction will depend on model year change and region.

But if you want to wait for a second hand LS with touchscreen functionalities, I am afraid that you will have to be very patient... In the best case, they will provide this in the LS at the next face-lift stage, which surely still is 2 or 3 years away... But then again, this would also require a solid change in the dashboard design, as the screen would need to move closer to the seating position. In the RX this is quite easy to perform, because the screen is a stand alone design. In the LS the big screen is completely integrated in the dash structure and makes an integrated part of the horizontal linear design. So moving the screen more forward would require a much bigger design change than a traditional face-lift.

 

[RAL]

I have never used remote touch to type in an address. I always use voice command which proves to be very easy. I've found it even works when street name pronunciation is "iffy".

 

[Jezza819]

I have never used remote touch to type in an address. I always use voice command which proves to be very easy. I've found it even works when street name pronunciation is "iffy".

That's funny because I've never used the voice command for address input. It did such a terrible job trying to make a phone call that I just stopped using it for everything. I might have to give it another chance with an address and see what happens.

 

[spwolf]

Almost 10 months now owning the Stinger with the touchscreen interface and no way would I trade that for the current RTI/screen setup Lexus offers.

I don't like the smudges and the screen although closer requires my head to turn more to the right taking my eyes/peripheral vision a little further away from the road. Journalists (mainly) complain about the RTI stating it's distracting but fail to point out that the Lexus screen is further back and more in the line of sight of the driver than a closer touchscreen can ever be. The few journalists that have actually had a Lexus for a longer period of time ended up warming up to the interface more.

Now, having experienced both the "mouse" and touchpad RTIs on my Lexus vehicles over the years, I do prefer the touchpad. Set to the lowest force feedback setting, the control is accurate and simple with the swipe and tap of a finger. On the other hand, the mouse requires more physical control and movement which can get more easily perturbed over rough roads overshooting the selection (and the main source of journalists' "complaints").

If Lexus pursues a touchscreen, I would hope it's to have the touchpad as touchscreen and to leave the 10-12" screen (or larger in the future) in its current ergonomically correct and safer place. It also looks cool and unique making it different than the mainstream closer touchscreen that the vast majority of cars are designed with.

i think they should pick one option and stick with it, simply because touchpad does require a lot of storage space that could be better used for your phone, etc.

But at the same time, you are correct that just adding touch to current screens wont help that much as they might be a bit far away... so maybe they will wait until redesigns? I don't think new Highlander screen looks bad for instance or out of line of sight.

As you noted, for whatever reason, Lexus sets their factory sensitivity to high... at low, it works very well but i would guess most people and especially journalists never try that.

Another thing is that they desperately need to keep increasing graphics quality, it is better now in Lexus, still not great in Toyota... it needs to keep improving on yearly basis.

 

[Joe]

The Lexus ES got shortlisted in the Belgian election for 'Lease car of the Year' in the 'Executive category' by Alphabet Lease. Unfortunately, we lost the battle to Audi A6 and BMW X5 in this category due to the lack of user friendliness of the infotainment system. The ES lost this battle to Audi A6 as n°1 and BMW X5 as n°2 despite of its superior comfort, interesting fiscal position and low TCO. The jury consisted of journalists, fleet managers and leasing experts.

(On the other hand, there was a very nice victory for Toyota: the new Corolla hatchback hybrid was elected as best in the business compact class, beating the Ford Focus and Mercedes-Benz A-class)

 

[Will1991]

Why not going for touch screen with some shortcut buttons like Toyota?

The other day was testing the new Corolla Hybrid and their system was very easy to use! A crappy resolution and a bit slow to respond but very easy to use.

 

[spwolf]

Why not going for touch screen with some shortcut buttons like Toyota?

The other day was testing the new Corolla Hybrid and their system was very easy to use! A crappy resolution and a bit slow to respond but very easy to use.

to do touchscreen only, they have to redesign complete dashboard first... in most vehicles, screen is now too far away.

But I would really take Highlander as example of how it will likely look in many future Lexus's as well.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

The other issue is the number of functions that are hidden in the central menu without direct button access. This is mainly the case with LS and LC. It is simply too complex to get to the extended seat controls and climate controls (even if the Climate Concierge is doing a great job).

I can't speak to the LC, but the LS500 has a button on the center console that goes directly to the extended seat control screen.

 

[ross7777]

to do touchscreen only, they have to redesign complete dashboard first... in most vehicles, screen is now too far away.

But I would really take Highlander as example of how it will likely look in many future Lexus's as well.

Do they really expect people to be able to reach the far right side of that screen? My wife is 5’2”. I doubt she could comfortably use that touch screen. It’s mounted too high.