How to make large touch screens usable while driving

Rümelin, Sonja; Butz, Andreas · 2013 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1145/2516540.2516557

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Summary

This paper addresses the usability and safety challenges of large touch screens in automotive environments, specifically focusing on minimizing visual distraction while driving. The authors argue that while large screens offer flexible functionality, they lack the haptic guidance of physical controls, forcing drivers to rely on visual attention to locate interactive elements. To mitigate this, the study investigates three novel interaction concepts designed to leverage proprioception, haptic anchors, and position-independent gestures, comparing them against a standard remote-controlled multifunctional knob. The researchers conducted a comparative study using a driving simulator with 40 participants. Participants performed secondary tasks involving music player control (e.g., play, pause, skip) while maintaining lane keeping and following distance. Five interfaces were tested: **SpaceTouch** (large direct touch buttons maximizing target size), **KnobTouch** (touch buttons arranged around a physical knob for haptic orientation), **SwipeTouch** (position-independent swipe gestures), **SmallTouch** (standard-sized direct touch buttons), and **RemoteControl** (a conventional rotary knob). Metrics included task completion time, error rates, visual distraction (measured via eye-tracking), subjective usability, and driving performance. The results indicated that **SpaceTouch** provided the fastest task completion times, significantly outperforming the remote controller and other touch interfaces. However, despite the large button size (60x78 mm), it did not enable fully blind interaction, requiring slightly more visual attention than the remote controller. **SwipeTouch** achieved the lowest visual distraction, with the shortest mean glance duration (403 ms) and the highest proportion of tasks performed without looking at the screen (34.7%). Conversely, **KnobTouch** resulted in the longest glance times and highest number of glances per task, likely due to the complexity of orienting around the physical anchor. Error rates were generally low, though smaller buttons in SmallTouch led to more misplaced touches. Crucially, no significant negative effects on driving performance (lane deviation or following distance) were observed for any interface. The study concludes that large touch screens can be made usable for driving by adapting interaction strategies to specific goals. Direct touch with enlarged targets is optimal for speed and efficiency, while touch gestures are superior for minimizing visual distraction. The authors suggest that future designs should consider context-aware adaptations, such as adjusting button sizes based on driving conditions, or combining modalities to balance speed and safety. The findings highlight that while direct touch offers faster interaction, it requires careful design to reduce the visual load associated with locating targets on a flat surface.

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

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• in vehicle displays
• infotainment
• hud ar windshield
• control interfaces

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: design guidelines