Nice interior huh? And how 'bout that 7-inch touchscreen display slapped onto the center console. Pretty sweet right? You're looking at the inside of VW's third iteration of their Space Up! -- the Space Up! blue -- just revealed at the LA auto show. Now try this on. Reader Joona wonders if this is the result of recent collaborations between
Apple and VW. After thinking about it some, we're starting to wonder too. As
Autoblog describes it, the concept touchscreen monitor "controls all conceivable functions" and is meant to demonstrate how future human-machine interfaces might look and operate. The touchscreen (no mention of multi-touch support) uses proximity sensors to react to
gestures, apparently,
without actually touching the display. The user can simply
touch the "main menu carousel" to navigate to the desired category or manipulate the system with simple hand gestures near the display.
Autoblog says, "Visually, this control is just as spectacular as it is intuitive." Now, chew on this for a second. VW announced earlier this week that all new VW models in
2008 2009 will have touchscreens. Is this what Apple has in store for us at January's MacWorld? Who knows, but it's a compelling story, eh? Now, anyone have a video of this in action? A few more pics after the break.
Update: Found a video on YouTube. It's a slightly older version of the Space Up! revealed in Tokyo but the control panel looks the same. Interface in action at about 1:10 in and then again at 4:00.
Update 2: Jumpin' Johosephat, reader Rat128 just nailed it. That looks like cover flow on the dashboard. In fact, that artwork is from Jack Johnson's
In Between Dreams... an
Apple fave.
Update 3: Second video found courtesy of
Edmonds Car Space showing a slightly different design of the carousel in much more detail, quirks and all.
Read -- All VWs to get touch screens
Read -- Space Up! blue
posted Nov 16th 2007 at 8:31AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jonnytechno @ Nov 16th 2007 6:11AM
Check the movies icon, it is the same as in Leopard!
quomen @ Nov 16th 2007 6:11AM
No, interface was developed by MICROSOFT!
deep @ Nov 16th 2007 9:07AM
No, interface was COPIED by MICRO$OFT.
Joe S. @ Nov 16th 2007 7:00PM
Microsoft still hasn't figured out how to miniaturize there PC hidden by coffee table.
Vega @ Nov 16th 2007 6:21AM
The mirror effect of the icons looks very "keynote" to me.
Also, remember this:
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/08/29/volkswagen-apple-working-on-icar/
Jim @ Nov 16th 2007 6:21AM
the motion gestures will be a real downfall for Italians everywhere, especially the angry ones. (in case you didnt know, italians talk with their hands...i should know, i do, and i am italian)
Ryan Trevisol @ Nov 16th 2007 7:15AM
^^ Another gesturing Italian . . . I have to type with-a one hand, and I slap-a you face with the other!
Seriously, you guys need to simmer down with the Apple news already. Didn't you guys hear? It's Google that's going to be ubiquitous in our everyday lives, because they GIVE things away. That's how they get their hooks. Apple still makes you pony up the dough.
Greg @ Nov 16th 2007 9:30AM
I don't see Google as overtaking Apple anytime soon.
Until then, Apple's the cool company in the IT biz
netFamous @ Nov 16th 2007 3:14PM
Google - Gives things away.
Microsoft - Makes you pay.
Apple - Makes you WANT to pay (and makes you wish there were more things to buy!)
Apple wins.
jay @ Nov 16th 2007 4:51PM
netFamous @ Nov 16th 2007 3:14PM
Said
Google - Gives things away.
Microsoft - Makes you pay.
Apple - Makes you WANT to pay (and makes you wish there were more things to buy!)
Apple wins.
Which is almost right but better put would be
Google - Gives things away but makes you view ads to get it.
Microsoft - Makes you pay even for things you don't want.
Apple - Makes you WANT to pay (and makes you wish there were more things to buy!)
Apple wins.
michael @ Nov 16th 2007 4:42PM
@netfamous:
Not true for all 3:
Google : Lots of freeware (but price is sometimes in the form of ads)
Microsoft : Makes you pay, but does include freeware (Windows Live services; Live Writer, Live Mail, etc.)
Apple : Makes you pay (some is high quality, sometimes its not)
So companies are not all one-sided you know. It's just playing the game.
Guglielmo Piegare @ Nov 17th 2007 11:46PM
a Jim: ahahahahah, d'accordo.
I think that there is no question that this is Apple. I mean, come on, if Apple didn't make it, I wouldn't be licking my screen right now.
William @ Nov 16th 2007 6:23AM
Wow!
What a great way to cause accidents !!!
Navigating a menu system while driving a car. Duuuuhhhhh.
wireless.nemo @ Nov 16th 2007 8:46AM
Mhmmmm... that's why any touchscreen based navigation system that are in place now are all disabled once the car is put into drive. It's only controlled via voice.
This wont make it to market. And if it will, it will be severely disabled, or only usable when the car is in park.
Grant G @ Nov 18th 2007 2:22AM
It most certainly will be usable while in motion, it may integrate the seat sensor (like how the good ol passenger seatbelt light works on most cars) to make sure it is not the driver operating it, but that could probably be disabled.
Even at that, it will probably just have a "car in motion" warning like most GPS units currently have.
PJK @ Nov 16th 2007 6:58AM
Good lord, not an iCar, with an anodised aluminium shell and scratch proof windscreen. That uses proprietary petrol you can only buy through Apple iGas resellers.
PJK @ Nov 16th 2007 6:59AM
Also the batteries not user replaceable, HAH!
phoomp @ Nov 16th 2007 9:31AM
Scratch proof? Maybe if you purchase a 3rd party accessory.
Jeff P. @ Nov 16th 2007 9:31AM
It would only be scratch-proof if you added the third-party car cover.
jackalope @ Nov 17th 2007 7:43PM
Sweet! For regular maintenance, you'd just dock it with iTuneups. I wonder if you have to steer with a giant touch wheel though.
(Just kidding. Unless Apple can teach VW anything about reliable electronics, I'm sticking with my WRX.)
Kev Orng @ Dec 6th 2007 10:45AM
At least the price would be locked at 99 cents a litre in perpetuity.
Wwhat @ Nov 16th 2007 6:59AM
Now the wait till a french company makes it look nice.
gjp303 @ Nov 16th 2007 4:04PM
You French and your cocky attitudes.
Wwhat @ Nov 16th 2007 5:00PM
I'm not french, but im my experience they often manage nice dashboards.
Lance @ Nov 16th 2007 7:05AM
But will it play doom?
MARSHAK @ Nov 17th 2007 3:13PM
it won't have to. play with the screen while driving and its game over anyway.
michael @ Nov 16th 2007 7:07AM
Photoshop?
Wwhat @ Nov 16th 2007 7:08AM
That car in the video is awful I think, and stupidly deigned, it seems they expect people to only get out or into cars when it's parked on some large empty space with 20 yards of room on all sides, nice example of designers being detached from reality.
And the trunkspace is laughable so you end up putting your gear on the seats, killing yo instantly in a collision..
But ok it's about the interface, excuse me for getting off the topic
mike @ Nov 16th 2007 1:07PM
You do realize that concept cars usually have impractical suicide doors like this so that they can show off the interior better at shows? Many, many production cars now on the road had suicide or some other novelty style doors in concept form, and then they were eschewed for more practical conventional doors. Apparently being tech-savy (or atleast interested) does not equate to having any automotive knowledge or common sense.
Wwhat @ Nov 16th 2007 5:02PM
Hey if they call it 'concept' then they should try to be a little bit more realistic, and the video clearly pushes the doors as being so great.
And if they as you say do that all the time they had time enough to quit doing it.
tr @ Nov 18th 2007 2:51PM
"Hey if they call it 'concept' then they should try to be a little bit more realistic"
wait...what? what part of "concept" don't you understand???
Wwhat @ Nov 19th 2007 7:20PM
Generally they make 'concepts' not simply for show, because then it would be named 'showdesigns', the 'concept' part is meant as a testcase for a possible future product, and therefore should include enough practicality to make it possible to produce and be usable by people.
Now please tell me what they told you about the word 'concept'.
SteveJ @ Nov 16th 2007 7:10AM
Cool. Now they just need someone to design a power window that doesn't break every 40,000 miles.
peshue @ Nov 16th 2007 7:10AM
That's nice, but I can already access all the controls in my car with out any menus at all. I see zero benefit of this over good ol' buttons and knobs. It's just a very expensivee piece of equipment to break. I think anyone who's had problems with the instrument panel on many luxury type cars knows how much it sucks to have to pay huge amounts of money to fix what could have been a plain old gauge.
Jeff P. @ Nov 16th 2007 9:35AM
Unfortunately what appear to be "plain old gauges" are actually electronic indicators. Speaking from experience I can tell you that they're not cheap either.
michael @ Nov 16th 2007 7:11AM
Since when is the engine a trunk? : )
Wwhat @ Nov 16th 2007 5:04PM
OH for ages, since the flintstones I understand
Wodheila @ Nov 16th 2007 7:40AM
Visual diversions with touch screens, and that actually includes GPS or anything with subtending menus, are a driving distraction plain and simple. Spotted on I-10 south pf Phoenix this week was a young woman on a hand held cell doing something with her GPS. Traffic? quite busy. Speed about 78.
got2bwireless @ Nov 16th 2007 7:50AM
Is this an LCD screen? What happens when the temp falls below zero degrees in the winter? I've seen people who have left their cell phones in cars and the LCD freezes and cracks. Not to mention will it work if you are wearing gloves. Also what about the extreme heat like in Phoenix where the temp inside your car can reach 150 degrees won't the screen just go dark until it can recover to normal temp. If you have to rely on the screen for heat or a/c you may be out of luck in extreme temps.
patsy @ Nov 16th 2007 8:30AM
Damn, you better email VW pronto about that, it seems they haven't sold any cars in Phoenix and Minneapolis so far.
Speed @ Nov 16th 2007 8:00AM
"Reader Joona wonders if this is the result of recent collaborations between Apple and VW."
Would Apple ever release a product that wasn't clearly branded? They're not known for hiding their software under a basket ... or a dashboard.
Wwhat @ Nov 19th 2007 7:41PM
Well VW isn't exactly something that would help apple's image, they are a brand meant for the (very) common (cheap) folks.
I'm not trolling incidentally, that's just what their market is as far as I know.
rat128 @ Nov 16th 2007 8:02AM
If you look at the other pictures on Autoblog it looks like album art shows up next to the speed guage. I think Jack Johnson.
lailoken @ Nov 16th 2007 8:07AM
Didn't Apple agree to develop such a system exclusively for Mercedes Benz?
Maestro @ Nov 16th 2007 8:09AM
Nice...one more thing to break in my Touareg. Over 3 yrs it has spent about 8 weeks in the shop.
Jared @ Nov 16th 2007 9:36AM
I feel your pain, I bought a 2001.5 Passat (New), my mother in law has a newer Beetle, my friend had a newer Jetta, all of us have had inexcusable problems with our cars.
My car is now approaching 130k miles and the reason I didn't sell it was because I didn't want someone else to have to deal with all the issues I had become used to dealing with. So I've decided to drive it into the ground.
I will *never* buy a VW again (or Audi for that matter), and I always make it a point to bring up the issues I've experienced with them to hopefully save someone else the same pain.
D W @ Nov 16th 2007 11:55AM
Glad I'm not alone.
Had a Y2K VW Jetta that cost more in repairs than any car I've ever owned. Heated seats shorted, taking out my odometer, clock, AC and radio - since I was driving backroads at night, it wasn't very well timed. Thats only one problem - had to replace the glow plugs every SUMMER thanks to plug #3 going out on a regular basis (yeah it was a TDI). Had the check engine light on for 2 out of 5 years I owned it. Ended up trading it in for $2k towards a Jeep - thing was worth more, but the dash had a check engine, brake failure and two others I don't recall - all of them checked out to be bogus sensors, but would cost more than $3k to repair.
So I wonder what would happen if you got the inevitable check engine light in this car... would it get the colorful spinning top, or the waiting clock icon?
D W @ Nov 16th 2007 11:59AM
Forgot to mention - will the tail lights burn out every 6 weeks like every other VW sold since 1998? Don't tell me you never noticed!
Next time you drive behind a VW at night, count the number of burned out bulbs...
Andrew Harrison @ Nov 16th 2007 5:52PM
hmm
i have a golf mk5 that's now 2 years old, and - literally - the only problem i've ever had with it is if you try to adjust the right mirror, it also adjusts the left mirror at the same time. it started happening about a week ago, but it was already booked in for a service next week, so they can fix it then.
nikster @ Nov 16th 2007 6:48PM
The Golf is the only quality car VW makes. My mom has a 10 year old Golf that pretty much drives like new - amazing. But it makes sense if you consider that in Germany, every second car is a Golf.
Other than that, all my VW-owning friends had tons of issues with their cars. I love their designs but QA really sucks badly. The extended warranty is actually a really good deal on a new VW ;)