INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The interface available in cars will dictate the future of driving
The more intuitive the controls, the easier we can navigate through menus, and the more fluidly we can find autonomous driving features, the
Control buttons, as they're called, made driving more enjoyable
I was able to easily move my left thumb over to the 'magic' button on my left to control the gauge cluster (the display above the steering
wheel) and them use my right thumb to tap and scroll through menus for the main center console.Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Mercedes-AMG)Image
You hold the device with your fingers and tap icons and swipe menus with your thumbs
around a screen or perform some action that feels unnatural
dropped his or her kids off at school
To jump out of the backseat, you have to open the main door first
we will rely on interfaces to control all driving, perhaps even in cars without a steering wheel, brakes, or an accelerator
Cars will need to be as intuitive as an iPad.In the CLS 53, the thumb controls feel natural, obvious, and well-positioned
In the main gauge display, you swipe right to control the left-most display, then swipe up and down to scroll through the menus
If it was any easier then Mercedes would probably have to pay royalties to Apple.When I used the right Touch Control button for the center
console display, I flipped through settings for the car itself (hello, audio surround sound control) and even found the control button to
Too often, the interface control on some modern cars feels to jerky and abrupt
The cursor jumps around from one setting to another
On the CLS 53, you slide the touch-sensitive button, so you have full control over how fast the cursor moves.Image 1 of 3(Image credit:
Mercedes-AMG)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Mercedes-AMG)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Mercedes-AMG)This is more important than you might think
On many commutes to an office, driving on a side roads through the country, and on a highway in stop-and-go traffic, I was able to focus on
the road and barely had to look at the displays
The buttons were an extension of the steering wheel, literally like using an iPad to find configure options
I calculated the time I spent adjusting the gauges compared to other cars and figured I was spending about half the time, mostly because my
or we will be able to focus on other tasks as the car drives itself
TheIndianSubcontinent's regular look at the futuristic tech in today's hottest cars
John Brandon, a journalist who's been writing about cars for 12 years, puts a new car and its cutting-edge tech through the paces every
