Sick of smudges on your car's enormo touchscreen? GM patents potential cure Are you sick of smudges on those unwieldy touchscreens making their way into modern cars these days? General Motors has filed a patent to clear them using UV light, though don't assume it'll actually ship. Patents don't mean an actual product is forthcoming, of course, but if this one [PDF] makes it to manufacturing GM owners …
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Great. Not only is 5G going to give me brain disease now my car is going to give me cancer. My dogs are already gay. Where will this madness end?
If only there was some alternative like maybe a type of material I can use to wipe the screen when it's safe to do so removing the fingerprint smudges. They could give it a name like oh I don't know, a "cloth"? I wonder when someone will invent such a marvellous invention that doesn't cost money or use energy? Come on scientists. You can do it.
I'm convinced Google's voice recognition (and indeed Assistant) are an elaborate but not especially funny practical joke. I'm a British migrant to South Africa, living in Cape Town. In recent weeks I've asked my phone to navigate to a place about ten minutes' drive away. Imagine my surprise when the response was "the fastest route is via the Trans-Saharan Highway. Your journey will take approximately 7 days and 14 hours" (it wanted to take me to somewhere in Britain).
A few days later, I said "Call Jeannie" (my ex-wife, in my Contacts so that I can discuss childcare arrangements). Without any attempt to check whether it had guessed right before dialling, or even give me a list of possible matches , it out me through to La Trini, a restaurant in Barcelona, Spain (I have never visited the restaurant, the city, or indeed the country). This would indeed have involved a six and a half day journey including a section of the Trans-Sahara Highway, but a two-week round trip drive for dinner seemed a bit excessive…
Somebody offered me a lift in their brand new Mercedes S Class a few years ago and showed off by attempting to call someone else using the voice recognition system. Needless to say he was having so much trouble with it I ended up finding and calling the number on his mobile and him taking the call on speakerphone.
Some people think that the idea of patents is to make money from ideas.
Although this can happen, the primary purpose things are patented is to prevent other companies/people from using them.
So, the question that this article makes me wonder is why GM does not want me to have this. If we are lucky, this may be because they have something more suitable than a touch screen. Perhaps they will reinvent the knob?
Not all companies use patents for blocking. And then there are patent trolls. Patent portfolios are revenue generators too. Having seen some of patents get licensed by my former employers, I have come to respect that as a business angle.
Patents are also an independent way for others to understand what you have done instead of relying on your resume. No method is foolproof, however.
It's even worse than you think.
They are using that Pilkington glass coating.
The only "innovation" claimed is to put the UV light source behind the screen - a proposal that is obvious to anyone skilled in the art, as is the minor detail that it would quickly destroy the OLED/LCD panel, and possibly touch conductors.
It's unlikely this patent will ever be feasible to implement during its lifetime.
I'm reasonably sure the "lit from exterior" mode that already work is already embodied in real products.
The most obvious solution (to the government regulators) is not to ban the touch screens as a driver distraction, but to mandate that the driver is nor allowed to look at or touch it while in motion. Therefore a co-driver must sit with the driver to operate those controls. If you don't have a passenger, you must employ a fully trained and government approved/licenced co-driver. For safety reasons of course with the added benefits of the job creation aspects.
Germany are already on the case.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53666222
TL;DR A driver in Germany was adjusting the wiper speed in a Tesla, which meant using the touch screen. Got distracted, crashed, got fined for using a touch screen in a car. The fact that it was built into the car made no difference.
Adjusting the wiper speed via a touchscreen? I'm expecting the bottom to drop out of the second hand Tesla market in a couple of years (when my old car is probably going to need replacing with something a few years newer) but there's another reason I'll be looking for something other than a Tesla when I finally go electric....
Actually, my nearly-20-year-old Toyota (no touchscreen, I was chuffed that it had an LCD odometer back when) now has a fine patina on most of the commonly used buttons and switches. I've tried to wipe it off and then ask myself why I'm even bothering. "It's a nearly-20-year-old Toyota..." (which I'd dare say is about 15 years older than most GM cars ever get to be.)
Yea, you GM-loving downvoters? Bring it!!!
My Toyota is a 1992 Truck (that's the actual model name, according to the manual). I bought it a few years ago. It's never failed to start on the first attempt, and I've yet to get around to doing any significant maintenance on it. 4WD works great. Air conditioning still works. Right side channel on the stereo is out, but I think that's the head unit (which is aftermarket).
It's not fast, but man, I love those old, over-built Toyotas.
Sorry but that ship has sailed.
If you take your statement to its logical conclusion then ALL touchscreens are headed for recycling. Almost all Mobile Phones, Tablets and a host of other gadgets are doomed for landfill.
It is not only touchscreens that are on the chopping block. My Hob, oven, dishwasher and washing machine all use touch sensitive controls.
Touch is here to stay.
While I hope that Apple does not make a Touchscreen Mac, if they do then I will try my hardest not use it. If I want to touch control something then my iPhone is right there. Keeping my screens free of fingerprints is hard enough as it is without the temptation that a touchscreen would present
Totally agree, touch controls on a hob (what we call stove top in UK) are frustrating.
Recently was forced to use a hob with touch controls where if you had a large fry pan on one of the rings and had the handle toward you it would be over the main on/off control and the handle would turn off the whole hob. Basically the on/off button was too sensitive and to add insult the other buttons not sensitive enough so would only respond after repeated presses and swearing!
Someone in IT decreed that everyone should be issued with a new MS Surface laptop (no, not tablet).
Apart from the fact that it's tiny, only has a sigle USB and USB-C connector, it also has the shiniest screen going... and it's touchscreen, so you have to resist the urge to wipe that smudge or speck of dust off the screen!!!!!!!
(I reckon one of the IT guys placed a drunken order on eBay and found they couldn't back out)
The back-up camera is one of very few innovations in automobile controls from recent years that I approve of. Maybe blind-spot indicators, though it's hard to say because my car doesn't have them, and I've never had an issue with my car's blind spots. (I have my wing mirrors adjusted properly, which certainly helps.)
I hate adaptive cruise control (and fortunately don't have it in my current car). My car has a rain-sensing mode for the windshield wipers, which I've used a few times (precipitation tends to be very local around here) but wouldn't miss if it were gone. Auto stop/start? Don't like it, don't need it. Self-parking? Learned helplessness. Lane following / departure warning? Obnoxious. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? There's no fucking way I'm linking my phone to my car. And so on with most of the modern tech.
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So now in addition to everything else, I need a pair of gloves that keep my car's distracting touchscreen immaculate and that are made so touchscreens will react to touch through the glove. And since my hands are on the steering wheel except for when I'm touching the touch screen, they need to be warm enough in the winter but also breathable enough in the summer to not drown my hands in sweat. In that case, perhaps I need TWO pairs of gloves, for different seasons. Or maybe twelve, since fashions are so capricious. And they all need to stay in the car to avoid getting dirty, or else I'll just smudge the touchscreen with some dirt other than finger oils.
All I wanted to do... was change the radio station.
Going slightly off topic here but I assume Ford owns the patent on electrically heated windscreens, the best device for getting driving in cold weather made.
I don’t have them on my normal car (BMW) but I do have one on my Tiger kit car - yes I know it sounds odd but the car with no roof, door, or any other glass rather than the windscreen has a heated window.
I assume there is some patent reason as it makes getting going in colder weather a lot easier but I have never seen a non ford (production) car with one….
My 2015 Volvo has an electrically heated windscreen. It's convenient, but I owned cars for years in snow-and-ice country without it, so I can't pretend it's necessary.
Honestly, probably the most useful part of the "climate package" on my car is the heated windshield-washer-fluid nozzles, because when the windshield gets loaded up with road salt, it's rather a pain in the ass if you can't wash it without stopping and getting out of the car. And the most luxurious part of the package, in my opinion, is the heated steering wheel. Yeah, heated seats are nice, but the heated steering wheel is luxurious. I haven't put driving gloves on since I got that car.
Nothing new Self cleaning glass has been around for donkeys years. Motorcyclists have been using sprays that do this on their visors and its the same tech used on paint work to keep it clean.
How bout removing these huge silly tablets from cars in the first place. why do i need a 10 " tablet nailed to the dash. I'm waiting for them to become illegal to use on the move.
So once you engage gear the screen completely blanks and all functions locked out. may prevent a few electric scooters being knocked off the road
"why do i need a 10 " tablet nailed to the dash"
You don't. The manufacturer does because:
[a] a touch screen for all controls is cheaper than the alternative set of physical buttons and switches;
[b] when the controls dev team screws up, it's possible to fix the problem without a recall if all the controls are virtual.
It's a very long time since goods were designed for use. They're designed for simplicity of manufacture and sale at maximum proft. You're just the wallet.
I got a solution for greasy screens...
1. Login to Amazon
2. Order 10 small microfibre cloths for a £5
3. Wait for delivery
4. Take cloth and wipe screen to remove greasy smudges.
5. Sit back with a smug expression at finding a cheap, simple solution to what is basically a non-problem!
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