DriverOne Project by Maytas Teeravechyan (Jimmy)

My Role

Creator / Designer

Location

Bangkok, Thailand.

Platform

Car Infotainment System

Introduction Driver One is a design concept to create a car infotainment that can be universally installed on all type of electric vehicles. I came up with this idea when I was reflecting on the evolution of mobile phones. Looking back at phones like Blackberry, LG, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung, all of these companies were developing and installing their own operating system in to these phones. However, things changed after the introduction of the iPhone with its iOS. iOS was undoublty one of the most revolutionary operating systems when it was released.

It took a huge leap ahead of their competetors and set a standard on how smartphones should be. Years later, companies like Samsung and LG switched to android. Companies like Nokia and Blackberry who stuck to their own operating system faced difficulties trying to grasp hold on to the transforming smartphone world. Eventually these two companies switch over to android. Now, almost every phone that isn’t produced by Apple has android as its opperating system.

Driver One will be the equivalent of android in the automotive industry. I am aware that automotive conglomerates like AUDI, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have their own infotainment systems that are well established. Driver One will be aimed at automotive manufacturers like Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Suzuki, and Lexus who have their own infotainment but isn’t well received by the general public. Driver One will be able to provide these companies with the best infotainment system while reducing the cost of research and development in their infotainment department.

Remarks Since this project is a concept, no user testing has been done.

Design Principles When designing this infotainment system there were several componenents I had to consider. Unlike mobile apps where the entire application is focused only on the user, this infotainment system will have to be designed with the manufacturer and the users in mind in order for the system to be able to dominate the automotive industry.

Manufacturer: - Compatible with any type of electirc vehicle (SUV, Truck, Sedan, Sports, etc.).

- Flexibility to add on vehicle specific functions - Does not require advanced hardware to be intuitive.

Users: - Allow users to be able to customize their driving experience - Reducing distraction while driving - A design language that makes all type of users feel familiar.

Hardware Components

Digital Gauge

Main Infotainment Display

Trackball (with haptic feedback)

Digital Gauge Default Screen

Time

Outside Temperature

Turn Signal

Speedometer

Menu Selector Music Player

Battery Range

Gear Indicator

Odometer

Maps Screen Your location

Outside Temperature

Speedometer

Time Turn Signal

Map Directions

Menu Selector Exit Map

Speedometer Battery Range

Notifications & Alert

Gear Indicator

Estimated time of Arrival

Features Default Screen Incoming Call

Incoming Call

Incoming calls appear on the right side of the of the gauge. By having the incoming call alert on the right handside the alert will not be obstructing any parts of the gauge.

Maps Screen Incoming Call

Incoming Call

Incoming calls appear on the top of the of the gauge. By having the incoming call alert on the top of the gauge, the alert will not be obstructing the navigation while simulatneosly alerting the driver of the incoming call.

Phone Calls

On the bottom of the menu is the Phone page. To reduce the hassel of having to go through numerous contacts and inputting individual numbers while driving, I have decided to restrict the user to their favourites and the most recent incoming or outgoing calls.

Drive Modes

One third menu is the drive mode. Through this menu drivers can configure their driving experience. The drivers will have a choice of; Eco, Comfort, Adaptive, Individual (To be configurated on the main infotainment display), and Sports mode. Manufacturers can add model-specific drive modes such as adding Off-road if they are producing SUVs.

Autonomous Driving (Autopilot)

Autonomous Driving can be activated through the trackballs on the steering wheel. When Autopilot is activated a green car will appear on the center gauge to indicate the driver that the feature has been activated.

Charging

While the car is charging of the menu still remains accessible. However, the speedometerdisappears and is replaced with an enlarge battery. On the right side of the screem there will be an indication of how long will it take for the car to fully charge it battery.

Navigating the digital gauge Many digital gauge in cars like Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW are controlled by several buttons on the steering wheel. Following my design principle of symplification and flexibility I decided that a trackball would be the best option. Trackball eliminates the need for unnecessary amount of buttons and over clutter of the steering wheel while allowing the manufacturer to configure the gestures for their own exclusive features.

Controlled by left trackball

Controlled by right trackball

With trackballs on both side of the steering wheel, the trackball on the left controls the left side of the gauge while track ball on the right controls the right side of the gauge. By having the two trackballs controlling two different parts of the screen it reduces the chances of confusion and distraction while driving.

Using the Trackball Navigating Menus:

Swipe up or down to select the menu.

Volume Control:

Swipe up or down to adjust the volume.

Click the trackball to mute the audio.

Music Control:

Incoming Calls:

Swipe left or right to select songs. Click

Swipe right to accept call, swipe left to

the trackball to pause or play music.

decline call. To mute click the trackball.

This gestures also applies to when digital gauge iis displaying the map.

Making Calls:

Ending and Muting Calls:

Swipe left to go to recents, swipe right to

Swipe down to end the call and Click to

go to the list of favorite contacts. Click on

mute the call.

the option to make a call.

Selecting Drive Modes:

Volume Control:

Swipe left or right to select songs. Click

Hold both trackballs for three seconds

the trackball to pause or play music.

until the autopilot chime is heard and the digital gauge changes to display that auto pilot has been activated.

Main Infotainment Display Default Screen Add widgets

Weather Forecast

Digital Clock & Date

Menu Selector

Customized Home Page Music Widget

Battery indicator Widget

Reminder Widget

Shortcuts to get directions home

Main Infotainment Features Navigation

Clicking into the navigation page the entire screen will display a map and on the left-hand side of the screen there is a list of places including home, workplace, and other favourite places. On top there is a search bar incase the user is looking for a different destination.

When a destination is selected the distance to the destination appears along with the time of arrival below it. To start the navigation the user can click on the start button and to cancel the the selected destination the user can click the red X button.

When the navigation begins the maps closes up on to the location of the vehicla. At the same time the directions will appear on the left-hand side of the screen along with the time of arrival below it. To exit navigation the user will have to press the red x button.

Radio

Clicking into the media page of the infotainment, I have divided it into radio and music sections. On the radio page users and can save up to eight favorite stations. Basic controls on this page includes muting, forward, and backward. Icon of the station will be displayed on the top left of the radio section.

Music Player

Clicking into the music section a gallery of albums and playlist will be on display. Driver or the passenger can swipe left or right to decide on which album or playlist to play.

When the driver or passenger click on an album, they are presented with a list of the songs on the left side of the screen while the controls will be on the right. The basic controls includes, play/pause, forward, backwards, shuffle and loop. Mute is on the top right corner.

Car Settings

Heading into the car settings the user will be presented with an option to choose their profiles.

General Settings

When clicked on a profile, the user is presented with the drive mode options, seat settings, steering wheel settings, individual drive mode settings, and ambient light settings. Below the drive mode selection is the Adaptive Drive button.

Individual Drive Mode Settings

Clicking into the individual drive mode settings, there are several elements of the driving experience that can be configurated. Users can set the steering weight, suspension, and the dynamics of the car. In addition the user can also adjust the height of their ride. The individual drive mode setting is an example for cars installed with air suspension and how manufacterers can add on additional settings to their car.

Incoming calls

When there is an incoming call the entire screen will display the the callers name or their phone number. To accept the call swipe right, to decline the call swipe left.

Making Calls

Clicking in to the phone menu there will be three section in the page; The number pad, The favourite contacts, and the call logs (recent). The number pad was placed on the left to improve the reach ability from the driver’s position (For right hand drive cars). Reducing the chance of any form of accidents while driving.

During Calls

During calls, the screen will display the name of the person the user is calling to, duration of the call, the end call button and the mute call button. Since the drive already has control on ending and muting the call via the steering wheel, the end call and mute button has been placed on the right-hand side of the screen to make it reachable for the passengers.

System Overview Default

During Navigation

Reflection Designing the DriverOne was a new but enjoyable experience for me. Compared to when I designed mobile apps and website, I realized that there were more restrictions when designing this project. Through out the design process I had to keep in mind of road-safety and the difference between the OS interaction with the driver and the OS interaction with the passenger. One of the more difficult part to designing this operating system was making sure the Digital Gauge and the Main Infotainment display can work coherently and making sure that the user interaface design remains consistent across all pages. Despite the difficulty and the lack of user testing, this project was by far one of the most refined projects I’ve ever done.

Future Improvements - Dark Themed OS. - Warning lights placements.

- Make gauge cluster customizable.

- More widget options.

- Design a mobile app that syncs with the operating system in the car.

- Simplify trackball gestures.

- Make the main infotainment design more flexible to allow for different screen shapes.