Innovative multi function controls in driver environments

As the technologies become more advanced, people expect more and more functions to be implemented into their vehicles. New equipments become available every time a new car model is released. Cellular phones, navigation systems, stereo and TVs are available in cars today, and there is more to come in the future. These equipment make a drastic change to what tasks the driver should be able to perform while driving. By integrating several devices and controls into one multifunction control system (MFC), the usability and the level of traffic safety will hopefully be increased. The objective of this project was to come up with new ideas of different MFC:s using both new and established technology. Two of the ideas resulted in operational prototypes: we call them the Vipper and the X-commander. A menu to each prototype was designed in order to evaluate the MFC:s properly in an experiment. A traditional audio system was used as a reference system in the tests. The experiments are divided into an objective and a subjective test and should measure the usability and user friendliness of the two prototypes. The number of completed tasks was measured. After each test, the test subject filled out a form with subjective statements. After the last test, the test subject filled out a comparison form in which they rated the systems. The data from the tests were analysed. The MFC:s were significant better than the reference system in some tasks in the objective test. The subjective test coincided with the result from the objective test. In several tasks the two MFC:s are considerably better than the reference system. In comparison between the three systems, both MFC:s are rated higher than the reference system. In general MFC is still a relatively new concept and the fact that both the prototypes showed very good results implies that these MFC:s have great potential.