Video: How touch screen controls in cars should work

If you have a (relatively) new car, the center stack is probably flawed. You’d hoped for something sleek and intuitive, and instead, you wound up with Lieutenant Uhura’s computer from Star Trek: lots of bells and whistles that don’t seem to do much of anything.

This is a major problem, and solving it ranks among the biggest challenges facing today’s car companies. Our vehicles themselves may be better built than they once were, but as systems like Ford’s popular but much-loathed MyFord Touch demonstrate, our infotainment features are ready for the scrap heap.

Enter designer Matthaeus Krenn, who bemoans the fact that automakers “merely replicate old button layouts and shapes on these new, flat, glowing surfaces” littering today’s dashboards. In his notes for the video embedded above, Krenn says:

I propose a new mode that can be invoked at any time: It clears the entire screen of those tiny, intangible control elements and makes way for big, forgiving gestures that can be performed anywhere. In place of the lost tactile feedback, the interface leverages the driver’s muscle memory to ensure their ability to control crucial features without taking their eyes off the road.

Which sounds great, until you see what he’s actually proposed.

Is Krenn’s prototype beautiful? Absolutely. It looks like something out of Logan’s Run or Tron (high praise, back in the day). It would make a fantastic control panel for your in-home thermostat, lighting, and stereo.

Could it work in a car? Yes, but it would probably kill you.

We understand how Krenn’s interface works. We appreciate the way that it’s designed to be adaptive, so that it works no matter where you first touch it. Eventually, we could get used to its one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-finger controls.

But learning the system would take time, and we could envision many occasions when we meant to turn up the a/c but instead cranked up the Def Leppard. Also, we think he’s being far too optimistic when he suggest that a user could flip through her entire song catalog without glancing over at the screen.

And heaven forbid one of your parents should get a car with Krenn’s interface. You thought teaching them AOL was hard?

The Lexus RX Series; Recommended for Nigeria

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The Lexus RX is a mid-size luxurious crossover with seating for five. It’s a best seller for Toyota and it’s the most affordable way to get into a Lexus crossover. It’s related to the Toyota Avalon, Highlander, and Venza. For more information on the current model, including pricing with options, see our full review of the 2014 Lexus RX. Over the past decade, in wealthier areas

The Lexus RX is a mid-size luxurious crossover with seating for five. It’s a best seller for Toyota and it’s the most affordable way to get into a Lexus crossover. It’s related to the Toyota Avalon, Highlander, and Venza.

For more information on the current model, including pricing with options, see our full review of the 2014 Lexus RX.

Over the past decade, in wealthier areas especially, the Lexus RX has become as ubiquitous as some minivan models and is without a doubt the least exclusive (and best-selling) Lexus model. That said, the RX has been a luxury-vehicle benchmark and has taken on a wide range of models, including the Acura MDX, BMW X5, Hyundai Veracruz, Mercedes-Benz ML-Class, Audi Q7, and Lincoln MKX.

The first-generation RX 300, introduced for 1999, was offered in only one trim, with a limited number of options, and included the same 220-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 that was featured in the ES 300 sedan. Power was delivered with a four-speed automatic transmission through either front- or all-wheel drive. For 2001, the RX 300 saw slightly different styling plus a new list of options, with electronic stability control made standard.

For 2004, it was redesigned and renamed the RX 330, getting a larger, stronger 230-hp (or 223-hp), 3.3-liter V-6 plus a five-speed automatic. The RX’s overall size and formula remained the same, though its styling inside and out was smoother, with substantially improved materials. For 2007 and 2008, the RX was renamed the RX 350, as it gained the higher-output 3.5-liter V-6 that was introduced on a number of Toyota and Lexus products. One of the key attributes of this second-generation RX is that quite early on it offered a number of high-tech features that weren’t found on many other luxury vehicles in its segment or price range at the time, including the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) and Dynamic Laser Cruise Control.

The current version of the RX made its debut for 2009. Although the RX was again completely redesigned, it carried over with the same engine, now making 275 hp, and didn’t look all that much different from the outside than the models before it—particularly the 2004-2008 models—though the design of the instrument panel was significantly changed this time around, becoming more swoopy and curvaceous, materials again given a big upgrade. In a review of the 2009 Lexus RX 350, we called it “a dependable, luxurious isolation chamber that performs responsively though not lively.” Top features on the latest RX include heated and ventilated seats, power heated mirrors, a heads-up system, and an updated navigation system with XM NavTraffic and NavWeather.

The RX isn’t intended for heavy towing use or off-roading, but it will do light versions of both. All-wheel-drive RX models come with a diff-lock mode for deep snow or sand/mud, and most RX models will tow 3,500 pounds, which is good compared to cars but not close to that of mid-size truck-based SUVs. Neither is the RX intended as a minivan substitute; while many models its size and smaller have offered a third-row seat, the RX has always boasted good seating for five adults, in two rows.

Safety and reliability are strong reasons to choose the RX, as much as luxury and comfort. The current RX has achieved top ratings from both crash-test agencies. Also, the RX has been a very reliable vehicle its entire run, and resale value is strong no matter what the year.

The 2013 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h have been given an updated front-end appearance, with a new grille to bring the front-end design more in line with the GS sport sedans’ look. Other than a few other smaller changes, the RX continues unchanged, although the RX 450h has been given a Sport mode, and its own F-Sport model, to offer better responsiveness.