Automotive touchscreen with simulated texture for the visually impaired

• Main Authors: Van Wiemeersch, John R, Hanson, Ryan E
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.04.2023
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS INVEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OFTRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GASEXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS, IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

Electrostatic friction textures on a touchscreen panel are used to create the sensation of block icons in a contextual menu adapted to an automotive environment. In particular, a center stack touchscreen friction display in a passenger vehicle provides one set of touch controls and HMI data to the driver while simultaneously providing either the same control options and HMI or a completely different set of information and menu structure to the passenger in invisible texture form. The invisible texture is in the form of block icons, and coincidence between a finger of a passenger and a block icon results in an audio announcement of the block icon to guide a visually impaired passenger through the contextual menu.