Volkswagen previews future cockpit with Golf R Touch concept

Volkswagen has introduced the Volkswagen Golf R Touch concept at the Consumer Electric Show (CES), which showcases the company’s futuristic infotainment system that incorporates gesture control and a significantly larger touchscreen display.

“The two inventions of the century, the car and the computer, are gradually coming closer together. We need to design future mobility to be even more intelligent and even more networked,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG.

According to Europe’s largest automaker, it is the next step in the area of intuitive control where all it takes is a hand movement in the space in front of the Golf’s infotainment display to make human and machine interact as one.

The system enables Volkswagen to pack considerably more functions into the car without cluttering the dashboard with buttons. But most significant of all, it reduces distractions.

The Golf R Touch concept features a massive 12.8-inch high-resolution touchscreen for the infotainment system, along with an 8-inch touch Control Centre located where the climate control used to live. The concept’s conventional instruments have also been replaced with a 12.3-inch Active Information Display.

Not surprisingly, the central touchscreen and Active Information Display are customizable with the ease familiar to tablet users.

The on-board gesture control unit utilises a 3D camera installed within the roof lining which picks up the driver’s gestures. For example, whenever the driver touches the roof, the digital controls for the sunroof appears on the 12.8-inch touchscreen. Moving the hand from the front to rear will open the sunroof, while a reverse movement will close it.

Similarly, all the front occupants need to do is running a hand along the side of the seats and the seat adjustment controls will show up on the central display that allow adjustment to be made with a wave of the hand.

Besides previewing the intuitive controls, Volkswagen is also showcasing its future Park Assist system where the car will drive into a car park semi-automatically, a Digital Key which turns the smartphone into a car key and Media Control that integrates tablets and smart watches into the Volkswagen infotainment system.