Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award.

The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources.

Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving."

The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch. You can also use the dongle to share a WiFi network with others in the car.

"You can play the music track you want just by saying its name. This, combined with an effective voice-activation, an intuitive user interface, a very fast Internet browser and a wide choice of around 20 functions and apps make Sensus Connected Touch outstanding compared with solutions from our main competitors," he explains.

The Sensus Connected Touch's introduction marks the planned inclusion of a large, portrait touchscreen in the infotainment package in the XC90, due in 2014.

By Rufus Thompson