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Multi-touch UI reduces touchscreen interaction to simple swipes [w/video]

Touchscreens have become widespread standard features in many cars over the last few years, consolidating the modern car's many functions into one interface. But despite their advantages there's the big downside of driver distraction, something user interface designer Matthaeus Krenn believes he has solved with his UI. Unlike most other touchscreens, Krenn's interface isn't organized into menus and small, hard-to-hit buttons, but instead makes use of multi-touch gestures, reducing the accuracy and attention needed to operate key functions.

Report: Interior Motives China Conference 2009 - Day 1

Interior Motives returned once more to the exciting city of Shanghai for its second China design conference, themed ‘China: Changing the landscape of car design'. Held straight after the first Shanghai auto show press day - a day topped off by the Car Design Night, attended by some 300 or so designers - this two-day event saw 27 of the world's foremost car design experts and nearly 250 delegates gather together to debate the future of Chinese car design. Session 1 - Harnessing design awareness Tony Williams, UK design director of China's biggest carmaker, SAIC, kicked off the session by explaining how trend research was finding more savvy and confident Chinese consumers who want their character reflected in the products they buy and "cars they want rather than just need".

Get up close and personal with the David Brown Automotive Speedback

The David Brown Automotive Speedback is certainly one of the more intriguing coachbuilt cars we've seen recently -- all the more so because it's a product of Britain, not the carrozzeria hub of Italy. We just got our first glimpse of the Speedback yesterday, and thanks to this XCar video, we can dive a bit deeper into the car's origins and its many design details (unfortunately, there's no on-road footage yet). The Speedback, in the words of DBA founder David Brown, seeks to combine the “classic simplicity of the '60s underpinned by a modern platform with all of the functionality you'd expect from a modern car.” And it does so successfully, from what we can tell so far.