CES 2009: Visteon shows off dashboard of the future
by Chris Tutor on Jan 9th 2009 at 12:28PM 
Click above for high-res image gallery of Visteon's CES 2009 display
Visteon, a major supplier of automotive instrument panels, has a vision for future car interiors that will soon give you a different view of your dashboard.
One of the most interesting ideas Visteon has developed is a user-customizable gauge cluster that they say will be available soon from a major manufacturer. Like traditional gauges, Visteon's Reconfigurable Cluster displays speed and RPMs using classic needles and numbers. Untraditionally, though, the new design simulates those gauges with LCD displays that can be modified to present the information in almost any way imaginable. End customers could potentially even upload their own designs, skins, etc. to make their instrument panels their own unique design.
The clear plastic hood surrounding the cluster isn't merely decorative. As you can see in the photo above, when a door is ajar, the hood glows red. When high-beams are on, it turns a subtle blue. Turn signal indicators light up the entire left or right side yellow. It's a simple and elegant feature.
Click through the jump to read more about Visteon's instrument technologies and click here for a high-res gallery from the company's booth at CES.
Live Photos Copyright ©2009 Chris Tutor / Weblogs, Inc.
In Visteon's tent, opposite the Boston Acoustics 2010 Camaro, was an IP display reminiscent of Volvo's waterfall design center stack, except that in place of Volvo's rows of buttons was a single I-Drive-type dial on a featureless silver panel. Nice, but kinda stark. Until a Visteon rep touched it. Then it revealed its secrets with rows of subtly-glowing buttons mounted below the metal surface. It was a very elegant and visually-pleasing design that we hope never makes it to production. Even though the buttons gave touch feedback when pressed, they can't be felt. Drivers would have to take their eyes off the road to find controls for anything.
The demo's information display was somewhat the same way. When not in use, it fades out behind the all-black dashboard. Touch one of those disappearing buttons and it comes back. Very nice in design, but we're skeptical of the practicality. Drivers couldn't, at a glance, see what song was playing or if the defrost was on. They would first have to touch the center stack to awake the system, check the display, glance back to find the right button, then again at the display to confirm their selection. To be fair, Visteon rep David Gulau said the demo was meant to be more of a demonstration of what was capable, not necessarily future plans.
Click here for a high-res gallery of photos from Visteon's CES 2009 tent.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9600baud 12:32PM (1/09/2009)
Not a fan. I like big LCDs and do-dads for navigation, climate control, etc..., but please leave my tach and speedo old-skool, with big mean analog needles!
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9600baud 12:33PM (1/09/2009)
PS: Please help!! WHY does it keep sending me those stupid confirmation emails even though I typed in my password.... its so damn annoying!!
Ryan M 2:02PM (1/09/2009)
Read the confirmation email. You may be putting your password in wrong.
Travis 2:06PM (1/09/2009)
did you click "returning" user at the bottom?
P B 12:38PM (1/09/2009)
Custom skins eh?
Finally, I can have a naked lady pointing out my speed and RPMs.
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DAlps 12:40PM (1/09/2009)
"Sorry Officer, I can't tell you how fast I was driving, I accidently deleted my speedometer!"
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Jrejre 1:45PM (1/09/2009)
Or, Sorry officer, my guages got the blue screen of death.
The Other Bob 12:45PM (1/09/2009)
I am surprised this took so long. I am betting an LCD screen is nearly as cheap as a mechanical speedo and tach combo these days.
It would be great to be able to modify your gauge cluster. You could have it performance oriented, or environomentally oriented like the Fusion cluster.
I want to tweak mine to tell me some actually information instead of having a "check engine" light go on when my gas cap is not tight enough.
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Travis 2:08PM (1/09/2009)
It'd be great to have the gauge cluster TELL you in plain english that your gas cap is loose (whatever OBD code that is), as opposed to flashing a "check engine" light and making you go pay however much money to a mechanic so that they can tell you to tighten your gas cap...
Steve_S 12:56PM (1/09/2009)
Looks neat.
FYI there are 2 Camaro shots in the gallery, guessing those are not supposed to be there.
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Luce 1:04PM (1/09/2009)
In the design sense, it's really well done and very sleek. In the practical sense, well it kind of isn't. Sounds like more work to fiddle with the buttons inside your car and it might take longer to find that defroster icon than it does now. As impractical as the touch-dash seems now, I like seeing what new tech ideas are out there.
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Chroma 1:14PM (1/09/2009)
I don't believe anybody said "touch-dash". This is simply a way to display information, not to input it.
I really like the idea of an LCD screen acting as a gauge cluster, if just for the fact that I can make my gauge cluster mine entirely.
akboss 1:18PM (1/09/2009)
As long as I have the manufacturer option to keep my analog gauges, they can to town! Didn't they try this in the 80's too? I recall some pretty terrible dash designs from Buick, Ford and Oldsmobile who were trying to be 'current and modern' at the time.
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Joe 1:25PM (1/09/2009)
Wow, that doesn't look like it would fit in a new Mustang at all... lol
Cool idea though, great money maker potential. You'll have to buy new guage apps or skins through an "iStore"
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jv2k 1:33PM (1/09/2009)
The LCD screens look cool but the center console looks troublesome.
I'll be brief because I could probably start a long winded rant about this.
1.No actual buttons. Oh yea it looks sleek, but that just makes it more difficult to hit the right button while driving. I still occasionally push the wrong button on my radio while driving because the buttons are the same size and shape. Without any indentation or way of being able to feel out the right button you are almost guaranteed to hit the wrong one and the last thing you need to be doing while driving is trying to get the button pushed.
2.THOSE PIECES OF CRAP DON'T WORK WITH GLOVES ON! I live up north and it can get damn cold some winters. On the many occasions where I am unable to warm up my car properly it's like driving around in a freezer. It's not a big deal except for the fact that I have to grab onto a steering wheel that is literally cold as or colder than ice. Simple solution it to put on gloves, but GLOVES DON'T WORK ON THOSE DAMN BUTTONS!!
Ok I'm going to stop now before i write a book on how much I hate those buttons.
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spoonraker 2:09PM (1/09/2009)
I think you're a bit confused. This isn't a center console vehicle control system type thing, it's simply a gauge cluster, only instead of having physical moving parts to display, it uses an LCD screen representation of the gauges.
I'm sure there will have to be a few buttons for changing display types and various options, but this shouldn't be something that you would have to do every time you got in the car, and there's no reason why it would have to be touchscreen either. It probably wouldn't even be done from the gauge cluster directly...
My main concern is low temperatures. LCD screens, when very cold, have a lot of "ghosting" images and seemingly slow refresh rates until they warm up.
DesiAuto 1:43PM (1/09/2009)
Very cool ... this is how modern American cars should be TODAY!
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tyson 1:54PM (1/09/2009)
Same as the Honda S2000 Modulo Concept at Tokyo Auto Salon right now. Visteon clearly made it for Honda.
http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=661480
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John 2:28PM (1/09/2009)
All interior suppliers have versions of this. I saw one at JCI 3 years ago.
It's the way to go. Why tool up a unique cluster to every different vehicle?
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noodlz 2:42PM (1/09/2009)
I have a hard time the US government is going to allow people to customize their gauges. I can only imagine the safety "issues" that are going to arise from such technology. (I don't really care, just saying)
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