Shock, horror! In-car touchscreens are way more distracting than we first thought, says new study

• The study by Toyota Research Institute was pretty damning
• Lane deviation rose dramatically as a result of touchscreen interaction
• Results suggest automakers should reduce the amount of menus in cars

The results of a new study by the University of Washington (UW) and Toyota Research Institute have provided pretty daming evidence against the use of large, distracting touchscreens when driving a vehicle.

Rather eloquently titled “Touchscreens in Motion: Quantifying the Impact of Cognitive Load on Distracted Drivers”, the study saw 16 participants placed in ultra-realistic high-fidelity driving simulators while researchers tracked eye and hand movements, pupil dilation, and skin conductivity.

Participants were asked to drive around a typical urban environment and then interact with various side-tasks presented on the touchscreen; nothing major, simply adjusting car functionality or changing the radio station.

Their ability to both drive and their accuracy when interacting with the touchscreen were measured.

According to Car Scoops, the researchers measured a mix of driver performance metrics and physiological markers, from eye movements, index finger tracking and steering consistency to reaction time and stress signals. This helped them build a better picture of stress and cognitive load on the human in the driving seat.

As you would expect, the results weren’t pretty for those peddling an increased reliance on touchscreens over physical buttons. Firstly, pointing accuracy on said touchscreen and the speed of use were reduced by more than 58% when compared to non-driving conditions.

Already, this reveals that us humans struggle to physically interact with a touchscreen when busy processing what’s going on out of the windscreen of a moving vehicle. This then requires the driver to apply more focus to tapping digital menu screens.

As a result, the study revealed that lane deviation increased by over 40% once touchscreen interaction was introduced. The vicious cycle then continues.

Bring back buttons

We have already covered this extensively, but some manufacturers are reintroducing physical buttons for often-used features in a vehicle. This is, in part, a reaction to consumer backlash, but also because some of the leading safety bodies will penalize automakers for an over-reliance on touchscreens in the future.

I strongly believe that things like volume control, lighting, window de-misters and windscreen wipers should all be mapped to physical buttons that can be committed to muscle memory after a few uses.

This means drivers don’t have to go hunting through often hyper-sensitive touchscreens to activate very basic functionality. Getting stuck in a loop of mis-tapping, shuffling through incorrect menus or activating the wrong function is frustrating but also very dangerous.

The research conducted by the University of Washington (UW) and Toyota Research Institute suggests automakers look to reduce the number of menus required to perform a function, with hard-buttons implemented that can be customized to jump to the most used items.

Otherwise, it states that future systems should get smarter and adapt when it detects the driver is becoming more distracted, by enlarging buttons or limiting some functions when it deems things are becoming unsafe.

Unfortunately, it's simply much cheaper for modern automakers to commit absolutely everything to a touchscreen and then rely on software updates to improve things. Not only are we now faced with completely homogenous care interiors, but also the prospect of an increasingly button-free future.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.