You’re on a drive to a friend’s house. It’s a hot and sunny day, and you need to cool the cabin of your car. Doing this normally requires only muscle memory to reach out to the dash and turn a knob or tap a button. But for engineers this simple action demands extreme attention to detail and redefining ways to keep the sweat off your brow.
When developing the all-new Nissan Ariya electric crossover, its designers and engineers didn’t just consider the ergonomics involved in reaching toward the dashboard. They were determined to create a new look and feel for controls that drivers generally take for granted. This required a rethink of cabin space, touch and positioning.
The Ariya’s interior was crafted to be an open, spacious cabin offering a sense of calm and serenity. Part of that design is a dashboard free of traditional buttons. The stylish wood-grained trim bisecting the dashboard comes to life upon starting the Ariya, illuminating a set of environmental controls that reside just beneath the dashboard’s surface. Utilizing a new generation of haptic feedback controls, these subtly integrated buttons open a world of possibilities in the relationship between function and design.
In the same way that we interact with a smartphone display to navigate and engage with apps, haptic feedback buttons in the Ariya react to touch, communicating through fingertip vibrations. When adjusting the Ariya’s climate controls and drive modes, drivers will interact with a familiar set of icons. Yet, because the points of interaction are felt and heard, they can remain focused on the road. The design team’s decision to integrate haptic feedback into the Ariya speaks to the vehicle’s underlying design concept of Timeless Japanese Futurism, which takes a distinctive Japanese approach to design, conveying a simple yet powerfully modern impression.