Luke Miles, founder of NewTerritory, told Autocar that physical car controls will become an increasingly crucial way for brands to stand out as screens saturate interiors and analogue high-value interfaces regain importance.
NewTerritory, which designed aviation interiors for Delta and Virgin Atlantic, has moved into the car industry and lists Ford and Mercedes among its clients. Miles said the rising sophistication of voice and gesture controls could reduce screen dominance and make engineered physical controls—metallic knobs and knurled dials with embedded digital capability—more valuable.
Miles described tactile feedback and keys as "human moments" that create positive friction and strengthen the connection between driver and vehicle. Volkswagen has already signalled a shift back to physical buttons, with brand chief Thomas Schäfer criticising the prior removal of buttons and the ID range adopting "premium haptic" switchgear and rotary dials.
NewTerritory said manufacturers will likely invest in these differentiated touchpoints to enhance brand identity and perceived assembly quality.
This summary is based on coverage by AutoCar.
Read the full article at AutoCar.
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