Product
Along with several team members, I was hired by GM to research the area of computer reconfigurable displays for General Motors cars. Specifically, we focused on future models of the Cadillac CTS and the Chevrolet Impala (2017). We carried out this work in the comfort of a windowless room in the Human Computer Interaction Institute on Carnegie Mellon's campus.
The team developed the phrase "situationally appropriate display hierarchy" to describe the need to emphasize certain elements of the display at key moments. Too many distracting elements can cause confusion for the driver. In some cases, the display can make drastic changes that reflect choices made by the driver, e.g. Sport Mode.
An important aspect to a completely digital display is the loss of physicality. Many displays on the market lose all sense of usability at the expense of gimmicks or other. We wanted to maintain a sense of physical space by using a transparent display with a cavity behind. This would also create opportunities to layer displays in interesting and meaningful ways.
