Auta se stala drahými pojízdnými přístroji, plnými obrazovek, reproduktorů a senzorů – ale jsou skutečně dobrými přístroji? V naší nové sérii, ScreenDrive, budeme auta recenzovat stejně jako jakékoli jiné zařízení, počínaje základy toho, jak se používají.
If you know anything about Volvo, you know this: it makes safe cars. The company has spent decades working on that goal and making sure you know about it. Volvo invented the three-point seatbelt in 1959 and has led the way in many safety features since. Say what you will about their aesthetics (as somebody of Swedish heritage myself, I like their boxy charm), but you can’t really knock a Volvo on safety.
If you know anything about using screens while driving, you know they’re distracting and ne safe. And yet the very luxurious Volvo V90 Cross Country wagon I drove from Oakland to Palm Springs last month has an interface that’s almost 100 percent screen. Where other carmakers augment the screen with various knobs and extra buttons to control the interface, Volvo has recently gone nearly all-in on touch.
A gigantic and potentially distracting touchscreen as the primary interface doesn’t seem like it belongs in a car with the primary selling point of protecting the people inside it. Yet, after just a couple hours of familiarizing myself with Volvo’s new and much-improved interface for its «Sensus» system, I felt totally safe using it while cruising down the desert freeway at 75 mph.
Displays & Controls
Although Volvo hasn’t gone as far as Tesla in pushing nearly everything into the screen, it’s gone quite a bit further than most other carmakers. The 9.3-inch portrait screen completely dominates the dashboard, flanked by air vents on the sides, and a pretty simple array of buttons and a volume knob underneath.
Like most dashboard screens, it has a matte finish, which means it won’t look as tack-sharp as your iPad, but a glossy screen would be too reflective. It still looks good, though, visible even with 110-degree sunlight streaming through the sunroof.
Most car touchscreens today are also resistive instead of capacitive, like your phone. Resistive screens, which work by detecting simple pressure, are fine enough for poking at icons, but not great for swiping and scrolling. But capacitive screens don’t work with gloves — and this is a car designed in the snowy climes of Sweden, where gloves are pretty much necessary. So yes, the V90 uses a resistive touchscreen. Luckily, Volvo added touch-sensitive technology to help mitigate the problems of resistive touchscreens: infrared sensors.
The two kinds of sensors work in tandem with the resistive screen to detect what your finger is doing and translate it into commands. Trying to maintain pressure when making a broad swiping gesture on a resistive screen sucks, so the infrared portion can detect that you’re swiping. Infrared isn’t the best at detecting taps, but resistive works just fine for that. It doesn’t feel quite as responsive as a capacitive screen, but it’s still pretty good. And it works fine with gloves.
Navigace v rozhraní
A big screen is nice, but we’ve seen enough big screens in cars to know that most of them will take every opportunity to screw up the interface. A bigger screen is a bigger opportunity to make bad choices.
Thankfully, Volvo made mostly good choices in this version of Sensus. (In earlier model years, Volvo made mostly bad choices.) The best choice that Volvo made was putting a big, obvious «home» button at the bottom of the screen. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you can press that home button and get back to the main center screen. It’s a giant escape key, a «what is happening, I don’t know» button. It’s just like the iPad, in that regard. It’s not only useful, it’s intuitive: everybody knows what a home button does.
The core of Volvo’s interface involves three, distinct zones on the big, main screen. That sounds complicated, but it only takes a couple minutes to acclimate yourself to it. You can swipe left or right to switch between them (or, of course, hit that fail-safe home button to go back to the middle).
There is a permanent zone at the bottom for climate controls, which persists no matter what else you’re doing on the screen. Except for the specific buttons for defrosters, everything is controlled by touchscreen. This sounds annoying, but the HVAC system is good enough that you can usually just set your temperature and forget it. Even in the 120-plus degree heat of the California desert, I didn’t have to fiddle with specific fan settings to feel comfortable.
The main home screen is the place where you’ll spend all of your time, at least when you’re actively driving. It has four bars stacked vertically: the top is Navigation, Media, Phone, and finally an active app, which can change depending on your activity. Each section accordions out to show more details. This means that you nearly always have one-touch access to switch functions. If you’re looking at a map and want to change the music, you just tap the music panel, which is defaulted to display whatever you’re currently playing. It expands in place and moves the other panels up or down.
Some apps can go full screen, like the backup camera. You can have it set as a traditional backup camera, or have it give you a 360-degree view around the car, which is trippy but convenient. Volvo’s own navigation app also offers a full-screen option. Going full screen hides that stacked, four-button interface. I’d say it’s confusing, but again, you can always just jump out of whatever view you’re stuck on by hitting that home button.
Sensus comes with a pretty healthy set of apps with interfaces that range from acceptable to distressing. The core navigation app — based on Here Maps data — never got me lost and managed to find most of the waypoints I plugged into it, but the interface is not nearly as good as Google Maps. XM radio works well, so long as you take a few minutes to program in your favorite stations. If you don’t, you will spend a bit too long scrolling through the options.
There’s a built-in Spotify app that I found to be pretty awful compared to other interfaces, but it works if you have data for the built-in LTE connection. (You can also tether the car to your phone, if you enjoy doing that sort of thing every time you get in the car.) A smattering of other apps are fine, but forgettable.
Volvo S60 a V60 Sedan a kombi Volvo střední úrovně, které nabízejí výkon, výkon a vzrušující jízdu.
Odkazy na komunitu
Hledat v sekcích
Jdi na stránku.
11-03-2015, 08:36 AM
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Sensus Connect Frozen
On my one year old V60 2015.5, one day the Sensus Connect system simply froze—the screen is stuck, tuned to my favorite FM station, but with no sound. The system responds to no controls, radio, media and navigation do not work, and the signals from the cross-traffic alarm system are muted (although the system still works and displays obstacles and approaching cars or pedestrians on the graphic display). The dealer says I should come in for a software upgrade, which I will do, but I find it disconcerting that a significant safety feature can simply fail on account of a software bug.
Je to častý problém?
11-03-2015, 10:27 AM
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IMHO it’s not common, other than it’s an electronic system and like your PC might just need a reset.
It’s concerning that a NEW car doesn’t have the latest update.
It’s a bit of effort on your part, but I’d disconnect the battery. count to 20. Reconnect the battery.
pjsmithres
11-03-2015, 12:52 PM
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Battery, or Fuse?
Thank you— I was wondering how to reset the system. You’re right: it’s a computer problem and like most computer problems may be resolved by rebooting. I can achieve that by locating and pulling the right fuse, correctr? (a simpler procedure than disconnecting the battery).
Yes, it’s concerning that software should fail, particularly since software controls much else in the car too: cruise control, automatic braking and more.
thanks again for the idea.
11-04-2015, 11:04 AM
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Žádný úspěch
As Phil suggested, I disconnected the battery for several minutes, shutting down all electrical systems, or so I thought. I then reconnected the battery, and then found that Sensus Connect was still frozen, at exactly the same screen. It seems that the system retains its status in its memory even when the entire electrical system is shut down.
Is there no way to reset the Sensus Connect system, as there otherwise would be on any computer?
11-04-2015, 12:07 PM
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Sometimes a «fuse removed» doesn’t change the memory of the electronic device.
there are so many computers that «talk» to each other and you have to bring the brain down.
I had a newer motorcycle that «the reset» at the dealer was disconnect the battery and connect the negative motorcycles lead to ground (a building?) for 8 seconds.
Like the Direct TV satellite reset (which is about monthly) to disconnect from power for 30 sekund. Something about discharge from the DVR. Can’t get info if it’s the ROM or the Hard drive. But 10 seconds wouldn’t fix it when I tried before calling tech support.
Computers are ruling the world.
pjsmithres
12-06-2017, 09:56 AM
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Původně odeslal rss
On my one year old V60 2015.5, one day the Sensus Connect system simply froze—the screen is stuck, tuned to my favorite FM station, but with no sound. The system responds to no controls, radio, media and navigation do not work, and the signals from the cross-traffic alarm system are muted (although the system still works and displays obstacles and approaching cars or pedestrians on the graphic display). The dealer says I should come in for a software upgrade, which I will do, but I find it disconcerting that a significant safety feature can simply fail on account of a software bug.
Je to častý problém?
Dobrý den,
Currently facing the same exact problem on the XC70 and wondering if you know what the solution is.
