TOUCH GESTURE BASED INTERFACE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE

摘要

An improved apparatus and method is provided for operating devices and systems in a motor vehicle, while at the same time reducing vehicle operator distractions. One or more touch sensitive pads (112) are mounted on the steering wheel (114) of the motor vehicle (100), and the vehicle operator (104) touches the pads (112) in a pre-specified synchronized pattern, to perform functions such as controlling operation of the radio or adjusting a window. At least some of the touch patterns used to generate different commands may be selected by the vehicle operator (104). Usefully, the system of touch pad sensors and the signals generated thereby are integrated with speech recognition (304) and/or facial gesture recognition systems (306), so that commands may be generated by synchronized multi-mode inputs.