Contactless Touchscreens Are the Future, Jaguar Land Rover Says

Jaguar Land Rover designers and engineers have one more trick up their sleeves. After announcing a new 3D head-up display system last summer, they’re back with an innovative contactless touchscreen.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, a car’s interior surfaces can transmit bacteria and viruses, so the timing couldn’t be better.

• Also: 2021 Jaguar I-PACE: New Infotainment and Faster Charging
• Also: 2021 Jaguar F-TYPE Cranks up the Sexiness

Using a technology called “Predictive Touch,” which was developed with the help of researchers at the University of Cambridge, it’s possible to control the various apps, menus and settings on a screen without physically touching it.

The system makes use of artificial intelligence to determine human intention. A gesture tracker uses vision-based or radio frequency-based sensors to combine contextual info and environmental conditions with data provided by other sensors such as the eye-gaze tracker.

How effective and accurate can it be? Jaguar Land Rover claims the Predictive Touch system has reached high readiness levels and will be able to be seamlessly integrated into existing touchscreen displays on current models such as the  Jaguar F-PACE.

The automaker even says that it reduces driving distractions.

"The technology also offers us the chance to make vehicles safer by reducing the cognitive load on drivers and increasing the amount of time they can spend focused on the road ahead,” explains Lee Skrypchuk, human-machine interface technical specialist at Jaguar Land Rover.