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US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

theverge.com

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Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#401

Post by sailfast »

Justsignedup wrote: post #198

Wait. Let me get this straight. Touchscreens, which are ideal for representing multiple user unterfaces in an intuitive way, but requiring constant visual contact are being replaced by a physical user interface that can be used by both touch, and memory? Why was touchscreen ever even a consideration for controls you're not looking at? Touchscreen is great for phones. It is awful for keyboards (see macbook pro). And i…

The ability to route steering, throttle, and other critical controls previously locked to a couple of stations to ANYWHERE in the ship (including, say, the CIC) is a pretty convincing argument to an Admiral, I'd say. Combined with some modular control systems (a la the modular synth comments in the thread) it would be pretty awesome. The problem here was that they kept getting swapped between stations. It wasn't JUST the touch screen, it was also WHICH touch screen, which is a problem that should be resolved in case they're still looking to allow for control switching.

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#402

Post by that_jojo »

DonHopkins wrote: post #394
that_jojo wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My god. Sun invented the Taptic Engine.

I don't think they actually designed it, they just used it in one of their conference rooms. By the way, are you "Le Jojo" of "Jojo on UI", or a different "that_jojo"? ;) http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/unix-haters/x-windows/jojo-o...

Totally different jojo, sadly.

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#403

Post by m-p-3 »

Justsignedup wrote: post #198

Wait. Let me get this straight. Touchscreens, which are ideal for representing multiple user unterfaces in an intuitive way, but requiring constant visual contact are being replaced by a physical user interface that can be used by both touch, and memory? Why was touchscreen ever even a consideration for controls you're not looking at? Touchscreen is great for phones. It is awful for keyboards (see macbook pro). And i…

IMO touchscreen are awful in any kind of vehicles or activities requiring you to have your eyes focused on something else than the display.

Like for smartwatches, I hate using touch controls to control it, I really prefer physical buttons since they provide multiple benefits

- keep the display smudge-free

- works with gloves (useful during winter)

- allow actions from touch-memory (ie: skip song without looking at it)

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#404

Post by CodeCube »

MisterTea wrote: post #224
Justsignedup wrote: post #198

Wait. Let me get this straight. Touchscreens, which are ideal for representing multiple user unterfaces in an intuitive way, but requiring constant visual contact are being replaced by a physical user interface that can be used by both touch, and memory? Why was touchscreen ever even a consideration for controls you're not looking at? Touchscreen is great for phones. It is awful for keyboards (see macbook pro). And i…

Well, it worked on Star Trek. Then again, that was addressed in a Voyager episode when Tom Paris designs the helm in their new runabout with old fashioned buttons and switches because he wanted to actually feel the controls much to Tuvok's dismay. Though, on a serious note, I work in industrial automation and user interfaces, aka HMI's have been touch oriented for quite some time. It was and still is common to see gr…

The more I get into synthesizers, the more I want analog controls (knobs, sliders, buttons, VC cable inputs!)

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#405

Post by pmarreck »

Justsignedup wrote: post #198

Wait. Let me get this straight. Touchscreens, which are ideal for representing multiple user unterfaces in an intuitive way, but requiring constant visual contact are being replaced by a physical user interface that can be used by both touch, and memory? Why was touchscreen ever even a consideration for controls you're not looking at? Touchscreen is great for phones. It is awful for keyboards (see macbook pro). And i…

I've owned a Tesla Model S for a few years now and its touchscreen has never felt like an impediment.

To be fair, though, the crucial controls are still under my feet and under my thumbs on the steering wheel, and those are all physical/tactile.

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#406

Post by bumby »

This is interesting in the context of the SpaceX capsule design that heavily relies on touchscreens:

"The cockpit simulator demonstrated the controls that Dragon astronauts will have at their command. In comparison to the space shuttle and its more than 1,000 buttons, switches, and controls, the Dragon capsule has a modest array of three flat screens and two rows of buttons below." [1]

It seems like space travel would be less resilient to the growing pains of naval travel when implementing new tech, but hopefully they get the HMI issues all worked out beforehand.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/08/spacex-reveals-the-c...

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#407

Post by mannykannot »

amiga-workbench wrote: post #387
Izkata wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Star Trek's bridge controls can be reconfigured, but there's a standard static configuration that doesn't change while they're in use. This is also referenced at a different point in Voyager when Tuvok is annoyed by how Tom Paris uses a nonstandard configuration. So that at least reduces the need for constant visual contact.

Also in theory controls for any system can be transferred to any console on the ship, I can think of one episode where Seven transferred helm, tactical and ops down to an engineering console.

That was part of the problem on the USS McCain: there were so many different modes of control that the crew lost track of the state of the system.

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#408

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

bumby wrote: post #406

This is interesting in the context of the SpaceX capsule design that heavily relies on touchscreens: "The cockpit simulator demonstrated the controls that Dragon astronauts will have at their command. In comparison to the space shuttle and its more than 1,000 buttons, switches, and controls, the Dragon capsule has a modest array of three flat screens and two rows of buttons below." [1] It seems like space travel woul…

The culture at NASA traditionally was to allow the occupants of any craft to have complete control over everything[1], even though it was technically possible to pilot entire missions remotely (as many unmanned missions over the years have proven). I'm assuming SpaceX doesn't have such a culture.

[1] Digital Apollo is a very interesting book on the subject: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-apollo

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#409

Post by mannykannot »

azernik wrote: post #201
Justsignedup wrote: post #198

Wait. Let me get this straight. Touchscreens, which are ideal for representing multiple user unterfaces in an intuitive way, but requiring constant visual contact are being replaced by a physical user interface that can be used by both touch, and memory? Why was touchscreen ever even a consideration for controls you're not looking at? Touchscreen is great for phones. It is awful for keyboards (see macbook pro). And i…

They were useful because they can be reconfigured on-demand to different interfaces - e.g. you can route helmsman's responsibilities to a different bridge station in case of hardware damage or human casualties.

That was part of the problem on the USS McCain: the crew lost track of where essential control inputs were being routed from.

Re: US Navy will replace touchscreen with mechanical controls on its destroyers

#410

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

coldpie wrote: post #398
Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s something even worse than touchscreens IMHO - those capacitive buttons on non-screen surfaces, like the capacitive power touch points on some monitor bezels. As a visually impaired person, these are absolutely maddening. I don’t know if anyone else gets this, but it’s almost like my brain doesn’t know how to press them. Touchscreens are fine for me, but for some reason I get major tension in my hands when try…

I loved how my XBox would turn on and do its 60 second boot sequence every time I dusted it. What a nice feature.

Or when a cat brushes past, in our case.
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