Byton has the exterior looks thing figured out, but it's maybe a little screen-crazy on the interior.
BytonChinese car startup Byton is planning on debuting something pretty cool next week at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, and if a recent teaser tweet is any indication, it looks like it's going to be a touchscreen steering wheel.
The photo included with the tweet shows us Byton's massive dash screen with which we're already familiar, and then on the upper half of the (frankly enormous) steering wheel hub, we see a screen with several icons. The bottom half looks to contain a reasonably traditional airbag.
Time to put a promise into action. Stay tuned for the reveal of the world’s most intuitive automotive interface. Tune into our livestream on Jan 6, 2019 - 3pm local time in Las Vegas, US - to take part in a journey that will revolutionize your mobility experience. #ces19 pic.twitter.com/IK2iJVLTTw
— BYTON (@BYTONcars) December 27, 2018
It's unclear what functionality Byton has planned for its wheel-mounted screen, but this isn't the first time we've seen this idea employed. At CES last year, we saw a touchscreen steering wheel system from automotive supplier ZF that also incorporated gesture control.
Going even further back, the idea of making the center part of your steering wheel more useful took a lower-tech route with General Motors' 1990's dalliance with buttons in the wheel hub, as seen on cars like the Pontiac Grand Prix ASC McLaren, but I digress.
We plan on taking a good long look at Byton's setup next week at CES, and we'll let you know how it works.
Discuss: Byton is going full-on Pimp My Ride at CES with a touchscreen steering wheel
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