Video explanation of the physics behind the cool new vents. (Video credit: my son, Tava)
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roblab
Active Member
THANKS! I wondered how the heck those vents worked. Good explanation.
T34ME
Active Member
Remarkable video. Professional quality. Well done, congrats to Tava.
EDIT: Thinking about this, Tava is a natural talent for being able to dumb it down on a scientific experiment, so that even I can understand. Suggested future topics might be:
EDIT: Thinking about this, Tava is a natural talent for being able to dumb it down on a scientific experiment, so that even I can understand. Suggested future topics might be:
- analysis of model 3 suspension compared to other similar cars (something better than glass of Gatoraide on the dashboard)
- analysis of model 3 interior sound levels compared to MS/X
- efficiency comparison of 19", 18" wheels (with and without aero covers)
- real turning radius comparison with other cars in the model 3 class (wheel base length/width)
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ryanjm
Tesla Podcast Host
MikeBur
ManualPilot
T34ME
Active Member
It takes two to Tango - student and teacher. When they are perfectly matched, willing, and able, beautiful dance moves result.It turns out he learned a few things in his high school physics class after all.
cpa
Active Member
Superb video!
Now, if only Tesla could have made the adjustment controls easier to move. My wife has limited digital dexterity, and it is very difficult for her to adjust the controls in the direction that she would like them.
Now, if only Tesla could have made the adjustment controls easier to move. My wife has limited digital dexterity, and it is very difficult for her to adjust the controls in the direction that she would like them.
That was great. Owners at our recent meetup were talking about this video and how well it explained how the vents worked. Glad I remembered to look for it tonight. Big thanks to your son and thanks for sharing it here.
cpa
Active Member
I am not a designer, computer dude or other sort of genius in this area. So, I cannot answer your question. I take it that you do not know anyone who has issues with fine motor skills with their fingers. Not all of us are perfect specimens like you, EV-lutioin.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I don't think @EV-lutioin was being snarky - I had the same question & then saw he'd asked it. I love the UI for the air vents: imo, the UI is intuitive & easy to use. If someone doesn't have the motor skills required to move the icon around, not sure what UI would work. Absolutely no offense meant to anyone - I am trying to understand.
Well, using an analogy if you don't have fine motor skills it's hard to use a mouse for precision, so accessibility features usually include "mouse keys" as an alternative.
I'd say for accessibility. You have buttons
(1) Up/down/left/right
(2) Rough/Precise adjustment toggle (Like snap to grid on/off in a UI layout designer)
(3) Both/Left/Right selector to choose what you're adjusting
I don't know how much space there is right now, but you might be able to put those buttons over half of the current display.
cpa
Active Member
Only EV-lutioin knows whether he/she was being snarky or earnestly sincere. A rhetorical question like that does not convince me that this was a sincere question or concern. It was in poor taste.
I am not suggesting that Tesla change its engineering to have manual vents and such. But I think that there are smart people out there who could come up with an alternate way to direct the air flow that would be intuitive to a lot more people or for those who have issues with fine digital motor skills.
What is UI? I only know that term as unauthorized information, and I really do not think that your meaning of UI is the same as mine.
You say that this UI is intuitive and easy to use. You understand it. Have you ever been in a situation that was not intuitive to you, but easy peasy for others? You have impressed me with a lot of your commentary on various matters over the years that you try to see both sides of situations, even if you happen to disagree with someone. I find it counter-intuitive (!) that a person like you does not seem to understand that there are people who just do not understand something that others find so easy.
cpa
Active Member
My wife cannot operate a mouse with much skill. Using the press buttons on a tiny smart phone are difficult too.
favo
P3D+ owner
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Sorry I used a shortcut to 'user interface'. Years of talking about that & I defaulted to the common shortcut. I'm sorry you feel the question is in poor taste. Never my intention. I asked because I don't understand what you are looking for here.Only EV-lutioin knows whether he/she was being snarky or earnestly sincere. A rhetorical question like that does not convince me that this was a sincere question or concern. It was in poor taste.
I am not suggesting that Tesla change its engineering to have manual vents and such. But I think that there are smart people out there who could come up with an alternate way to direct the air flow that would be intuitive to a lot more people or for those who have issues with fine digital motor skills.
What is UI? I only know that term as unauthorized information, and I really do not think that your meaning of UI is the same as mine.
You say that this UI is intuitive and easy to use. You understand it. Have you ever been in a situation that was not intuitive to you, but easy peasy for others? You have impressed me with a lot of your commentary on various matters over the years that you try to see both sides of situations, even if you happen to disagree with someone. I find it counter-intuitive (!) that a person like you does not seem to understand that there are people who just do not understand something that others find so easy.
I didn't think this was an issue of understanding how to use it, but rather limited motor skills (going by your post). And that's where I got stuck. I have had people close to me without the motor skills necessary to use the controls we're talking about here. My father, as an example, had Parkinson's for just under 20 years - in his later years he would have been unable to adjust the air. But I'm not sure what alternative controls he would have been able to use. And that's what I'm asking. (And obviously since I AM asking, I am willing to learn - not everyone knows everything without asking questions ...)
( And yes I've definitely been in a situation where it was not intuitive to me, but easy for everyone else -- learning French. They have a different word for just about everything.
My brain fights new languages & there are some folks for whom it's just natural.)
Um, I'm confused, I honestly just wanted to know how they could be improved.
cpa
Active Member
Don't cop out; you are not confused. Had you been confused you would have phrased your initial response differently.
For starters, there are these two blue circles that look like hockey face-off dots. What do they do? Does Tesla tell us what they do? No.
How are those dots moved? Does Tesla tell us in a clear, easy-to-understand format? No. They do not move for me. At all. And I have ordinary dexterity with my fingers, or at least I did until we bought the Model 3.
Why is the area on the touchscreen that enables us to adjust the airflow such a small rectangle--I don't know the exact dimensions, but my memory seems to think that this rectangle is about 1.5"x2". Could Tesla have made this area larger, say 2"x6"?
Could Tesla have used words and directional arrows to help us move these blue dots to our desired locations? Could Tesla have recreated the driver and passenger seating arrangement on the airflow diagram to enable us to direct the flow where we want?
The owner's manual is not available in the car for some reason, or we are too dense to find it. I read the version on our account, and it really is not very helpful.
Both my wife and I learn verbally. I do not think that it is too difficult to use words instead of blue dots. This probably my biggest issue. Use words, not dots.
Are these ideas impossible to incorporate in a computer program? Would they be prohibitively expensive, perhaps running into the hundreds of millions of dollars in labor and materials to make such a design? I honestly know nothing about writing computer programs and the costs involved.
Cheers.
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