Automotive touchscreen controls with simulated texture for haptic feedback

A vehicle HMI comprising:

• a touchscreen display;
• a texture system having an electrode on the display receiving an oscillating signal from a signal generator creating perceived textures to a sliding finger;
• and
• a control circuit driving the signal generator varying perceived textures with a localized texture mapping for selecting feature icons on the display and with a status texture mapping relating perceived texture to potential adjustment settings according to the feature icon then selected.

A method for operator control of controllable features within an automotive vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• monitoring finger contact on a touchscreen display to navigate a graphical HMI with respective elements on the display including feature selection icons and adjustment icons;
• and
• driving a signal generator of a haptic texture system with an oscillating signal to produce a potential difference between the finger and an electrode resulting in a corresponding perceived texture as the finger slides over the touchscreen display, wherein an amplitude or frequency of the oscillating signal is varied in response to a contact point of the finger on the touchscreen display;
• wherein the driving step includes a first mode having a localized texture mapping defined by respective feature icon selection regions on the touchscreen display;
• and
• wherein the driving step includes a second mode having a status texture mapping relating the perceived texture to each potential adjustment setting available for a feature icon that has been selected using the first mode.