With cars getting generally better and better all the time, the things that automakers seek to improve become more and more subtle. Like how everything feels. Up until fairly recently, the only concern about how interior materials interacted with your hands was basically just making sure they didn't lacerate you too badly.
Now, natural materials and plastics are being chosen and developed so they actually feel pleasant and luxurious to the touch. Jalopink met with members of Nissan's team that is working on these sorts of things and they showed me how they're trying to make materials that feel like the fingers touching them.
When many reviewers evaluate the inside of a car, there's a clear preference for "soft touch" plastics. They just feel better, and provide a greater perception of quality.
In developing plastics that feel good to the touch, Nissan's engineers have four main criteria they focus on: soft/hard, warm/cool, rough/smooth, dry/moist.
It seems the ideal "high-feeling" materials, according to Nissan's studies, are soft, warm, smooth, and moist.
So, Nissan is making plastics that replicate the feel of the skin on your fingers. That may sound a bit ghoulish, but, really, it's not. The goal has always been to create materials that cause the people who interact with the car to feel the most pleasant, pleasurable feelings. And, if you think about it, when it comes to tactile sensations, what's more pleasant and comforting than holding someone's hand?
We're sort of pre-programmed to enjoy the feel of other fingers against our own. Hence, that's the target of these engineers.
It's not just the level of softness— as in resistance to pressure— of a human finger pad— it's also the texture. Their research has found that surface ridges or other patterns are perceived to be most preferable when their scale most closely approximates the scale of the ridges of a human fingerprint.
So, at least as far as tactile characteristics, Nissan actually is seeking to replicate human finger skin, and then cover almost every surface inside of a car in it. And, really, it makes complete, data-supported sense, and will make cars that are likely very pleasant to drive and be in.
-Courtesy of Jalopink- http://jalopnik.com/5953529/nissans-engineers-are-creepily-trying-to-replicat...