NOVI, Mich. – In the new Audi Q7, Preh, Inc. delivers a particularly high-quality  and  technologically advanced operating system – the multimedia interface (MMI) “All-in-Touch” – an innovative "hub" in the vehicle’s center console. The latest MMI generation – a joint development of AudiPreh – provides an easy-to-usecomfortable control, offering a variety of functions at the same time. All input for navigation, multimedia  and  telephone can be made with a few steps. In the center, a large control system touchpad confirms the input with acoustichaptic feedback.

Car owners have become familiar with handwriting recognition  and  gestures – so touch controls are found more  and  more in the automotive interior. In the new Audi Q7, the MMI was selected for its ease-of-use touch panela three-dimensional surface with a tactileaudible feedback. Thus the driver gets a response similar to that when a conventional button is pressed. As a result, the MMI All-in-Touch sets a new standard, because its haptic feedback goes far beyond that of consumer products. Such feedback quality is made possible through force sensorsactuators specially developed by Preh.

Preh Managing Director  and  Head of Development Jochen Ehrenberg says," when using the touchpad the haptic feedback feels for the driver  and  pressing a button. To implement the touch requirements from our client Audi, it took a perfectly matched system of actuators, force sensorscorresponding software."

An innovation in the series production is the genuine glass surface of the touchpad. Glass surfaces with such a tactile feedback,the individual icons can be easily felt  and  distinguished, Preh had first shown in a 2013 center console concept. Glass, with a processed surface structure  and  perfect sliding properties, also gives the advantage of high scratch-resistance  and  chemical resistance.

The illumination of function icons  and  design details turned Preh engineers toward a further challenge. That was to represent the back  and  lighting with maximum homogeneity, in spite of different materials: a glass touchpad, polycarbonate casing  and  light guides in the rotary control. Specialized measurements for electronics production  and  calibration setup were specifically designed.

The bottom line for the new Audi MMI All-in-Touch is that it sets the highest standards in terms of control functionality  and  feel.