Jaguar Land Rover developing contactless touch-screen

Grubby and unsanitary touch-screens could be a thing of the past thanks to new 'Predictive Touch' technology created by Jaguar Land Rover and Cambridge University researchers.

Employing a raft of sensors, the new patented tech is claimed to accurately predict what part of the screen you're about to touch, negating the need to physically press buttons.

This, says the team that created it, reduces the transmission risk of any diseases if the vehicle is shared and, at the same time, is so accurate it reduces the time the driver needs to look at the screen by up to 50 per cent.

Predictive Touch is claimed to be capable of tracking movements thanks to radio frequency-based sensors and an eye gaze tracker.

JLR tech engineer Lee Skrypchuk said: "Predictive touch technology eliminates the need to touch an interactive display and could therefore reduce the risk of spreading bacteria or viruses on surfaces.

"The technology also offers us the chance to make vehicles safer by reducing the cognitive load on drivers and increasing the amount of time they can spend focused on the road ahead."

There's no confirmation of when Jaguar Land Rover plans to introduce the next-gen touch-screens into its vehicles, although it could be soon as the tech is claimed to be easily incorporated into existing touch-screens.