Rivian refuses to bring back the physical buttons rivals are restoring. Its software chief believes voice should be the primary car interface. The new R2 ditches HVAC buttons for scroll wheels on the steering wheel. Some automakers have caved to buyer demand and started bringing physical buttons back, including VW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai. Rivian, on the other hand, has no interest in joining them, insisting its advanced AI-driven voice assistant is simply a better way to control a vehicle’s functions. While recently speaking with Rivian’s chief software officer, and co-CEO of the Rivian and VW joint venture, Wassym Bensaid, The Verge dug into the new Rivian Assistant, which rolled out to existing R1 models in mid-May. It’s built on a shared, multimodal AI foundation and can handle core vehicle functions, HVAC included. Read: For $50 A Month, Rivian Will Make You A Passenger In Your Own EV Existing Rivian R1 models, along with the new R2, are largely free of physical buttons, and given the brand’s commitment to its new assistant, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. “I deeply believe that voice has the chance to be the primary interface in the car,” Bensaid told The Verge. “I also think that buttons can exist, but they shouldn’t be the primary way with which you interact with the car. I think there’s more that is possible with voice since you can do more than one single function. You don’t have to fiddle with so many functions.” Are Scroll Wheels The Solution? “You don’t have to go deep into the touchscreen to look into specific features. A great voice experience can elevate all of that, allow users to talk to the car as a human would, and really take the overall experience to the next level,” he added. Bensaid went on to note that in the R2, there are no traditional HVAC buttons; instead, the large scroll wheels on the steering wheel can be used to adjust settings like fan speed on the fly. While not quite a button, they do seem like a better solution than tapping on a small icon on the touchscreen to tweak the fan speed. Scroll wheels on the Rivian R2’s steering wheel According to Rivian, “the only reason that drivers and consumers do not interact with the car through voice is that, to put it really bluntly, the technology has been broken,” up until this point. A key difference between Rivian’s Assistant and those of competitors is that it uses its own Android-based infotainment system, which doesn’t offer support for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, so the AI-assistant works seamlessly regardless of what screen is displayed. Rivian also points out that the system takes a more conversational approach than traditional voice assistants. Instead of barking “Open the frunk,” for instance, you can simply say “I have a bag in the front of the car,” and the assistant will pop the frunk for you. It all sounds rather slick, though we’d still take a few physical buttons. What about you?
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