Rethinking Automotive Multimodality

In this episode of the Human-Technology Podcast, I talk about one of the most important, and most misunderstood, topics in modern automotive HMI development: multimodality. Touch, speech, gestures, haptics, gaze control, AI assistants, modern vehicles are rapidly turning into highly complex multimodal systems. But does adding more interaction channels automatically create better user experiences? Not necessarily. This episode explores why multimodality is far more than a technology trend. It is about cognitive load, context, trust, safety, and the fundamental question of how humans should interact with increasingly intelligent vehicles. Peter argues that the future of automotive HMI will not belong to the vehicles with the highest number of features, but to those that best understand which interaction makes sense in which situation. Key topics in this episode include: 1. Why multimodality is system architecture, not feature accumulation 2. Why context almost always beats technology 3. The return of physical interaction and “The Revenge of the Analog” 4. How AI transforms multimodal systems into adaptive interfaces 5. Why real value creation means reducing complexity instead of adding more features A thought-provoking episode about the future of human-centered automotive interaction, and why the best technology is often the one that feels least like technology.