SUMMARY

A tier 1 automotive components supplier has developed a virtual user interface system for the purpose of replacing currently existing physical buttons mounted on automotive steering wheels. The system is capable of generating acoustic and vibratory feedback to the user for the purpose of mimicking the sound and feel of mechanical buttons. The work performed in this thesis served to investigate what the input waveform should be to the system in order to generate a desired audio output signal. Additionally, subjective testing in the form of a sound jury was conducted in order to identify which types of sounds should be associated with which command functions in order to indicate successful initiation of the intended function. A model for grouping command functions into banks, where each bank is assigned a single sound, was then developed for the purpose of reducing the total number of button sounds used in an automotive environment.