Inside Brainiac: Test Fitting Revision #2

After our initial test fitting session for the 10.1″ Brainiac screen there were lots of insights gained and revisions to be made to the 3D model which helped us dial-in the fit and finish.  That feedback cycle gave birth to revision number two of the 05-07 Subaru WRX/STI plastic trim pieces.

This new revision also had the addition of the OEM mounting points and the 10.1″ cradle which holds the touch screen.  These additions to the back-side of the trim allow everything to snap and screw in-place to further test how everything fits.  It turns out that the second revision prototype prints fit so well that we decided we would clean-up them up and color match them to the existing dashboard trim to give everyone a better idea of what Brainiac will actually look like when installed.  I mean the green plastic was “dead sexy” but painted smooth surfaces are so much better 🙂

What we’ve learned with this new revision of plastics has already been fed back into the design so that the next prints will result in trim that fits even better than what we’re about to show below.  There are still a few alignment and gap updates that we want to get perfect and the upcoming revision 3 will also include our row of physical buttons.  But more on the buttons after the photos below.

The 05-07 STI/WRX dashboard shown is mounted in our “work-in-progress” display stand that we’ll have on-site in our booth at ImportFest.  There’s still STI aluminium shifter trim to install and a lot of sanding/filling/smoothing/painting to be finished on the display stand, but the revision 2 Brainiac install is looking great!

Now I haven’t forgotten that I mentioned earlier about a row of physical buttons.  There are lots of different ways to interact with your vehicle while driving which can include touch screens, voice commands and even gestures.  But one of the good old tried and true methods of adjusting common settings is being able to reach over without looking and having your muscle memory scan and discover the physical button you’re looking for.

While we’ll be providing lots of different ways to interact with Brainiac, we also wanted to make sure that we provided some physical buttons for common actions such as volume adjustment, skipping/scanning music and some buttons for system functionality.  So we thought we would share some of the early renders that we used for discussing sizing, shape, number of buttons and the physical layout.

I know these renders are a bit of a tease, but we’re just not quite ready yet to reveal revision 3 which will include the buttons that will be common across all of our 10.1″ installs. But we think you’re really going to like the final design 🙂