Episode 281 - Inside The Hidden World Of Automotive Haptics

Touch is a language—and modern cars are finally speaking it. In this episiode, Frazer Chesterman talks with Elisa Santella, managing director at Grewus and a founding member of the company, to explore how haptics moved from phone buzzes to production-ready smart surfaces that make driving safer, clearer, and more expressive.

Elisa breaks down what haptics really is—feel, not just vibration—and why the magic only happens when components become complete solutions. We get into the nuts and bolts of automotive HMI: matching actuators with plastics and ribs, picking the right sensors, driving the hardware with tight latency, and designing tactile patterns that convey confirm, warn, or block. She shares how Grewus works as a tier two supplier with tier ones, universities, and material partners to build an ecosystem capable of shipping refined touch into real cars.

We also talk brand identity you can feel. As vehicles become software-defined, haptics offers a new signature for each OEM: a distinct click for a control, a unique feedback profile for a mode change, and a multimodal experience that pairs light and sound for instant clarity. For EVs and future autonomy, haptics restores emotion without noise, adding subtle, localised sensations that bring back the thrill and reinforce safety. From gaming peripherals to wellness applications, the same electromagnetic expertise scales across markets—and it is already in mass production.

If you care about user experience, automotive design, or the future of human–machine interfaces, this conversation maps the next chapter of tactile UX: measurable, repeatable, and unmistakably branded. Listen, subscribe, and leave a review with the haptic cue you’d want in your next car.

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FuturePrint TECH: Industrial Print: 21-22 January '26, Munich, Germany