Patent ID: 7880594

Claim:
A vehicle, comprising: a frame defining a passenger compartment having at least one seat and a seating position defined by said seat; at least one component subject to control by an occupant in the passenger compartment, each of said at least one component being arranged on said frame; and at least one switch assembly, each of said at least one switch assembly being arranged to control a respective one of said at least one component based on pressure applied by a hand or finger of the occupant of the vehicle to an exposed surface of said passenger compartment of the vehicle, said at least one switch assembly being arranged in a position on a side of or in front of said seat such that the occupant when sitting in said seating position is able to touch said exposed surface with their hand or finger, each of said at least one switch assembly comprising: a substrate underlying said exposed surface; at least one wireless transmission component arranged on said substrate to wirelessly transmit an indication of the application of pressure by the occupant's hand or finger to said exposed surface, said at least one wireless component being arranged such that pressure transferred to said substrate affects the wireless transmission of said at least one wireless transmission component; and a manually controlled control device that controls the wireless transmission by said at least one wireless transmission component based on the application of pressure by the occupant's hand or finger to said exposed surface by transferring the pressure applied by the occupant's hand or finger on said exposed surface to said substrate.