VEHICLE INTERIOR PANEL WITH THERMAL FEEDBACK

Vehicle system information is communicated to a vehicle occupant by thermal haptics. A heat transfer device, such as a Peltier device, is used to locally control the temperature of an interaction area along an outer surface of a vehicle interior panel. A temperature differential between the interaction area and an adjacent area indicates the current status and/or the location of a control for the system. Multiple heat transfer devices can be used to provide a temperature gradient along the outer surface of the panel to provide the occupant with a thermally perceptible indicator of an available range of temperatures and/or a temperature setpoint for the vehicle system.