[Terr_]

AFAICT those were generally modular per trim level, and mainly involved excluding features at lower trims.

What I mean is something that is modular per-manufacturer or maybe even across manufacturers, where customization comes from the arrangement in a grid and what is pumped through each control's little display screen to identify its purpose and status.

> A single car model needs a dozen different button configs, with a dozen different wiring harnesses.

That seems to assume every button/dial will have a direct connection, but I'm thinking the harness would terminate in the block-of-sockets, which would be reprogrammable with logic like: "Analog input in socket 1 controls resistance on wires A and D with the following mapping. When value is in this range, show this picture."

The motivating idea here is: "Can we keep a variety of physical controls while making them cheaper, more-functional, and easier to repair?"