Now, activating the touch-screen in a Cadillac won't even require a touch. Just putting your hand near it will cause it to activate.

Just as most people have mastered the art of operating their smartphones and tablet computers, Cadillac is going to bring similar movements to the car. It's called CUE, for Cadillac User Experience. Executives view it as the next great leap in simplicity and convenience.

The system is meant to sort out the confusion that some drivers feel with today's touch-screens with icons and control knobs in many of today's cars that control functions like changing radio stations, finding your way with the navigation system and making phone calls.

The goal was to eliminate the 30 to 40 buttons that dot the center stacks of some cars and replace them with just a handful of easy-to-read icons. But Cadillac says it goes much further. CUE "culminates in a groundbreaking system," says Don Butler, Cadillac's vice president of marketing.

It will sport a number of industry-leading features:

Hand gestures . If you move your hand within 8 inches of the center touch-screen as you drive, the number of icons increases to give you more choices of things to control. It's the first use of gesture recognition in a car.

. If you move your hand within 8 inches of the center touch-screen as you drive, the number of icons increases to give you more choices of things to control. It's the first use of gesture recognition in a car. Pinch and squeeze . Just as iPhone and iPad users have become accustomed to using their thumb and forefingers to make things bigger or smaller on their screens, Cadillac drivers will be able to do the same.

. Just as iPhone and iPad users have become accustomed to using their thumb and forefingers to make things bigger or smaller on their screens, Cadillac drivers will be able to do the same. Sense recognition . Instead of just sliding your finger across the glass of the touch-screen, you'll get a sensation in your finger that will feel like you're pushing a button. It feels like a high-end version of those metal crickets that are in kids' toys, without the cricket sound.

. Instead of just sliding your finger across the glass of the touch-screen, you'll get a sensation in your finger that will feel like you're pushing a button. It feels like a high-end version of those metal crickets that are in kids' toys, without the cricket sound. Innovative storage. The front panel in the center stack opens to reveal a cubby hole for storage underneath.

In addition, Cadillac is redoing the instrument panel :

The goal is to give drivers more choice in what they see. They can make it look like today's cars or can customize it with any number of features to give them just the information they seek.

CUE comes first to the new Cadillac XTS, the luxury brand's new large car, in April. Next, it will show up on the new ATS small car next summer. Then it will come to other Cadillac models as each is refreshed or given a new look, such as the SRX.

Cadillac is unveiling a new system today that it bills as the next great leap forward in convenience and simplicity for drivers who want to make phone calls, control the temperature of the car, change the radio station and other in-car tasks.