A vehicle steering wheel is provided that includes a rotatable rim comprising a core structure, a steering angle sensor sensing an angle of rotation of the rim, and a plurality of proximity sensors located on the rim and spaced apart from one another along an arc length. The vehicle steering wheel also includes a controller processing sensed outputs generated by each of the plurality of proximity sensors and determining operator input commands based on the sensed outputs. The controller assigns a function to each of the proximity sensors that changes as the rim is rotated at an angle such that a given function associated with a proximity sensor remains at the same position in space.