HUD for Cars

The Head-up display or heads-up display (HUD) is  a transparent display on the windscreen of cars. This was mainly developed so as to prevent the drivers from looking away from their usual viewpoints.

There are a lot of interactive devices inside a car ranging from a Touch screen music player to a GPS. All these devices usually tend to distract the drivers.

 So How is HUD different ?

• Head-Up Display can be recognized by a small square depression on the dashboard.
• Generated by a projector and a system of mirrors that beams an easy-to-read, high-contrast   image onto a translucent film on the windscreen without distracting the driver.

 From HCI's Perspective : 

In my opinion HUD halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from road to the instruments and back, dramatically reducing the risk of not seeing the sudden illumination of brake lights of the car ahead, or an unexpected obstacle. Driving at night, too, becomes significantly less fatiguing for the eyes.

This interface technology is relatively new and very expensive.


So whats an alternative?

For the people who cant afford luxury cars, the apple iPhone 3G offers a cool application “smart HUD“. The application can be downloaded from the apps store.

SMART HUD

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Ashwin Rao
Personal Journal - Entry 4