Pioneer preps laser head-up display

I personally like HUDs. We've used them in aviation for awhile now. The trick is to make them visible without being distracting. The human eye is drawn to movement and if the HUD is too cluttered with moving maps and other changing info, it could get distracting. Pontiac used HUDs for speedometer and fuel economy/level in some of their models. Those weren't distracting and took up a minimal amount of viewing space when projected on your windshield. You also had the option of disabling the feature. It will be interesting to see how the interface works. I personally don't look at my GPS that often while driving with the exception of junction views in unfamiliar territory. Audio turn commands do the job most of the time. The potential for a cool (but likely a very expensive) gadget is definitely there.

I like the concept but what happens when the sun is glaring in the front window. Is that going to cause a problem with seeing the display. At least with the handheld GPS, you can position it to avoid the glare.

the HUDs I've worked with tend to be pretty compressed, cramming a lot of information into a small space, requiring highly trained users (top notch pilots) to get the most out of them.

as with other GUIs, you get used to certain things appearing on certain areas of the display -- you know when something pops up in a certain portion of the display, and in a certain colour that it's an OGT alarm, even before you've consciously read it.

These kinds of displays will be really useful some day.

I also think the temptation to overload them with advertising will be their downfall. You're driving along when an EXCITING SPECIAL OFFER! pops up on your HUD...

Thanks for the info.