General Motors first used head-up display (HUD) in the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme some 25 years ago. Since then, the technology has become quite popular, but it took a while for the tech to catch on.
Within the last few years, however, several automakers have adopted head-up display as a quick and cool way to give essential information to the driver without drawing eyes off the road, such as speed, navigation directions, and even a g meter
Garmin followed the automakers with an aftermarket HUD in an obvious attempt to garner at least a couple dollars in the aftermarket navigation world since the widespread use of free, app-based turn-by-turn systems for smartphones all but killed its business.
Now Garmin has once again been out done by the app world. The aptly named HUDWAY has unveiled the iphone-based – the Android version is coming soon – head-up display system that you see above – and in the videos below.
All you have to do is download the free HUDWAY app, enter your location, set your iPhone on the dashboard and HUDWAY does the rest, showing you turn-by-turn directions and even outlines of the road ahead.
While the app is free, you might have to invest in a device for your dash to hold your iPhone. That is, unless your dashboard is wickedly sticky for some reason. If it is, I don’t want to know why.
I just downloaded the app and will be testing it out in weeks to come. My initial concern is that, while it looks brilliant in the car driving at dusk through a field, the iPhone screen won’t be bright enough to project a visible image in full daylight. But I’m going to find out.
HUDWAY — Augmented reality on the windshield (HUD, Head-Up Display). Drive safely. from HUDWAY on Vimeo.
HUDWAY app DEMO — Head-Up Display (HUD) in rally car. from HUDWAY on Vimeo.