What They Say
Audi’s new Q4 e-tron car is reported to have a new optional AR windshield/screen. It is not the same as a typical HUD and the images are said to appear to float around 10 metres away and to be bigger than typical HUDs. The display information includes lane departure warnings that superimpose a red line on the real-life lane marking and a coloured stripe over an active car driving in front when in adaptive cruise control (seen in the image). It will also show navigation information.
Audi said
“A particularly bright LCD directs the light beams it generates onto two level mirrors, and special optical components separate the portions for the near-field and distant areas. The level mirrors direct the beams onto a large concave mirror that can be adjusted electrically. From there, they reach the windshield, which reflects them into what is known as the eyebox, and thus onto the driver’s eyes.”
To prevent the augmented images from jittering, jumping or otherwise losing sync with the real-world situation around them, the Q4 employs an AR Creator (essentially a software-based modular processing unit) to continually predict where objects around the vehicle are and how quickly their positions are changing during the fractions of a second it takes to collect, process, and display the information gleaned by the vehicle’s various sensors onto the HUD. This keeps the AR image from shaking and jittering as you drive down the street.
Drivers will also have their choice of either a standard 10.1-inch MMI touchscreen infotainment display (1,540 x 720) that handles a majority of the vehicle’s cabin features or they can upgrade to an 11.6-inch (1,764 x 824) version that Audi is touting as its largest touchscreen to date. The larger display will be optional and is expected to become available by the end of the year.
What We Think
I still haven’t had a car with a HUD, but friends that have had them say it’s hard to go back to not having them. I had a conversation with an executive from GM at CES several years ago who told me that his firm’s view was that you could soon replace the instrument panel completely with a dynamic HUD, but that it would take a very long time before customers would be comfortable to buy a vehicle without traditional looking instruments. (BR)
