Visteon has launched its latest HUD which has a field of view of 10º x 4º, said to be twice the size of a standard windshield HUD.
“AR plays a critical role in building driver confidence in assisted driving situations such as collision avoidance and brake assist,” said Remi Sigrist, engineering manager in Visteon’s Technology Office. “AR can translate alerts into a visually rich representation of the vehicle’s environment and display information exactly where the driver needs it – in their direct view through the windscreen – to respond quickly when changing between assisted and driver-driven mode.”
The system’s embedded front-view and driver monitoring cameras trigger “smart alerts” in the form of lights and sounds when the driver is not paying attention to the road, if the vehicle strays from its lane, or if the vehicle is at risk of potentially hitting an object. For example, when a pedestrian or bicycle is present on the side of the road, a LED light projects onto the windshield within a 80° angle of the driver’s line of sight, giving a visual alert without the driver needing to turn their head.
In parallel, Visteon is also developing advanced dual-image windshield HUD technology combining two virtual images. The first image is projected 15 meters in front of the vehicle and overlaid on the road as an AR feature while the second virtual image is projected two meters from the driver’s line of sight. The two independent images are separated by a semi-transparent mirror and fully overlap in the driver’s view.
This Visteon HUD was shown at CES. Image:Meko
Analyst Comment
By chance, this week I was a passenger in a car with a driver who had changed company cars. His previous car had a HUD and the new one didn’t as he hadn’t been able to specify the options he wanted. He told me that he would never have a car without a HUD again, as he really missed it now. That’s the kind of feedback that HUD and car makers will enjoy! (BR)
