And pilots use HUD's so this must be safe? That would potentially hold water, if the pilots were using huds to tweet, text, and select music while landing... instead they're using huds to display important information...
I like the technology, I just don't like the suggested use cases for it...
The windshield would have navigational aids, but any surface in the car could be used to display hazards!
I want my car to identify if a pedestrian is present (highlighted in yellow) or if they appear to be crossing my heading (highlighted in red.)
I want my car to tell me if there is cross-traffic that is about to run a red light. I'd like to see speed and distance indicators for other vehicles on the road.
I'd love to see the speed of traffic I'm merging into. When I glance over my shoulder to check traffic I can see: !! 64MPH | 72MPH !! in yellow, indicating I should merge faster if I'm able.
If my car detects emergency vehicles or construction vehicles the HUD could draw attention to it in my windows or mirrors.
---
Perhaps my HUD could identify vehicles occupied by "Tweeters" so I can be sure to avoid them?
We're making self-driving cars... there are countless ways to apply that same technology to human-driven cars that would make the roads safer for everyone. If the best they can come up with is song selection and social media: I think their priorities are a bit misaligned.
I can see the speed of traffic Im merging into, pedestrians, change of speed/flow of traffic ahead of me, and if a pedestrian appears to be willing to cross infront of me.
Without even having to think about it, I can just notice when there is emergency vehicles around or construction vehicles or any other danger-sign on the road. I can be talking to my passangers, listening to music or day-dreaming but would not miss any signs - its in the automated system already.
For me, having those kind of HUD stuff would just be even more redundant information to learn to automatically filter out/make judgements on.
In fact, I think such a heads-up-displays everywhere with color information, would just confuse drivers more and lead to more accidents - now you not only have to keep eyes on the road/let brain handle the information and do its thing - but also interpret and learn the various displays and what they mean, but also to confirm what they display to the sorrounding. More info to process - more error prone decisions.
In my 18's I though the same, why all those precautions? I can write SMS and not kill anyone! Truth is, I was lucky not to run into emergency situation while being distracted by mobile.
There is very little risk in regular circumstances, but when unlikely events overlap bad things happen. Blown tire on a motorway, cyclist falling to the middle of a road, uncontrolled vehicle approaching you, and other infinitely many rare possibilities.
P.S. highlighting pedestrians might be life-saving during minimal vision weather.
Outline a car that a standing still or rapidly decreasing speed. This would reduce mundane traffic accidents due to perception errors.
Show road lanes, especially in poor visibility.
Help nightblind users to drive at night
I dont fiddle with my phone when in the car - there is a holder for it on the dashboard so I can see and hear it clearly when GPS/GoogleMaps is on.
Running into an emergency situation and having different color lights or other information on any windshield would be disaster.
Ive been in emergency situations many times, in other countries and one which I believe has the most unsafe roads in the world. Escaped many though situations.
And Ive also hardly survived a frontal crash with another car (in the safe country), I was going 70km/h and other one was equal or faster. I wouldnt recommend adding more information than already present for a human brain to take decisions on. That information can be fed to a computer to take decisions when cars become self-driving.
But yeah HUD is cool. I would use it to show the speedometer higher up than it is right now.
My current car will give warnings if it sees cross traffic approaching when in reverse. It has warned me a few times when someone is driving way too quickly through a parking lot and my view has been blocked by parked cars.
Things like this are REALLY useful. You just don't realize how useful they are because you haven't used the technology yet.
Just the other day my friend drove past someone who was actively backing out a big SUV.
As we drive past our car is well below the level of the SUVs rear window. I just thought to myself: "he's incredibly lucky the SUV even saw him."
Yet I am a still a gear head at heart and having the option to see engine temperature, oil pressure (provided its a real reading), fuel, and such, would be nice I do not need it in my field of view. Perhaps the items I want to really know can be designated to pop up when I stop.
So, nav dream state.
default, speed and limit. Navigation if I am following a route Ability to designate selected other values to display all the time, at stop, when near threshold.
optional voice
I agree with your opinion. More data, even if relevant and not tweets, doesn't always mean better. The purpose of displayed information should be to augment decision making. If something is irrelevant to making a call, like engine temperature being in proper range, it should be out of sight because otherwise it's a (mild) distraction.
How about "No?" Is "No" supported?
I was downtown in a very busy urban center that I absolutely hate navigating. I was so happy to have an iPhone that was aiding me through the maze of one-way streets; for once I wouldn't be late for my rendezvous.
Just then: the person I was picking up decided to call me. iOS decided that a phone call was more important than driving, so it displayed a full screen alert which closed my navigation session. As a result I of course missed the turn and ended up in a rather stressful situation.
Now this was before iOS had built in turn-by-turn navigation; so I don't think it's fair to say that Apple intended it to be used as a replacement for a navigation aid; but the incident still sends chills down my spine.
---
The iPhone is no longer with me: but that was the point where I decided two things. (1) my iPhone would always be jailbroken. (2) The "CallBar" app in the Cydia store was well worth the pocket change I paid for it.
---
I can't stand the notion that social interaction is somehow more important than driving.
When you're driving: your utmost attention is the one and only social obligation you should be expected to fulfill.
Smartphones are very rarely marketed _as phones._ They are marketed based on differentiating features: everyone knows that the flagship Androids and the iPhone are plenty good at making calls.
This leads you to sell the device based on it's lifestyle features: like Siri, or Google Now. Often they are touted for their entertainment capabilities, or marketed as portable media players.
These devices are sold as though _they're more than a phone._ So I don't think it's entirely unrealistic to expect the dialer to be designed to cooperate with other apps.
---
My phone has more CPU cores, more RAM, and more storage than many netbooks. So I find it a bit strange that Skype on my netbook doesn't demand my full attention, but Skype on my phone not only demands it, _ but commands it._
The nav system is great. They should have led with that.
Problem with planes is really high speed, so the plane can be just a pinhead, even if there's good visibility and in the following 15 seconds you're doing something else, is enough to collide.
It comes down to probabilities. While driving, stare at a map for 15 seconds. What are the odds that you crash? Probably quite high. Better than 50/50, I'd say. Now, when flying, stare at a map for 15 seconds. What are the odds that you crash? It's not zero, but it's close.
Even more, mounting "something" to the front window is illegal in a lot of places in the world [1]. At least Netherlands and U.S. In The Netherlands operating a phone while driving (voice operated carkit exempt) gives you a ~$250 fine.
Furthermore, obstructing part of your window is dangerous. You could miss something. And it's distracting (our eyes focus on motion).
What a idiotic idea.
Sadly you're wrong. Holding a phone is illegal, operating it while in a car kit is officially nog prohibited.
>Artikel 61a
Het is degene die een motorvoertuig, bromfiets, snorfiets of gehandicaptenvoertuig dat is uitgerust met een motor bestuurt verboden tijdens het rijden een mobiele telefoon vast te houden.
Obviously, the law doesn't say anything about HUDs, and it will probably take a few years for legislation to catch up with technology in that area.
People die because other people drive while distracted. There are no excuses for being severely and unnecessarily distracted while behind the wheel just so you can check your messages. It really is as simple as that.
The answer isn't letting people who think it's OK to drive like this be a bit less distracted with a HUD. The answer is imposing penalties equivalent to what they'd get if, say, they fired a loaded gun in a random direction from the middle of a crowded shopping mall.
My jaw hit the floor the first time it went off. My jaw also hit the floor when it read a rather private message while I was a _passenger_ in someone else's car.
Example:
(Phone): New text message from John Smith. Would you like to hear it? (You): Yes. (Phone): "Bla bla text message contents here"
(Your Spouse): Yes.
I think the moto x is an awesome phone but this is indeed a problem :)
HUDs are a good idea, but it should be showing info about driving.