BMW's Revamped Jet Plane HUD To Be Available On Nearly All Their Cars
We like cars. We like cool heads up displays. We like jet planes. We like colour. BMW have cleverly combined these in brand new and interesting ways, by taking their 5-series heads up display, shaking it around, adding a drop more of colour, and making it available on practically its entire car lineup.
The idea behind HUDs, besides simply being awesome, is to reduce the amount of time drivers spend in a 'distracted' state, as they looking at their dashboards, at maps or GPS devices, and so on, by projecting important information in the windscreen itself. This has obviously always been most used in jet planes, where pilots have to deal with smaller reaction times while flying at stupidly fast speeds.
In cars, though, visual distraction is one of the primary ways drivers lose concentration while on the road. With a HUD suspended at eye level, drivers can keep their eyes on the road without having to sacrifice knowing important things about their car, such as knowing how fast they're going.
This isn't the first time BMW have put a HUD into their cars. They're not even the only manufacturers placing HUDs in their cars. The likes of Cadillac and Pontiac (before it went under) have long had such displays, but these were limited in the kinds of information they would display, and also in how easy they were to read. They also usually only appeared on select models.
Now, however, BMW have done what it has taken almost ten years to do - add a full spectrum colour display. The projection itself works by being shone through a 'Thin Film Transistor', which basically gives the image greater clarity and introduces visual and electrical interference between pixels in the image. The image also passes between several specially position mirrors.
Without having seen it ourselves, BMW also says the projection is done in such a way that only the driver can actually see the display, which must make it a little disconcerting for other passengers. On the other hand, there's probably a whole lot less back street driving with one of these, with no one peeking at your speedo when you (accidentally) creep over the limit.
The question, of course, is price. BMW haven't said how much it will cost to get it added to, say, your 3 series, as an option, which probably means it costs an arm and a leg. Or, you know, a jet plane. But having said that, it is an option, which means you can take it or leave it.
[BMW]