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from the Keep-Informed-Through-Tweets dept.
The Register and The Verge are carrying a story on NAVDY (Warning: SNvertisemnt), a Heads Up Display (HUD) that links with your cell phone to keep your eyes glued to the road.
The technology projects a transparent image directly within your field of view that appears to float six feet in front of your screen. The display can show instructions, incoming calls and the car's speed. You communicate with the Navdy using voice and gestures and the Navdy has noise cancellation and wide angle sensors to make this work.
Navdy works with navigation apps such as Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions, and music apps such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Music and Google Play Music. The device can read aloud or display notifications from text messages or social media apps.
So far, all the information about the product, both by the reviewers and the company's own site concentrate on the handling of social media and entertainment, with very little addressing the navigation part, other than the mention of Google's Turn by Turn directions.
To my way of thinking none of this is that helpful, and merely provides another way to maintain the constant flow of social media with a thin veneer of navigation as justification, and wrapping it all in dubious claims of safety. (Even citing fighter pilots use of HUDs in their video, neglecting to mention children don't chase balls into the path of fighter aircraft).
Some high end cars have HUD displays, but for the most part they focus their efforts on keeping you from having to look at the dashboard rather than having to look art your phone, and they avoid being the center of your attention versus trying to capture your attention.
Should the object of a HUD be to keep us in touch, or help us drive?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 19 2014, @05:55PM
> Is this thing physically attached to the dash or is it designed to simply slam
> into the drivers face at 60 mph during an accident?
Related to that, I have a garmin GPS unit that I try to keep right on the dashboard in front of my steering wheel - basically the same place as the navdy is in their video. I couldn't use a suction-cup windshield mount because then it is too far forward and out of arm's reach (and california has a law against windshield-mounting anything, a stupid law but there it is). I tried garmin's friction mount and it was no good, friction just wasn't enough to keep it in place when going around corners.
So I ripped off the friction pad and duct-taped a rare-earth magnet in its place. My plan was to super-glue a similar magnet to the dash where I wanted it to sit. Instead I found out that there is a lot of ferrous metal right below the dashboard cover and I don't need a 2nd magnet. I can sit the unit on top of the dash and it just "sticks" - no problems even in the sharpest turns and slamming on the brakes.
So far I haven't been able to find any commercially made magnetic mounts. I've seen some that are two parters - you have to glue something to the dashboard first, like I was planning on originally. But nothing like my self-contained model.
Anyways, that's my story and if any of you are looking to get their gps/phone right up close on your dashboard but don't want one of those jerry-rigged mounts, just get a super magnet and see if it will stick to your dash on its own.