US: Talking satellite navigation devices and taking your eyes off the road to peer at a small screen could soon be a thing of the past. Garmin has created a portable heads-up display (HUD) that sits on a car”s dashboard and projects turn-by-turn directions on a transparent film attached to the windscreen.
The directions are sent to the HUD over Bluetooth from a smartphone running the Garmin StreetPilot or NAVIGON satellite navigation apps.
Garmin”s HUD shows turning arrows, the distance to the next turn, the current driving speed as well as the estimated time of arrival. It even lets drivers know what lane to be in, warns of potential traffic delays and shows the location of nearby speed cameras.
Spoken turn-by-turn directions can also be enabled and are played out either through the smartphone”s speakers, or via Bluetooth through the car”s stereo.
The HUD will also continue to display directions if the driver takes a call on a hands-free kit.
If drivers don”t want to beam the directions onto the plastic film they can instead project them through a reflector lens that connects directly to the HUD.
”HUD redefines the navigation experience by allowing drivers to find their way without taking their eyes off the road,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales.
The Garmin HUD will go on sale in September and cost £139.
Source: Garmin
