Hands-On with Holographic Vehicle Heads-Up-Display!

Summary

Distance Technologies, the team behind Vario VR, is pioneering mixed-reality heads-up displays (HUDs) for vehicles, transforming windshields into interactive portals. Their holographic system, which tracks head and eye movements, allows for spatial 3D visualizations with true depth and parallax. Targeting automotive, aviation, and defense sectors, the technology could bring science-fiction-like HUDs to real-world cars and planes. Despite challenges like brightness and transparency, the company is making strides, showing promising demos and building partnerships. While the product is in early stages, the potential for the technology to revolutionize driving, navigation, and safety is exciting.

Takeaways

• 😀 Distance Technologies is developing a glasses-free mixed-reality display system for automotive, aerospace, and defense industries.
• 😀 The system uses advanced head and eye tracking to create a true stereoscopic 3D experience, allowing virtual objects to appear with depth.
• 😀 The display can transform transparent surfaces like windshields into portals for holographic content, offering a full field of view.
• 😀 A key challenge is making the display bright enough (10,000 nits) to be visible through transparent surfaces while maintaining clarity and realism.
• 😀 Unlike traditional HUDs, this technology provides depth per pixel, allowing for interactive, spatially aware information directly in the user’s line of sight.
• 😀 The technology is still in the prototype stage, but has already generated interest from major automotive brands like Kia, who have never seen anything like it before.
• 😀 The team aims to scale the system for different angles and types of vehicles, including electric vehicles (EVs) with varying windshield slopes.
• 😀 A significant focus for the company is ensuring the system remains safe, energy-efficient, and cost-effective for real-world applications.
• 😀 The mixed-reality system is designed to work without a headset, making it more comfortable and user-friendly for drivers or pilots who need constant access to real-time data.
• 😀 Though still early in development, Distance Technologies’ team has strong expertise in optics, software, and embedded systems, giving them confidence in the technology's potential.
• 😀 Future versions of the system may support multi-user functionality, though this is a more complex challenge that will be tackled after perfecting single-user functionality.

Q & A

What is the core technology behind Distance Technologies' mixed reality heads-up display (HUD)?

The core technology is based on mixed reality displays, which were originally used in augmented reality (AR) glasses. These systems project virtual objects onto transparent surfaces like windshields, creating a 3D experience with depth, and are tracked to align with the user's head and eyes for accurate perspective adjustments.

How does the head tracking feature work in Distance Technologies' system?

The system uses head and eye tracking to provide stereo depth perception. As the user moves their head, the display adjusts the virtual objects' position in real-time, ensuring that the depth and perspective match the user's viewpoint, making the experience more immersive and realistic.

What makes this HUD system different from traditional HUDs in cars today?

Unlike traditional HUDs that project flat 2D graphics, Distance Technologies' system offers full 3D mixed reality with virtual objects placed at varying depths. This system also enables interactivity, where users can track and interact with objects on the windshield, offering a far more immersive experience.

What are some of the key challenges Distance Technologies faces in bringing this HUD technology to market?

Some of the key challenges include achieving sufficient brightness (10,000 nits) to ensure visibility in real-world conditions, maintaining transparency on windshields (at least 75%), ensuring high resolution, and improving tracking accuracy. Additionally, integrating this technology into a variety of vehicle designs poses a significant challenge.

What are the current use cases for this mixed reality HUD system?

Currently, the technology is targeted at industries like automotive, aerospace, and defense, where funding and applications for advanced technologies are more readily available. In the future, the goal is to bring the technology to consumer vehicles, making navigation and interaction safer and more intuitive.

How does the system achieve such high levels of brightness while maintaining transparency on the windshield?

The system is designed to project light at levels much higher than current consumer devices—up to 10,000 nits—while ensuring that the windshield itself maintains 75% transparency. This is accomplished through advanced optical engineering that balances brightness and transparency without compromising the driver’s ability to see the road.

What advancements does Distance Technologies need to make to ensure the technology is viable for mass market use?

Distance Technologies needs to focus on improving the resolution and brightness of the system, perfecting head and eye tracking, and ensuring that the system can scale to work with a variety of vehicle types and windshield angles. They also need to address calibration issues and reduce the cost of production to make the technology affordable for mass-market use.

What industries are currently showing interest in this mixed reality HUD system?

The automotive industry, especially car manufacturers like Kia, along with aerospace and defense sectors, are showing significant interest in this technology. These industries are looking for advanced HUD systems for navigation, information display, and safety enhancements.

How does Distance Technologies plan to refine the technology in the future?

The company plans to work closely with automotive and aerospace OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) on joint R&D projects to refine the technology, improve the light engine, enhance software systems, and test the technology in real-world conditions before scaling it to consumer applications.

What is the ultimate goal for the future of this HUD system?

The ultimate goal is to bring mixed reality HUDs into consumer vehicles, providing a seamless, interactive, and immersive experience for drivers. This would involve not only enhancing the visual experience but also enabling real-time interaction with virtual objects in the environment, making driving safer and more intuitive.