Hudway says that a NASA study proved that using HUD in navigation dramatically increases safety while driving, and current navigation systems are inherently unsafe. Hudway is the developer of a HUD (Head-up display). This is a new mega-trend in car industry. Lucky owners of luxury cars, like BMW, have a very cool option to see all the navigation information right on the windshield. You don't have to distract your attention off the road to get information on a media screen or your smartphone.
Hudway developed two solutions for providing Head-Up Display in ANY car.
First is a mobile app for navigation. It's been specially designed for low visibility conditions (such as fog, rain, snow or darkness). All you have to do is place a smartphone on a dashboard and it will turn into a head-up display so you see information right on your windshield.
Second is a reinvention of the way navigation information is shown. In low visibility conditions you don't really care what will happen on the road in 10 to 20 kilometers. All you need to know right now is when will be the next curve. It is critical that you see 100 meters ahead. We display a 3D animated image of the road ahead to give all information on when and how sharp will be the next curve.
To use this app you don't have to have special glasses – just a smartphone. The app only works in dark and low visibility conditions.
Hudway also came up with a special accessory – HUDWAY Glass. It is equipped with specially designed optics that makes images visible during a sunny day. It uses the same type windshield glass that the car manufacturers use to project an image 2 meters in front of the car.
The basic technology is not about how to place the device so that it would produce a decent reflection on the windshield (Head-Up Display), but about HOW it analyzes, visualises and displays information for the driver navigating in poor and reduced visibility conditions.
“We stepped away from the ordinary way of presenting navigation information on the map — instead, we display it as a live 3D view, supporting the image with a minimum information. Route in HUDWAY is depicted by its outlines, moving (and appearing in prospect) as the vehicle moves. The image is intuitive, and it shows the driver one or two approaching curves, thus alerting him on what is close but can’t be seen due to reduced visibility, and informing him generally on the road for the next 5-10 km (which makes an average scale in ordinary navigators).” Says Ivan Klabukov, CEO of Hudway.
Here are some of the smarts built into the system:
1)The analysis of all the road curves and their indexing by complicacy, sharpness and the maneuver length
2) Technical means for alerting the driver on the recommended slow-down, depending on current vehicle speed and the sharpness of the upcoming curve (+taking into account grip of wheel — this is currently under development)
3) Calculation of the necessary road interval for the visualisation (depending on the current speed) — emphasis on the first (one or two) upcoming curves
4) Animated road visualisation in 3D view moving and adjusting accordingly to the vehicle movement.
Aside from visual information, the app features one of a kind voice navigation (voice assistant, co-pilot). Voice assistant in HUDWAY describes all the road curves, whereas an ordinary navigation systems voice assistant will alert the driver mostly on junctions (with the curves and bends being ignored).
The app analyses all the curves on the way and classifies them: easy, medium, hard, 90 degree, sharp and U-turn. These can also be “long” and “very long”, like in “400 right easy very long”.
The idea behind the voice assistant technique comes from rally racing — HUDWAY voice assistant does exactly what rally co-pilot does. The driver doesn’t have to look too much at the display since the key description of the route is given with voice. Together, the image and the voice create a rich experience and awareness of the current driving situation, It adds a safer and more comfortable driving experience in reduced visibility.
The Hudway team has developed a unique approach to algorithms involving:
1) Professional co-pilot work process “algorithmization” — automatic compilation of the route pace notes
2) The algorithm of voice instructions compilation before the curve — voice delivers only the most necessary information before the upcoming road stretch, so that the driver gets an audio representation of the next one or two maneuvers.
3) Linguistic analysis of phrase concatenation patterns in various languages and the technique of their construction in voice commands.
The company wants to partner with resellers worldwide. There are over 1 million downloads of HUDWAY app.
The first batch of HUDWAY Glass will be listed at $49.
To learn more, contact them at go@hudwayapp.com
