A Study on Acceptance of Head-Up Displays in Automotive Appliances and Development of a Concept HUD

Abstract: This report describes the process of designing and executing an empirical study about
automotive Head Up-Displays (HUDs). It also relates the process that follows of
designing a concept HUD according to the results of the study.
The project was split into three chronological parts: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In
the analysis phase, a large scale study was performed on available literature concerning
HUDs. Also, a study that aimed to investigate peoples willingness to use HUD was
completed. This study was designed as a pre-study for a later project. The study was
performed on seven test subjects who drove their own cars with a HUD mounted in them,
in real traffic for four days each.
The results of the study indicate that the subjects are likely to find HUD useful in
automotive appliances, and furthermore, the study gave indications of the features that
were important to them. For example, many preferred analogue speed dials as opposed to
digital ones.
Using systematic design, a concept HUD was produced using the findings from the study,
as well as earlier findings made in other studies. In order to find suitable symbols for the
different messages to be conveyed by the HUD, a survey was carried out. The survey
asked the participants which symbol they thought was the best purveyor of each message.
The concept formed features both analogue and digital speed dials, as well as a dial to
indicate acceleration. It has navigation system features and traffic warnings. It also shows
turn indicators and system failure warnings, such as engine and brake malfunction.
The conclusions of this project are that a solely digital speedometer may be disliked by
many drivers, and therefore it is suggested that a combination of digital and analogue
might be better. Also, the optimal position of the HUD is not necessarily directly in front
of the steering wheel, with several subjects preferring the HUD positioned slightly to the
right of the steering wheel.