Advancing Car Technology

By: Kyle Evans

11/30/16
Writing 1010

Introduction
With todays advancing technology there is a lot you can get for your money thats really
exciting. Cars have become intelligent computers that work seamlessly to create a driving
experience that is comfortable, but extremely safe. Car companies continue to find ways to make
the safety ratings of their vehicles go up and one of the cool technologies that they have placed in
cars are the Heads-Up Display (HUD), which was originally put in aircrafts and still continues to
be developed in aircrafts for pilots to give them the ability to look through their window of the
plane at all times with the information they needed to fly without having to look down for long
periods of time. My first encounter with this technology was riding in a 2012 Chevy Camaro SS
and watching the windshield being lit with the speed of the car and what was currently being
played on the radio and much more. This technology has many plans for how its going to be
upgraded and changed to make it better, but before we can understand the future of this
technology we have to start from where it all begins.
Heads-Up Display
None of this would be possible if there was never an automobile created and according to
Daimler the very first automobile that was created was in 1879 by a man whose name is Carl
Benz. This car had a one-cylinder engine that was placed on what looked like a tricycle and sat
two people (AG). Now this isnt to say there werent other automobiles that were being created
or had been created, but this was the first automobile that was well known and seen everywhere
for its extraordinary capabilities for its time.
Prior to the 21st Century there wasnt much technology in vehicles that the driver of a car
could really use while driving other than cruise control and the radio that they placed in cars.
There were few cars that may have a couple of cool technologies here and there, but nothing that

really stands out like technologies in todays vehicles. There were many technologies that were
concepts and many people wanted to make them a possibility, but there just wasnt enough
knowledge or resources that made the technologies a reality.
There were many places where types of technology like this were popping up and the
idea was there. One example that may seem cheesy, but contained traces of technology like this
is in the 1970s when the first Star Wars movie was created. Within the movie Star Wars there
was the technology of holograms and the ability to see a 3D image of a person or a thing. Before
we can get to creating holograms we must start smaller and somewhere that can develop into a
hologram later. A hybrid between a hologram and a projector was created to make the HUD in
vehicles. The very first projector was used in the United Sates in 1895 by Woodville Latham and
both of his two sons Otway and Gray (History.com). If it werent for the projector, its safe to
assume that the HUD Technology couldnt have been developed as soon as it was. The first
traces of HUD were in GMs vehicles in the 1980s and were first placed in Pontiac Bonneville.
Today we have many companies that are coming together to create a smarter car smarter
than anyone could have guessed a car could have really been. And thanks to the technologies that
were used in airplanes, it sparked a whole other group of technologies for current and future cars
and is supposed to be considered [a] current state-of-the-art solution to reducing drivers errors
(Jakus, Dicke, and Sodnik). Chevy, Audi, Tesla, BMW, and many other car manufactures have
taken HUD and started to develop them and make them better in their own ways. HUD is seen in
many of the cars that are being driven on the roads today and are to help keep drivers eyes on
the road. The goal to prevent distracted driving and to maintain eye contact with the road on
which you are driving is now possible. According to people that have had interactions with this

technology they do love it for those very reasons especially in winter and in poor road conditions
when driving requires more attention than normal.
Primary Research
I was able to conduct an interview with three people that have had first-hand experience
with this technology in their cars. Paul and Pat, whom I interviewed, both drove a Chevy Camaro
that was HUD equipped for the driver. Pat stated, Its really useful when youre driving that you
dont have to look down to check your speed. All of the necessary things that you need while
driving is right there on the windshield at any given time that you need them. When youre
driving a car with such power its kind of nice to have that feature because it helps you feel even
more in control of the vehicle than you already are. And Paul says, Its really nice and its fun
to have in a sports car. I believe it helps me concentrate on the safety of the vehicle and the
people in the car because I have to rarely take my eyes of the road to look at the dashboard
because its giving me the exact same information on the windshield. These two interviewees
had nothing bad to say about this technology and it seemed to really please them. Paul did state
in our conversation that when he did buy the car he didnt really think much of it and in fact he
really didnt like the idea, but it ended up really growing on him.
Although both Pat and Paul had an older vehicle and the technology was still young I also
got to interview a brand new 2016 Tesla owner who had the same technology, but with much
more advanced features and its autopilot features that come with most every Tesla. Jason, the
owner of the Tesla said, I love the combination of the HUD and the autopilot features of my
tesla. It makes driving long distances or just on the freeway really nice and smooth. Driving my
Tesla comes with minimal headache and lots of relaxation. The vehicle owners of both the

Chevy and the Tesla where very much pleased with the way the technology was placed in cars
and what its purpose was.
HUDs have been around since World War II and have been used in aviation for a very
long time.Theoriginoftheheadupdisplay(HUD),amodernminiatureinstrumentpanel,was
thereflectivegunsighttechnologyofWorldWarII(Leland).However,nowitsusedin
everydayvehiclesforordinarydrivers.Itsatechnologythathasbeenaroundforalongtime,but
noonereallysawthepotentialthatithaduntilrecentlyinthelast6orsoyearsasmoreandmore
companiesareusingitasastandardfeatureforthevehiclestheyaremanufacturing.Thereare
stillalotofcompaniesthatdontusethistechnology,butforthosewhohave,havehadsome
reallygreatsuccess.
Withthistechnologythereisalotthatcanhappen,butautomobilemanufactureshave
somefutureplansforitthatmaybereallybeneficialandcouldpotentiallysavelivesifwhatthey
saybecomesareality.HUDhavebeenaroundsincethe1980s,butveryfewcarseverused
them.Withinthelast6orsoyearsasthetechnologyhasgrownithasbecomemoreadvanced
andisnowevolvinginwhattheycallaugmentedreality(AR),whichisamuchmoreadvanced
designofthistechnologyandisstillinthemaking.However,thecapabilitiesofARare,ARs
can integrate with GPS systems, infrared cameras, the Internet and mobile apps to turn your car's
windshield into an on-board information screen (Neiger). Although this is currently just a
concept it still has a big potential of becoming a reality in the near future. The potential of this
technology is huge. AR purpose is to further increase the safety of modern cars as modern cars
become more advanced. AR will be able to make road visible even in storms and foggy
conditions, as the sensors and radars of the car will be able to detect the lines of the road and
many other objects and project them onto the windshield.

First seeing the technology was amazing because of what it could do, not knowing that it
could have so much potential for the future of cars and peoples safety. I fell in love with the way
it illuminated the windshield in the night as we were driving. I could see our speed increase and
decrease as if I was in the drivers seat and listening to the engine roar as we accelerated and
decelerated. I know my experience was unique, but it changed my whole view on where the
ingenuities of modern cars are going. I believed that cars wouldnt be able to get much better,
after seeing the HUD in a Chevy Camaro and experiencing it myself I could tell that technology
and the engineering of cars of my time had just begun.
The Future of Car Technology (Conclusion)
The technology is still young and has evolved so many times from its origin during World
War II that we cant be sure as to where the technology is headed, but there are many automobile
companies out there that have future plans for these products and many car buyers will be able to
purchase them now or in the near future. The future of technology in vehicles is unthinkable and
unpredictable, but we can be sure that its only just begun and the future safety of cars and their
ability to drive is going to be greatly impacted by the new technologies that are being created
especially the HUD technologies and AR technologies as they go hand in hand to make driving
safer and much more effortless. The future of this technology is going to provide safety beyond
imagination, but its also going to create smart cars and may someday come to the conclusion
that we may never have to touch the steering wheel ever again. The cars of the future might
actually be advanced enough to drive themselves with no assistance by a human being. The
future of self-driving technology is a whole other topic that could be talked about forever, but
there is no doubt that this technology will help the self-driving car for the future of cars become a
possibility. The possibilities for this technology are not limited to what I have said above, but are

just some examples and possible future outcomes that might be coming in the near future with a
multitude of other.
Works Cited
AG, Daimler. Benz patent motor car, the first automobile (1885 1886). Daimler.
Daimler, 2016. Web. 25 Nov. 2016. <https://www.daimler.com/company/tradition/companyhistory/1885-1886.html>.
BAE Systems. The Evolution of the Head-up Display (HUD). YouTube. YouTube, 7
Mar. 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypIbmfm7n8A&t=41s>.
Haines, Thomas B. New head-up display under development. July 2011. Web. 17 Nov.
2016. <https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/november/07/new-head-updisplay-under-development>.
History.com. First Movie Projector Demonstrated in United States. history.com (2009):
n.pag. 25 Nov. 2016. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-movie-projectordemonstrated-in-united-states>.
Jakus, Grega, Christina Dicke, and Jaka Sodnik. A User Study of Auditory, Head-up and
Multi-Modal Displays in Vehicles. Applied Ergonomics 46. (1 Jan. 2015): 184192. 17 Nov.
2016. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687014001471>.
Leland, Jacob. The history of the head-up display dates back to world war II. Write
Work. n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2016. <http://www.writework.com/essay/history-head-up-displaydates-back-world-war-ii>.
Neiger, Christopher. How head-up displays work. HowStuffWorks, 17 Apr. 2012. Web.
17 Nov. 2016. <http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatorydevices/head-up-display2.htm>.
N.D. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.
<http://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/Chevrolet/northamerica/usa/nscwebsite/en/Home/Vehic
les/Cars/2014_SS/Model%20Overview/01_images/2014-chevrolet-ss-model-overviewtechnology-cnt-well-1-980x476-01.jpg>.