Head-up display

The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view information with the head positioned "up" and looking forward, instead of angled down looking at lower instruments.

This setup (a design that has been around since the invention of the reflector sight in 1900) produces an image where the light is collimated, i.e. the focal point is perceived to be at infinity.

[4] The gyro gunsight added a reticle that moved based on the speed and turn rate to solve for the amount of lead needed to hit a target while maneuvering.

During the early 1940s, the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), in charge of UK radar development, found that Royal Air Force (RAF) night fighter pilots were having a hard time reacting to the verbal instruction of the radar operator as they approached their targets.

They experimented with the addition of a second radar display for the pilot, but found they had trouble looking up from the lit screen into the dark sky in order to find the target.

[citation needed] In 1955 the US Navy's Office of Naval Research and Development did some research with a mockup HUD concept unit along with a sidestick controller in an attempt to ease the pilot's burden flying modern jet aircraft and make the instrumentation less complicated during flight.

The aircraft was designed to fly at very low altitudes at very high speeds and drop bombs in engagements lasting seconds.

The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) designed the equipment and the earliest usage of the term "head-up-display" can be traced to this time.

BAE Systems, as the successor to Elliotts via GEC-Marconi Avionics, thus has a claim to the world's first head-up display in operational service.

[9] Klopfstein pioneered HUD technology in military fighter jets and helicopters, aiming to centralize critical flight data within the pilot's field of vision.

This approach sought to increase the pilot's scan efficiency and reduce "task saturation" and information overload.

In the 1970s, the HUD was introduced to commercial aviation, and in 1988, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme became the first production car with a head-up display.

These tended to be the same aircraft that as standard supported autoland (with the exception of certain turbo-prop types[clarification needed] that had HUD as an option) making the head-up display unnecessary for Cat III landings.

[18] For general aviation, MyGoFlight expects to receive a STC and to retail its SkyDisplay HUD for $25,000 without installation for a single piston-engine as the Cirrus SR22s and more for Cessna Caravans or Pilatus PC-12s single-engine turboprops: 5 to 10% of a traditional HUD cost albeit it is non-conformal, not matching exactly the outside terrain.

Typically an infrared camera (either single or multi-band) is installed in the nose of the aircraft to display a conformed image to the pilot.

"EVS Enhanced Vision System" is an industry-accepted term which the FAA decided not to use because "the FAA believes [it] could be confused with the system definition and operational concept found in 91.175(l) and (m)"[21] In one EVS installation, the camera is actually installed at the top of the vertical stabilizer rather than "as close as practical to the pilots eye position".

Close inspection of the image shows a small purple circle which is displaced from the flight path vector slightly to the lower right.

This path would be based on information stored in the Flight Management System's database and would show the FAA-approved approach for that airport.

[26] In mid-2017, the Israel Defense Forces will begin trials of Elbit's Iron Vision, the world's first helmet-mounted head-up display for tanks.

The first in-car HUD was developed by General Motors Corporation in 1999 with the function of displaying the navigation service in front of the driver's line of sight.

[28] In 2012, Pioneer Corporation introduced a HUD navigation system that replaces the driver-side sun visor and visually overlays animations of conditions ahead, a form of augmented reality (AR.

AR-HUD's core technology involves a miniature laser beam scanning display developed by MicroVision, Inc.[31] Motorcycle helmet HUDs are also commercially available.

The HOE allows for a wider field of view while reducing the size of the device and making the solution customizable for any car model.

In military settings, a HUD can be used to overlay tactical information such as the output of a laser rangefinder or squadmate locations to infantrymen.

A prototype HUD has also been developed that displays information on the inside of a swimmer's goggles or of a scuba diver's mask.

[37] HUD systems that project information directly onto the wearer's retina with a low-powered laser (virtual retinal display) are also being tested.