Microsoft turns the windshield into a desktop

Microsoft's patent for a heads-up display shows useful information.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The patent-watchers over at Slashdot found this interesting submission: a patent application from Microsoft for an Adaptive heads-up user interface for automobiles. Reading through the obscure language of patents, we managed to glean that the engineers who came up with the system want to move all the information currently displayed on navigation screens, car stereos, cell phones, and instruments onto the windshield. The patent cites safety concerns with our current gadget-laden autos and selves, where people are constantly taking their eyes off the road to look at this or that screen. And instead of crowding the windshield with every bit of information possible, the patent indicates that the heads-up display would be adaptive, showing information based on user and vehicle input. It even suggest some novel user input methods, such as tracking head and eye movements, along with the more mundane button and voice command inputs. The diagrams submitted with the patent show some good ideas, such as vehicle, music, environment, and navigation information displayed in small boxes around the edges of the windshield, to more extreme ideas, such as placing your current day's task list front and center. And we're sure it will integrate with Outlook. Cue the Microsoft builds a car jokes in...3...2...1.

A task list seems intrusive on a heads-up display.

(Credit: Microsoft)

(Source: Slashdot)

[ctfoley]

microsoft has cool design ideas

The Surface Table concept was cool, too.

[KaplanMike]

When it crashes, it crashes?

It may be an easy joke, but I'm really not ready for Microsoft to have anything to
do with tying together all the systems in the car. Not sure that anything needs
to change at all, frankly.

Some heads-up features are fine, as long as they're mirrored on conventional
guages (as is the case now). And I certainly don't want to give more control to
the computer than is already given over. And certainly not to Microsoft.

[keith.in.trinidad]

Couldn't help it...

They have now perfected the Blue Screen of Death.

[kittytech]

And now for the perfect input device for this HUD

I suggest this glove-based QWERTY keyboard for the Microsoft HUD -- because eventually you will want
to text ... don't you ?

This is a true QWERTY keyboard and if you know how
to touch-type you can use it right out of the box.
And the best thing, you don't even have to take your
hands of the steering wheel :)

pictures of the prototype used in the car can be found at: www.eng.uci.edu/~cmehring/KITTY .....
KITTY_in_Car_1 and KITTY_in_Car_2

Also check out www.kittytech.com as well as
www.ergo-electronics.com for more cool stuff