Masao Sakata

Development of Practical Heads-Up Display for Production Vehicle Application

This paper discusses how Head Up Displays (HUD) can increase driving safety, based on experimental results concerning certain human factors. It also describes the HUD installed in the 1988 Nissan Silvia model, the worlds first ever application in a production vehicle. The construction and the optical and electronic characteristics of the HUD are presented along with the approaches taken to achieve a compact, lightweight, low- cost unit.

A COLLISION-AVOIDANCE WARNING SYSTEM USING LASER RADAR

This paper describes a collision avoidance warning system. The system uses a laser radar sensor to detect distance and a microcomputer to both assess the risk of a rear-end collision and provide warnings in dangerous situations. The system also has an unnecessary warning suppression feature. A test of the system also showed a low false alarm rate.

Application of head-up displays for in-vehicle navigation/route guidance

The paper first discusses using HUDs for in-vehicle navigation/route guidance systems based on the results of preliminary experiments. It then discusses how and what kinds of information should be displayed by HUDs to assure ease of recognition by the driver. Finally, based on these considerations, a HUD system is proposed as a visual interface for future in-vehicle navigation/route guidance systems.<<ETX>>

Development of “All-Around View” System

This paper has described the “All-Around View” System that is proposed as one approach to monitoring the circumstances around a vehicle. This system uses multiple cameras used for photographing the situation around the host vehicle and presents that information to the driver the form of an easy-to-understand virtual plan view. It has been confirmed that the eye-point conversion system employed for the multiple cameras is feasible both technologically and in terms of compatibility with the car design. In continuing this research on visual aids for improving the driver’s awareness of the vehicle environment, this authors of this paper plan to investigate a system configuration that uses fewer cameras in future work.

How Head-Up Display Affects Recognition Of Objects In Foreground In Automobile Use

In applying a head-up display (HUD), originally developed for aircraft use, to automobiles, it is very important to analyze how it affects the drivers ability to recognize foreground objects and what kinds of advantages can be derived from its application. This paper describes the effects of reducing line of vision movement and recurring eye accommodation, as well as interference between complex HUD display patterns and foreground objects and the requirements for preventing such interference. Experiments were carried out under conditions determined in preliminary investigations using real vehicles in city driving situations. The results suggested that, so long as the brightness of the displayed objects is set properly, a HUD can be an effective automotive display system providing good recognizability of both displayed information and foreground objects.