Japanese automotive electronics maker Pioneer demonstrated new Augmented Reality Head-Up Display (AR HUD) at the CEATEC 2011 show, held in Tokyo, Japan October 4-8. Using the MicroVision PicoP optical engine, the Pioneer AR HUD projects images that appear to be in front of the windshield. Since the projector graphics and text is overlaid on the real world in front of them, drivers need not shift their line of vision. The unit itself mounted on the ceiling of the vehicle above the driver’s head. Pioneer has been demonstrating increasingly polished prototypes of the AR HUD for some time, including the recent IFA show in Germany.
PMA’s projector market research divides the New Era market into a number of segments, including Pico Embedded Fixed for devices that are large or not mobile. If Pioneer’s AR HUD reaches the market in the third quarter of 2012 as MicroVision has been saying, it will be the first shipping device in this segment.