19 ms·

Navdy

415 points by esolyt 12y ago

ezpuzzle 12y ago
i'm going to create a startup for the ultimate integration between mobile phones and automobiles. it's this box and you put your phone in it, and while you're driving you can't open the box. pre-orders now, just email me at dontfuckingkillpeople@driveboxr.us there's no way this will make it past state legislation
smacktoward 12y ago
It would be awesome if this product was actually a giant sting operation designed to identify people who have no business being on the road. "I see you have a Navdy there, ma'am. I'm going to need to confiscate your car keys before you hurt somebody."
LukeHoersten 12y ago
I love in the video how they replaced the Ford logo with a Bently logo. Nice touch Sandwich Video.
Yxven 12y ago
I hate to see products like these promoted because the creators are making bloodmoney. Cell phones are not dangerous because the driver was looking at his phone or playing with the buttons when he had an accident. They are dangerous because they encourage your mind to wander. Most people's brains are really not good at multitasking. (Try patting your head while rubbing your belly counterclockwise) Anything that takes your mind away from the road when you're driving even if you can see the road is dangerous. (They found that talking to someone in a passenger seat is not as dangerous because if they notice danger and you don't, they'll inform you of the danger automatically by tensing up or whatever.) If your brain worked like a single process cpu, it would be like setting Twitter to high priority while relegating driving your 2-ton SUV to low priority. It will work well enough most of the time, but sooner or later, you'll crash the SUV. (Source: BS in psychology)
- mden 12y ago
  "Cell phones are not dangerous because the driver was looking at his phone or playing with the buttons when he had an accident. They are dangerous because they encourage your mind to wander." So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? I'm sorry but experience and common sense says otherwise. I would also argue that your second point is not as not clear cut either. Having some sort of distraction is definitely helpful most of the time when driving long distances. I personally find audio books very greatly help to fight off monotony, which in turn keeps my attention higher than if I was not being distracted.
  - brown9-2 12y ago
    So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? This is a false choice and something that the person you are replying to never said.
  - Mahn 12y ago
    > So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? The point is that anything that distracts your mind/vision from the road is dangerous, be it looking at your phone or reading a tweet in a transparent HUD display. What Navdy is building, while interesting, isn't necessarily safer.
    - mden 12y ago
      I agree with what you are saying and you shouldn't be reading messages or w/e when driving, but surely looking away from the road is more dangerous than not? In the very least it takes more time. Again I'm not encouraging the behavior, just saying not all distraction are equivalent...
  - markbao 12y ago
    Don't downvote mden if you disagree. > So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? I'm not OP, but it's not that your mind is wandering per se (which suggests a neutral state) but your mind is actively focused on something other than the road, like an HUD in front of your face. Peeking at the next turn on nav mode is not a big deal, but if you're composing a text using voice, I'll bet anyone $100 that the voice recognition isn't good enough that you won't be staring at the screen to check it's getting the right words. The thing I dislike most about this product is that it deludes people into thinking this is a "safe" way to operate your phone and text while driving, and basically gives permission to do so. No way to text while driving is safe, not really even at red lights.
mrharrison 12y ago
Its neat, but it's troubling that they really haven't thought it out. First big problem I see, is that it will be sitting in the sun while driving, so it will quickly overheat and have sun damage over time.
mmastrac 12y ago
A killer feature for this would be IR/night vision with an external camera. They did a great job with the marketing video for this. Really curious to see where this ends up.
- brownbat 12y ago
  More external cameras, IR, heat, whatever, looking out at all angles. I'm definitely for it. Not sure why we still have those drag inducing chunks sticking out of our sleek vehicles, the reflective things that can ice over, and that you have to calibrate for each driver, now that tiny cameras and range sensors are cheap and ubiquitous.
  - joshvm 12y ago
    Range sensors that actually work reasonably well outdoors are neither cheap nor ubiquitous. Note that we're talking about imaging range sensors here, not single point measurements. Time of flight cameras? They predominantly use NIR (900nm or circa) and so they're rubbish in sunlight. Try using your kinect outdoors. Beyond the kinect they're also very expensive, a few thousand each. The kinect 1 also fails outdoors and when the range is > 5m or so. LIDAR? Well sure, you can buy a rotating line scanner - 100-180deg field of view typical. They're very nice, but also (new) you're looking at around $3-5k. Don't even dream about getting a Velodyne system, like the Google car uses. Stereo? Yeah... well stereo is nice, but it takes a lot of computational grunt to do it in real time, reliably and in varying illuminations (good luck using it at night). Thermal? We're getting there, FLIR make some fairly low cost, low resolution sensors, but still you're looking at $500-1000 a pop in OEM quantities. RADAR/Ultrasonics are reasonably cheap nowadays and they're pretty good for coarse measurements like when you need to know how far you are from the wall in your garage. We're getting to the point where RADAR is good enough for collision avoidance (i.e. auto-braking) on high speed roads. More cameras are cool, but you need to know how to process the data and present it clearly to the user. I can see the advantage of having a camera for a rear-view mirror particularly for vehicles like vans with no rear windows. Side mirrors are still useful and for most people the cost of installing multiple high resolution video cameras and monitors isn't worth the savings in petrol from drag reduction. If you replace a mirror with a camera you also need a very high resolution display, a wide angle camera that doesn't distort too much and a way of viewing it in any conceivable illumination condition. Mirrors are also nice and mechanical, unless you crash they rarely ever break.
sciguy77 12y ago
Wow, what a sweet product. And boy do they know how to market it, "feels like driving in the future."
dilipray 12y ago
http://www.hudwayapp.com/ http://www.hudwayapp.com/ Free application without any hardware. What are you guys trying to prove here. I didn't get your point.
- iherbig 12y ago
  I would imagine a dedicated bit of hardware is more stable than simply placing your phone on the dashboard. This is also not intended solely for low-visibility conditions when the reflection of the phone on the windshield is visible. I can't imagine the HUDWAY app being particularly useful during the day, for example. I don't see that they need to prove anything except that it's a cool and useful product for which a market exists. Their point is simply that automated navigation while driving is cumbersome and unsafe with the use of simple phone apps. A dedicated piece of hardware solves that problem, and in a cool way. I do feel that their message is undermined a bit by the safety concerns presented when you have seamless phone integration for writing and reading texts, answering calls, and tweeting.
- kilian 12y ago
  I would say that's an unfair comparison, as the navdy aims to do much more, for better or worse. That said I had no idea this app existed and it seems perfect as a simple HUD. Given how I use my navigation system, having just the road ahead visualized is all I need.
- kolev 12y ago
  Nice! Only works at night though. I'm sure Hudway will have less legal issues than a dedicated device. Also, Navdy is pretty expensive for the mass market.
- jonemo 12y ago
  This is genius. I rarely drive, and when I do it's seldom at night, but when I do I want exactly what's in the first picture on this website. I never understood why no GPS (app or hardware) comes with this feature, even though it provides clear advantages. In rally racing providing this info is basically the entire job of the person in the passenger seat.
molecule 12y ago
previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815
applecore 12y ago
Does one company make every startup's tech product video? Edit: Yes. http://sandwichvideo.com/ http://sandwichvideo.com/
- numann 12y ago
  haha, saw your comment before the edit and made an account just to post that url.
- sixQuarks 12y ago
  how much do these videos cost to make?
  - paraboul 12y ago
    http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/ http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/
    - sixQuarks 12y ago
      that doesn't answer my question. $, $$, $$$ are meaningless.
- soahc 12y ago
  TIL Real Player still exists and they are a customer of theirs..
- jafingi 12y ago
  Haha that's actually pretty cool :-D The first video I saw from them was the Square, but didn't notice Adam in other videos until recently where he was the pizza delivery guy in the Push for Pizza video. Now I know why he is featured in so many startup-videos ;-)
- elwell 12y ago
  I see on their client list both Lyft and Uber.
- bad_alloc 12y ago
Twirrim 12y ago
stop using your phone when you're driving. It's not that hard. It can wait. If it can't, find somewhere to pull over. GPS, cool. Text etc? ARGH.
- danielweber 12y ago
  Check out Navdy's rad video!
jstanek 12y ago
It's odd that they promote their product by saying that phone use while driving is unsafe. I fail to see who this is significantly safer than using a phone, since to use the HUD one needs to necessarily remove their attention and focus from the road and redirect it to a small point much closer to their face. Granted, it is probably at least a little better than using a phone, but I'd be _very_ hesitant to say that it's safe.
- karzeem 12y ago
  I think they'd do better to pitch it as a replacement for car UI in general. If it's executed well, it could be a safer replacement for behaviors like looking down at the A/C or radio controls.
- vlasev 12y ago
  There are two options on the extremes 1. Keep the HUD in focus and the road out of focus. Your eyes are still seeing a lot of road information that doesn't necessarily need the high fidelity. This is relatively safer than looking away entirely. The human brain can do a lot with scarce information. 2. Keep the road in focus and the HUD out of focus. For things like navigation this will still work fairly well since all you usually need for the navigation is the shape of the road, the direction you'll need to turn in, and how many blocks (roughly) you have until the destination. This is relatively safer than looking away at your phone or gps from time to time, or even looking around for the street names. Realistically, people will switch between the two extremes.
- cle 12y ago
  Did you even read the front page? Just scroll down a tiny bit and read: "Navdy's transparent Head-Up Display (HUD) projects information as if it's floating six feet in front of you. In the car you already have." Further down: "The image is focused into the distance so the road stays in focus while the driver views the information presented by Navdy. The same technology is used in all commercial airplanes so the pilot can keep their eyes on the runway while landing the airplane."
  - klmr 12y ago
spydertennis 12y ago
finally someone made this. spot on.
guybrushT 12y ago
Neat product and like others have noted here - well done on the marketing. Doing other things while driving is dangerous no doubt, but it is also a very practical reality. Any product that embraces this practicality and tries to maximize eyes on on the road is a good step forward in making driving safer. A random idea: Adding a camera to this could open up the dashcam market. In Russia for example, dashcams a very common and are a part of the driving culture (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashcam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashcam and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance).
martin-adams 12y ago
Nice looking product, but I can't help but think we shouldn't be encouraging sending Tweets while driving. I'd say keep these devices to assist driving (navigation and safety information), but not to assist additional activities on top of driving.
- mpg33 12y ago
  Agree..not sure why every product feels like it needs act like a communications device on top of it's main purpose. Couldn't help but think the same thing with Apple Watch...do you really think people are going to tweet from that?
zitterbewegung 12y ago
Is this legal to have in your car in the US? Looking at the state laws for electronics in the car it doesn't appear to be. http://www.ce.org/Consumer-Info/Car-Electronics/Got-It/State-Laws-for-Electronics-Use-in-the-Car.aspx http://www.ce.org/Consumer-Info/Car-Electronics/Got-It/State...
abroncs 12y ago
Can we start adding some context to these titles, please?
- oinksoft 12y ago
  Don't hold your breath, the consensus reached in the few minutes the thread below was breathing seems to be that the domain name provides sufficient context. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8258117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8258117 See the context? "Navdy (navdy.com)"
rayiner 12y ago
This product is going to kill people, and unfortunately not just the ones who buy it.
- csallen 12y ago
  The same could be said of cars themselves. And phones. And kitchen knives.
  - justinpombrio 12y ago
    You've listed three examples of products that changed the world, and have huge utility despite their danger. The main advertising for this product, however, seems to be that it allows you to tweet while you drive. So I don't think it's a very fair comparison.
  - coherentpony 12y ago
    I think the parent comment is referring to the lack of regulation of this product by regulatory bodies. Cars are regulated to travel below a certain speed. Phones are regulated to their use outside of a vehicle (when operated by a human), and kitchen knives are illegal to carry in public. While the parent comment is a little melodramatic, there's still something to be said regarding the safety of usage in this product and its affect on other people.
    - csallen 12y ago
      These regulations were put into place after the products were released. I don't see why this should be any different.
      - TeMPOraL 12y ago
        So we need to wait until some poor shmucks kill a few kids and pregnant mothers before we can realize this product (as currently advertised) is a bad idea? I thought we're smarter than that. HUDs are not bad. But Navdy keeps marketing their product as a text-while-driving aid. Not very smart.
dalek2point3 12y ago
any idea if this plugs into Google Maps or whether it uses some other map data?
mindcreek 12y ago
Ok, nifty device, but what happens when you have a collusion or an accident and that device in front of your head starts flying around ? I don't want to destroy their hype bu they should really give that problem some thought.
- smacktoward 12y ago
  In fairness, it's not like they're the only device in the world that mounts on a car dashboard. There's tons of GPS receivers, phone holders, etc. that do the same thing.
danbruc 12y ago
Why can't we just stop using phones while driving? No matter how much one reduces distraction, it is still more distracting than not using it in the first place. Twitter while driving - why on earth?!? For navigation it is obviously a good idea because you can keep your eyes on the street and don't have to look to your GPS or even try to read street names. Watch »From One Second to the Next« [1] from the »Texting and Driving - It can wait« campaign. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BqFkRwdFZ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BqFkRwdFZ0
- willis77 12y ago
  "I killed a pedestrian on the way home, but so glad I got your text about mac n cheese for dinner! Smells yummy, let's eat!"
- izacus 12y ago
  Hmm, I also can't get this - WHY is it so hard to just answer that text / facebook message / call 10 minutes later after you stop. WHAT in the world is SO URGENT it has to be done right now?!
  - ianlevesque 12y ago
    It's not hard to understand, even though it's completely insane. People simply don't think about driving as a dangerous activity requiring their full attention.
    - dickfickling 12y ago
      This is actually one of my favorite things about riding a motorcycle. It removes the 'safety net' of the car and forces one to pay full attention to the road. Texting is simply out of the question.
      - JonoBB 12y ago
        Unfortunately it is also one of the least favourite things about riding a motorcycle - always having to look out for car drivers who are not paying full attention to the road.
gfodor 12y ago
no way this stays legal in CA
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  HUDs are already built into many high-end cars (including several BMW and Audi models, the Chevy Camaro, and even some lower-end cars like the new Mazda3). Same for voice-controlled phone and media systems. They're actually touted as a safety feature, since a HUD requires less eye movement and refocusing than a normal instrument panel. Of course, it depends a lot on what you do with it. Moving existing displays like the speedometer and navigation instructions to a HUD can be an improvement in safety. But if it encourages more interactive phone use, that could obviously cause problems.
  - gfodor 12y ago
    right, my point is that it will almost certainly be illegal to use this to text and drive. in fact I think it's probably already illegal: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/cell-phones-driving-california-law-29709.html http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/cell-phones-driving-c...
Codes 12y ago
It's builtin in my 2014 Mazda 3... It only displays usefull stuff though. Like direction, speed and distance to the car in front.
zeynalov 12y ago
Actually there are plenty of Navigation gadgets doing the same function, but non of them works on a sunny day. I bought some of them, but frustrated, non of them are really functional. I drive on a highway a lot and navigation is annoying when it's not in front of you. So how do Navdy solves this problem?
skrebbel 12y ago
Nice first step! I want this, but with eye tracking so it can plot perspective correct navigation arrows on the actual streets in front of me.
danielweber 12y ago
I said it last time: it's shocking they thought the most important use case was "WATCH INTERNET VIDEOS WHILE YOU DRIVE." And they still haven't changed their homepage. Navdy could be really useful, even improving of total safety, as HUD navigation. But maybe that's not where the money is.
- sergiotapia 12y ago
  I thought this was a parody just because of this - I'm still not sure... "Hey watch this video???" I just can't believe it.
  - mbrubeck 12y ago
    The photo on their home page shows someone reading an SMS, not watching a video. The SMS is from someone recommending a video, but there's no indication that you can actually watch the video while you drive. It's a poor choice of image, though obviously they were just trying to embed the "Hey, watch our video in your browser" instructions into the photo itself. Aside from that, even reading SMS while you drive seems like a bad idea to me. But I'm really tempted to get a Navdy for features that improve safety, by moving stuff that I already look at (speed, navigation) from my dashboard to the HUD. I've been shopping for cars recently and wishing that HUDs were available in more affordable models. I just hope you can turn off Navdy's text/call notifications and other extras.
    - sergiotapia 12y ago
      You obviously get my point though. Exceedingly poor choice of front and center image to use.
mikkom 12y ago
The money shot https://www.navdy.com/assets/bg_10-88a56c4c20214704cf0b395429882c44.jpg https://www.navdy.com/assets/bg_10-88a56c4c20214704cf0b39542...
Glan1984 12y ago
Navdy looks sweet. I want one. Don't currently text and drive, but I would with one of these badboys.
twatshaft 12y ago
So stupid
tantalor 12y ago
> The image is focused into the distance so the road stays in focus What magic is this?
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  It's the same thing used by Google Glass, and other head-up displays (like the ones built into airplanes and high-end cars). I believe it involves collimation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collimated_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collimated_light For example, here's a description of the HUD currently available in several BMW cars: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/head_up_display.html http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_gui... "The image is projected in such a way that it appears to be about two metres away, above the tip of the bonnet, making it particularly comfortable to read. BMW Head-Up Display halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from road to the instruments and back."
- coldtea 12y ago
  The magic of projection.
  - dj-wonk 12y ago
    And then the projected light goes into your eyes and strikes your retina, sending signals to your brain. Amazing!
brown9-2 12y ago
This is a great example of a product where just because you can combine a few pieces of technology in a new way doesn't mean that you should.
deleted 12y ago
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pj_mukh 12y ago
This seems like a stopgap till, a) The car companies head downmarket with this kind of tech and roll out on your entry-level models. b) Cars get autonomous enough that this tech becomes irrelevant. Though maybe then we can project Netflix on the windshield with this and watch OITNB on your way to work! :D
elb0w 12y ago
My dev friend and I were looking into doing a similar product a few years back. We stopped because of laws that prevent you from putting anything that may obstruct you or another drivers vision / attention.
rdl 12y ago
There is an interesting harm reduction angle to products like this. It's probably the case that people using Navdy will drive worse than people with 100% attention on driving. It's also quite likely they'll drive better than people using a cellphone directly. The question is if it makes people feel safer and thus more willing to do the dangerous activity, countering the safety benefit. (There's also a clear benefit to people actually using phones while driving; letting people know they're late, not being bored, etc. It's just generally trumped by the safety loss; I'd be willing to sacrifice SOME safety for convenience/entertainment.) It's the same thing with sex (abstinence vs. barrier-based birth control vs. hormonal birth control), drugs (illegal vs. decrminalized vs. legalized), etc. It's possible NOT having technologies like this leads to overall less safety; it's also possible it leads to more safety. It depends on the specifics. I have nav (with voice, and a driver information display in my line of sight while driving), and use that, and also don't feel particularly bad about looking at my phone screen to see who called, etc. while stopped at a red light (although I realize it's less than perfectly safe; it's also more of a legal risk than a safety risk in california now, IMO.) Actually using the phone while driving, or having anything but the most brief and cursory conversation while driving in the city, is clearly a sacrifice in safety; I don't mind phone calls on highways, but I generally won't answer in the city.
- dmix 12y ago
  Right when weighting the benefits the big one is the fact most people use GPS navigation, having it via HUD is a significant safety boost. I'd say the same for speedometers. Other situations are still not super useful and probably won't get used. Can you meaningful respond to text messages with voice? Not quite, yet at least. Can you skim read them? Yes. That is not super distracting but still enough of a distraction in some cases. But I can't think of many use-cases that are any worse than a bluetooth headset voice conversation.
  - konstruktor 12y ago
    But navigation was a very small fraction of the video, much less than texting and tweeting.
akerl_ 12y ago
Very trivial, but there's a typo in the FAQ: "We’re running a 30 day pre-oder campaign" Looks like an awesome product!
beachstartup 12y ago
well... personally, i wouldn't have gone with a name that could be pronounced "nav die".
thomasfoster96 12y ago
I know the display looks cool and all but this doesn't make driving with a phone any safer. You're still distracted. It's no different to just having your phone on the windscreen. Even where I live (Tasmania, Australia) I'm fairly sure there is either a proposal or already a law banning even hands free devices, because they are seen as just as dangerous. This device is going to be illegal to start with. The only two thing I see as being feasible from a safety point of view for cars is either some sort of augmented reality for lane guidance and navigation, or your phone giving you direction via voice (which they already do).
- aianus 12y ago
  When I did driver training they taught us that being lost is a major contributor to accidents. I am very skeptical that I would be safer and less distracted while squinting in the distance for street signs than I would be having a quick glance at my windshield mounted phone with GPS.
  - thomasfoster96 12y ago
    I would agree to an extent with that, but I guess with street signs you are still looking outside the car as opposed to inside it.
mrmondo 12y ago
While I love the device and the presentation, I am certain that this will negatively affect your concentration and thus your driving performance.
jacquesm 12y ago
Driving is a full time occupation. If you can reduce the number of distractions please do. A phone needs only one button, answer/break connection and you shouldn't be dialling 'out' while driving anyway. No need to pop up pictures and other distractions in front of the driver, such a call at the wrong moment could easily cause an accident, if only because you will instinctively re-focus on the changing item in front of you. Set your GPS navigator to do voice announcements and only check the display when you suspect a sudden change in direction or are not sure what lane to sort into. Other than that the voice indications should be enough.
arjn 12y ago
Isnt this a re-post ? It was a bad idea then and its a bad idea now. Distractions while driving are potentially dangerous.
- buckbova 12y ago
  Don't drive with a passenger. Don't listen to the radio. Don't have your kid in the car. Don't drive with your dog. Don't think about work. Don't scratch your head. Don't...
ricardobeat 12y ago
What's going on here? This was a top post just a few weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815
SoftwareMaven 12y ago
As a motorcycle rider, these things scare the hell out of me. Drivers already pay little enough attention; do we really need more distractions? Jets have HUDs, but they also have much less traffic, highly trained pilots, and computers and air traffic control watching out for things the pilot misses. Car drivers have Siri.
- fallingmeat 12y ago
  If you're feeling left out: http://www.skullysystems.com/ http://www.skullysystems.com/
cezarywojcik 12y ago
I wonder how soon using this will be illegal in some states. Something like this should only provide an interface to your phone's maps and just maybe help with phone calls. Nothing else.
- dj-wonk 12y ago
  I'm skeptical of the ability of regulators and traditional car designers to really think about the user experience and its implications on safety. For example, many cars have confusing controls and distracting displays already. Have you seen reasons to be optimistic?
hobarrera 12y ago
"Feels Like Driving In The Future" And I'm prompted to install a now obsolete plugin to watch the video. Oh, the irony! Anyway, here's a link for anyone else who wants to watch their introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL4PJICS40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL4PJICS40
deleted 12y ago
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rdl 12y ago
Sort of an aside, but wtf is the car they are using in that video? It looks like a Ford Mondeo with a Bentley hood ornament; otherwise it's the ugliest Bentley I've ever seen. Did they do that as a joke (including the SANDWCH license plate from the video production company)?
ibejoeb 12y ago
Holy shit, people. The point of this product is not to enable tweeting. Did you miss the ever-present navigation hud? This is a good product. Don't you use nav? What's better: Looking at your nav screen pinned to the dash or in the console; looking down at the phone in your lap, because you know you can't be seen holding it; or looking at the road with augmented information? If you think HUDs are more dangerous than squinting at road signs or reading maps, then you can petition your legislators to make it illegal. I'm all for it, though, because I know the alternatives are worse.
fistofjohnwayne 12y ago
This is the same actor that appeared in the original Coin video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0
popol_kon 12y ago
Maybe it would be a bit off-topic - but why these kind of startups doesn't support WindowsPhone system?
kitsune_ 12y ago
"From One Second To The Next", A Film By Werner Herzog: http://youtu.be/_BqFkRwdFZ0 http://youtu.be/_BqFkRwdFZ0 Absolutely gut-wrenching.
bsenftner 12y ago
Safety issues asside, no one seems to be pointing out that this product is unprotectable: nothing they are doing has any barriers to entry, so what is to prevent a car manufacturer or anybody else from doing the same? Here's someone doing the same without any hardware: http://www.hudwayapp.com/ http://www.hudwayapp.com/ Also, that video is too smug.
wuliwong 12y ago
For all the anti-distraction people: Why is the Navdy HUD so much more dangerous than the already existing stuff in your car? At least when you are looking at Navdy you are still basically looking through the windshield. When I look at my radio or speedometer on my current vehicle, the windshield relegated to peripheral vision which is useless in this case as you get no depth information from the peripheral. With Navdy, you still should be able to see something coming at you. It seems far superior to the current HUDs in cars.
- gdubs 12y ago
  Illusion of safety. It's the distraction that really matters. Of course looking down introduces a risk factor, but studies have shown that it's the distraction itself that is dangerous. The HUD will create the illusion that it's ok to do certain things -- more often probably too -- while driving, now that you don't have to look down to do them. One could also argue that when you have to look down to do something distracting, at least you are being reminded -- by taking your eyes off the road -- that the thing you're doing is distracting and you should probably pay attention to the road.
namuol 12y ago
Just give me a standalone, turn-key GPS app that lets me keep my eyes on the road. I don't want phonecalls or texts interrupting my driving.
lazylizard 12y ago
i can't wait for self driving cars and a ban on human drivers.

415 points by esolyt 12y ago

i'm going to create a startup for the ultimate integration between mobile phones and automobiles. it's this box and you put your phone in it, and while you're driving you can't open the box. pre-orders now, just email me at dontfuckingkillpeople@driveboxr.us there's no way this will make it past state legislation

smacktoward 12y ago

It would be awesome if this product was actually a giant sting operation designed to identify people who have no business being on the road. "I see you have a Navdy there, ma'am. I'm going to need to confiscate your car keys before you hurt somebody."

LukeHoersten 12y ago

I love in the video how they replaced the Ford logo with a Bently logo. Nice touch Sandwich Video.

Yxven 12y ago

I hate to see products like these promoted because the creators are making bloodmoney. Cell phones are not dangerous because the driver was looking at his phone or playing with the buttons when he had an accident. They are dangerous because they encourage your mind to wander. Most people's brains are really not good at multitasking. (Try patting your head while rubbing your belly counterclockwise) Anything that takes your mind away from the road when you're driving even if you can see the road is dangerous. (They found that talking to someone in a passenger seat is not as dangerous because if they notice danger and you don't, they'll inform you of the danger automatically by tensing up or whatever.) If your brain worked like a single process cpu, it would be like setting Twitter to high priority while relegating driving your 2-ton SUV to low priority. It will work well enough most of the time, but sooner or later, you'll crash the SUV. (Source: BS in psychology)

mden 12y ago
"Cell phones are not dangerous because the driver was looking at his phone or playing with the buttons when he had an accident. They are dangerous because they encourage your mind to wander." So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? I'm sorry but experience and common sense says otherwise. I would also argue that your second point is not as not clear cut either. Having some sort of distraction is definitely helpful most of the time when driving long distances. I personally find audio books very greatly help to fight off monotony, which in turn keeps my attention higher than if I was not being distracted.
- brown9-2 12y ago
  So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? This is a false choice and something that the person you are replying to never said.
- Mahn 12y ago
  > So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? The point is that anything that distracts your mind/vision from the road is dangerous, be it looking at your phone or reading a tweet in a transparent HUD display. What Navdy is building, while interesting, isn't necessarily safer.
  - mden 12y ago
    I agree with what you are saying and you shouldn't be reading messages or w/e when driving, but surely looking away from the road is more dangerous than not? In the very least it takes more time. Again I'm not encouraging the behavior, just saying not all distraction are equivalent...
- markbao 12y ago
  Don't downvote mden if you disagree. > So you are claiming that having to look away from the road for possibly whole seconds to deal with a phone is not really dangerous, but what is dangerous is your mind wandering? I'm not OP, but it's not that your mind is wandering per se (which suggests a neutral state) but your mind is actively focused on something other than the road, like an HUD in front of your face. Peeking at the next turn on nav mode is not a big deal, but if you're composing a text using voice, I'll bet anyone $100 that the voice recognition isn't good enough that you won't be staring at the screen to check it's getting the right words. The thing I dislike most about this product is that it deludes people into thinking this is a "safe" way to operate your phone and text while driving, and basically gives permission to do so. No way to text while driving is safe, not really even at red lights.

mrharrison 12y ago

Its neat, but it's troubling that they really haven't thought it out. First big problem I see, is that it will be sitting in the sun while driving, so it will quickly overheat and have sun damage over time.

mmastrac 12y ago

A killer feature for this would be IR/night vision with an external camera. They did a great job with the marketing video for this. Really curious to see where this ends up.

brownbat 12y ago
More external cameras, IR, heat, whatever, looking out at all angles. I'm definitely for it. Not sure why we still have those drag inducing chunks sticking out of our sleek vehicles, the reflective things that can ice over, and that you have to calibrate for each driver, now that tiny cameras and range sensors are cheap and ubiquitous.
- joshvm 12y ago
  Range sensors that actually work reasonably well outdoors are neither cheap nor ubiquitous. Note that we're talking about imaging range sensors here, not single point measurements. Time of flight cameras? They predominantly use NIR (900nm or circa) and so they're rubbish in sunlight. Try using your kinect outdoors. Beyond the kinect they're also very expensive, a few thousand each. The kinect 1 also fails outdoors and when the range is > 5m or so. LIDAR? Well sure, you can buy a rotating line scanner - 100-180deg field of view typical. They're very nice, but also (new) you're looking at around $3-5k. Don't even dream about getting a Velodyne system, like the Google car uses. Stereo? Yeah... well stereo is nice, but it takes a lot of computational grunt to do it in real time, reliably and in varying illuminations (good luck using it at night). Thermal? We're getting there, FLIR make some fairly low cost, low resolution sensors, but still you're looking at $500-1000 a pop in OEM quantities. RADAR/Ultrasonics are reasonably cheap nowadays and they're pretty good for coarse measurements like when you need to know how far you are from the wall in your garage. We're getting to the point where RADAR is good enough for collision avoidance (i.e. auto-braking) on high speed roads. More cameras are cool, but you need to know how to process the data and present it clearly to the user. I can see the advantage of having a camera for a rear-view mirror particularly for vehicles like vans with no rear windows. Side mirrors are still useful and for most people the cost of installing multiple high resolution video cameras and monitors isn't worth the savings in petrol from drag reduction. If you replace a mirror with a camera you also need a very high resolution display, a wide angle camera that doesn't distort too much and a way of viewing it in any conceivable illumination condition. Mirrors are also nice and mechanical, unless you crash they rarely ever break.

sciguy77 12y ago

Wow, what a sweet product. And boy do they know how to market it, "feels like driving in the future."

dilipray 12y ago

http://www.hudwayapp.com/ http://www.hudwayapp.com/ Free application without any hardware. What are you guys trying to prove here. I didn't get your point.

iherbig 12y ago
I would imagine a dedicated bit of hardware is more stable than simply placing your phone on the dashboard. This is also not intended solely for low-visibility conditions when the reflection of the phone on the windshield is visible. I can't imagine the HUDWAY app being particularly useful during the day, for example. I don't see that they need to prove anything except that it's a cool and useful product for which a market exists. Their point is simply that automated navigation while driving is cumbersome and unsafe with the use of simple phone apps. A dedicated piece of hardware solves that problem, and in a cool way. I do feel that their message is undermined a bit by the safety concerns presented when you have seamless phone integration for writing and reading texts, answering calls, and tweeting.
kilian 12y ago
I would say that's an unfair comparison, as the navdy aims to do much more, for better or worse. That said I had no idea this app existed and it seems perfect as a simple HUD. Given how I use my navigation system, having just the road ahead visualized is all I need.
kolev 12y ago
Nice! Only works at night though. I'm sure Hudway will have less legal issues than a dedicated device. Also, Navdy is pretty expensive for the mass market.
jonemo 12y ago
This is genius. I rarely drive, and when I do it's seldom at night, but when I do I want exactly what's in the first picture on this website. I never understood why no GPS (app or hardware) comes with this feature, even though it provides clear advantages. In rally racing providing this info is basically the entire job of the person in the passenger seat.

molecule 12y ago

previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815

applecore 12y ago

Does one company make every startup's tech product video? Edit: Yes. http://sandwichvideo.com/ http://sandwichvideo.com/

numann 12y ago
haha, saw your comment before the edit and made an account just to post that url.
sixQuarks 12y ago
how much do these videos cost to make?
- paraboul 12y ago
  http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/ http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/
  - sixQuarks 12y ago
    that doesn't answer my question. $, $$, $$$ are meaningless.
soahc 12y ago
TIL Real Player still exists and they are a customer of theirs..
jafingi 12y ago
Haha that's actually pretty cool :-D The first video I saw from them was the Square, but didn't notice Adam in other videos until recently where he was the pizza delivery guy in the Push for Pizza video. Now I know why he is featured in so many startup-videos ;-)
elwell 12y ago
I see on their client list both Lyft and Uber.
bad_alloc 12y ago

Twirrim 12y ago

stop using your phone when you're driving. It's not that hard. It can wait. If it can't, find somewhere to pull over. GPS, cool. Text etc? ARGH.

danielweber 12y ago
Check out Navdy's rad video!

jstanek 12y ago

It's odd that they promote their product by saying that phone use while driving is unsafe. I fail to see who this is significantly safer than using a phone, since to use the HUD one needs to necessarily remove their attention and focus from the road and redirect it to a small point much closer to their face. Granted, it is probably at least a little better than using a phone, but I'd be _very_ hesitant to say that it's safe.

karzeem 12y ago
I think they'd do better to pitch it as a replacement for car UI in general. If it's executed well, it could be a safer replacement for behaviors like looking down at the A/C or radio controls.
vlasev 12y ago
There are two options on the extremes 1. Keep the HUD in focus and the road out of focus. Your eyes are still seeing a lot of road information that doesn't necessarily need the high fidelity. This is relatively safer than looking away entirely. The human brain can do a lot with scarce information. 2. Keep the road in focus and the HUD out of focus. For things like navigation this will still work fairly well since all you usually need for the navigation is the shape of the road, the direction you'll need to turn in, and how many blocks (roughly) you have until the destination. This is relatively safer than looking away at your phone or gps from time to time, or even looking around for the street names. Realistically, people will switch between the two extremes.
cle 12y ago
Did you even read the front page? Just scroll down a tiny bit and read: "Navdy's transparent Head-Up Display (HUD) projects information as if it's floating six feet in front of you. In the car you already have." Further down: "The image is focused into the distance so the road stays in focus while the driver views the information presented by Navdy. The same technology is used in all commercial airplanes so the pilot can keep their eyes on the runway while landing the airplane."
- klmr 12y ago

spydertennis 12y ago

finally someone made this. spot on.

guybrushT 12y ago

Neat product and like others have noted here - well done on the marketing. Doing other things while driving is dangerous no doubt, but it is also a very practical reality. Any product that embraces this practicality and tries to maximize eyes on on the road is a good step forward in making driving safer. A random idea: Adding a camera to this could open up the dashcam market. In Russia for example, dashcams a very common and are a part of the driving culture (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashcam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashcam and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance).

martin-adams 12y ago

Nice looking product, but I can't help but think we shouldn't be encouraging sending Tweets while driving. I'd say keep these devices to assist driving (navigation and safety information), but not to assist additional activities on top of driving.

mpg33 12y ago
Agree..not sure why every product feels like it needs act like a communications device on top of it's main purpose. Couldn't help but think the same thing with Apple Watch...do you really think people are going to tweet from that?

zitterbewegung 12y ago

Is this legal to have in your car in the US? Looking at the state laws for electronics in the car it doesn't appear to be. http://www.ce.org/Consumer-Info/Car-Electronics/Got-It/State-Laws-for-Electronics-Use-in-the-Car.aspx http://www.ce.org/Consumer-Info/Car-Electronics/Got-It/State...

abroncs 12y ago

Can we start adding some context to these titles, please?

oinksoft 12y ago
Don't hold your breath, the consensus reached in the few minutes the thread below was breathing seems to be that the domain name provides sufficient context. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8258117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8258117 See the context? "Navdy (navdy.com)"

rayiner 12y ago

This product is going to kill people, and unfortunately not just the ones who buy it.

csallen 12y ago
The same could be said of cars themselves. And phones. And kitchen knives.
- justinpombrio 12y ago
  You've listed three examples of products that changed the world, and have huge utility despite their danger. The main advertising for this product, however, seems to be that it allows you to tweet while you drive. So I don't think it's a very fair comparison.
- coherentpony 12y ago
  I think the parent comment is referring to the lack of regulation of this product by regulatory bodies. Cars are regulated to travel below a certain speed. Phones are regulated to their use outside of a vehicle (when operated by a human), and kitchen knives are illegal to carry in public. While the parent comment is a little melodramatic, there's still something to be said regarding the safety of usage in this product and its affect on other people.
  - csallen 12y ago
    These regulations were put into place after the products were released. I don't see why this should be any different.
    - TeMPOraL 12y ago
      So we need to wait until some poor shmucks kill a few kids and pregnant mothers before we can realize this product (as currently advertised) is a bad idea? I thought we're smarter than that. HUDs are not bad. But Navdy keeps marketing their product as a text-while-driving aid. Not very smart.

dalek2point3 12y ago

any idea if this plugs into Google Maps or whether it uses some other map data?

mindcreek 12y ago

Ok, nifty device, but what happens when you have a collusion or an accident and that device in front of your head starts flying around ? I don't want to destroy their hype bu they should really give that problem some thought.

smacktoward 12y ago
In fairness, it's not like they're the only device in the world that mounts on a car dashboard. There's tons of GPS receivers, phone holders, etc. that do the same thing.

danbruc 12y ago

Why can't we just stop using phones while driving? No matter how much one reduces distraction, it is still more distracting than not using it in the first place. Twitter while driving - why on earth?!? For navigation it is obviously a good idea because you can keep your eyes on the street and don't have to look to your GPS or even try to read street names. Watch »From One Second to the Next« [1] from the »Texting and Driving - It can wait« campaign. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BqFkRwdFZ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BqFkRwdFZ0

willis77 12y ago
"I killed a pedestrian on the way home, but so glad I got your text about mac n cheese for dinner! Smells yummy, let's eat!"
izacus 12y ago
Hmm, I also can't get this - WHY is it so hard to just answer that text / facebook message / call 10 minutes later after you stop. WHAT in the world is SO URGENT it has to be done right now?!
- ianlevesque 12y ago
  It's not hard to understand, even though it's completely insane. People simply don't think about driving as a dangerous activity requiring their full attention.
  - dickfickling 12y ago
    This is actually one of my favorite things about riding a motorcycle. It removes the 'safety net' of the car and forces one to pay full attention to the road. Texting is simply out of the question.
    - JonoBB 12y ago
      Unfortunately it is also one of the least favourite things about riding a motorcycle - always having to look out for car drivers who are not paying full attention to the road.

gfodor 12y ago

no way this stays legal in CA

mbrubeck 12y ago
HUDs are already built into many high-end cars (including several BMW and Audi models, the Chevy Camaro, and even some lower-end cars like the new Mazda3). Same for voice-controlled phone and media systems. They're actually touted as a safety feature, since a HUD requires less eye movement and refocusing than a normal instrument panel. Of course, it depends a lot on what you do with it. Moving existing displays like the speedometer and navigation instructions to a HUD can be an improvement in safety. But if it encourages more interactive phone use, that could obviously cause problems.
- gfodor 12y ago
  right, my point is that it will almost certainly be illegal to use this to text and drive. in fact I think it's probably already illegal: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/cell-phones-driving-california-law-29709.html http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/cell-phones-driving-c...

Codes 12y ago

It's builtin in my 2014 Mazda 3... It only displays usefull stuff though. Like direction, speed and distance to the car in front.

zeynalov 12y ago

Actually there are plenty of Navigation gadgets doing the same function, but non of them works on a sunny day. I bought some of them, but frustrated, non of them are really functional. I drive on a highway a lot and navigation is annoying when it's not in front of you. So how do Navdy solves this problem?

skrebbel 12y ago

Nice first step! I want this, but with eye tracking so it can plot perspective correct navigation arrows on the actual streets in front of me.

danielweber 12y ago

I said it last time: it's shocking they thought the most important use case was "WATCH INTERNET VIDEOS WHILE YOU DRIVE." And they still haven't changed their homepage. Navdy could be really useful, even improving of total safety, as HUD navigation. But maybe that's not where the money is.

sergiotapia 12y ago
I thought this was a parody just because of this - I'm still not sure... "Hey watch this video???" I just can't believe it.
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  The photo on their home page shows someone reading an SMS, not watching a video. The SMS is from someone recommending a video, but there's no indication that you can actually watch the video while you drive. It's a poor choice of image, though obviously they were just trying to embed the "Hey, watch our video in your browser" instructions into the photo itself. Aside from that, even reading SMS while you drive seems like a bad idea to me. But I'm really tempted to get a Navdy for features that improve safety, by moving stuff that I already look at (speed, navigation) from my dashboard to the HUD. I've been shopping for cars recently and wishing that HUDs were available in more affordable models. I just hope you can turn off Navdy's text/call notifications and other extras.
  - sergiotapia 12y ago
    You obviously get my point though. Exceedingly poor choice of front and center image to use.

mikkom 12y ago

The money shot https://www.navdy.com/assets/bg_10-88a56c4c20214704cf0b395429882c44.jpg https://www.navdy.com/assets/bg_10-88a56c4c20214704cf0b39542...

Glan1984 12y ago

Navdy looks sweet. I want one. Don't currently text and drive, but I would with one of these badboys.

twatshaft 12y ago

So stupid

tantalor 12y ago

> The image is focused into the distance so the road stays in focus What magic is this?

mbrubeck 12y ago
It's the same thing used by Google Glass, and other head-up displays (like the ones built into airplanes and high-end cars). I believe it involves collimation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collimated_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collimated_light For example, here's a description of the HUD currently available in several BMW cars: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/head_up_display.html http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_gui... "The image is projected in such a way that it appears to be about two metres away, above the tip of the bonnet, making it particularly comfortable to read. BMW Head-Up Display halves the time it takes for eyes to shift focus from road to the instruments and back."
coldtea 12y ago
The magic of projection.
- dj-wonk 12y ago
  And then the projected light goes into your eyes and strikes your retina, sending signals to your brain. Amazing!

brown9-2 12y ago

This is a great example of a product where just because you can combine a few pieces of technology in a new way doesn't mean that you should.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

pj_mukh 12y ago

This seems like a stopgap till, a) The car companies head downmarket with this kind of tech and roll out on your entry-level models. b) Cars get autonomous enough that this tech becomes irrelevant. Though maybe then we can project Netflix on the windshield with this and watch OITNB on your way to work! :D

elb0w 12y ago

My dev friend and I were looking into doing a similar product a few years back. We stopped because of laws that prevent you from putting anything that may obstruct you or another drivers vision / attention.

rdl 12y ago

There is an interesting harm reduction angle to products like this. It's probably the case that people using Navdy will drive worse than people with 100% attention on driving. It's also quite likely they'll drive better than people using a cellphone directly. The question is if it makes people feel safer and thus more willing to do the dangerous activity, countering the safety benefit. (There's also a clear benefit to people actually using phones while driving; letting people know they're late, not being bored, etc. It's just generally trumped by the safety loss; I'd be willing to sacrifice SOME safety for convenience/entertainment.) It's the same thing with sex (abstinence vs. barrier-based birth control vs. hormonal birth control), drugs (illegal vs. decrminalized vs. legalized), etc. It's possible NOT having technologies like this leads to overall less safety; it's also possible it leads to more safety. It depends on the specifics. I have nav (with voice, and a driver information display in my line of sight while driving), and use that, and also don't feel particularly bad about looking at my phone screen to see who called, etc. while stopped at a red light (although I realize it's less than perfectly safe; it's also more of a legal risk than a safety risk in california now, IMO.) Actually using the phone while driving, or having anything but the most brief and cursory conversation while driving in the city, is clearly a sacrifice in safety; I don't mind phone calls on highways, but I generally won't answer in the city.

dmix 12y ago
Right when weighting the benefits the big one is the fact most people use GPS navigation, having it via HUD is a significant safety boost. I'd say the same for speedometers. Other situations are still not super useful and probably won't get used. Can you meaningful respond to text messages with voice? Not quite, yet at least. Can you skim read them? Yes. That is not super distracting but still enough of a distraction in some cases. But I can't think of many use-cases that are any worse than a bluetooth headset voice conversation.
- konstruktor 12y ago
  But navigation was a very small fraction of the video, much less than texting and tweeting.

akerl_ 12y ago

Very trivial, but there's a typo in the FAQ: "We’re running a 30 day pre-oder campaign" Looks like an awesome product!

beachstartup 12y ago

well... personally, i wouldn't have gone with a name that could be pronounced "nav die".

thomasfoster96 12y ago

I know the display looks cool and all but this doesn't make driving with a phone any safer. You're still distracted. It's no different to just having your phone on the windscreen. Even where I live (Tasmania, Australia) I'm fairly sure there is either a proposal or already a law banning even hands free devices, because they are seen as just as dangerous. This device is going to be illegal to start with. The only two thing I see as being feasible from a safety point of view for cars is either some sort of augmented reality for lane guidance and navigation, or your phone giving you direction via voice (which they already do).

aianus 12y ago
When I did driver training they taught us that being lost is a major contributor to accidents. I am very skeptical that I would be safer and less distracted while squinting in the distance for street signs than I would be having a quick glance at my windshield mounted phone with GPS.
- thomasfoster96 12y ago
  I would agree to an extent with that, but I guess with street signs you are still looking outside the car as opposed to inside it.

mrmondo 12y ago

While I love the device and the presentation, I am certain that this will negatively affect your concentration and thus your driving performance.

jacquesm 12y ago

Driving is a full time occupation. If you can reduce the number of distractions please do. A phone needs only one button, answer/break connection and you shouldn't be dialling 'out' while driving anyway. No need to pop up pictures and other distractions in front of the driver, such a call at the wrong moment could easily cause an accident, if only because you will instinctively re-focus on the changing item in front of you. Set your GPS navigator to do voice announcements and only check the display when you suspect a sudden change in direction or are not sure what lane to sort into. Other than that the voice indications should be enough.

arjn 12y ago

Isnt this a re-post ? It was a bad idea then and its a bad idea now. Distractions while driving are potentially dangerous.

buckbova 12y ago
Don't drive with a passenger. Don't listen to the radio. Don't have your kid in the car. Don't drive with your dog. Don't think about work. Don't scratch your head. Don't...

ricardobeat 12y ago

What's going on here? This was a top post just a few weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8137815

SoftwareMaven 12y ago

As a motorcycle rider, these things scare the hell out of me. Drivers already pay little enough attention; do we really need more distractions? Jets have HUDs, but they also have much less traffic, highly trained pilots, and computers and air traffic control watching out for things the pilot misses. Car drivers have Siri.

fallingmeat 12y ago
If you're feeling left out: http://www.skullysystems.com/ http://www.skullysystems.com/

cezarywojcik 12y ago

I wonder how soon using this will be illegal in some states. Something like this should only provide an interface to your phone's maps and just maybe help with phone calls. Nothing else.

dj-wonk 12y ago
I'm skeptical of the ability of regulators and traditional car designers to really think about the user experience and its implications on safety. For example, many cars have confusing controls and distracting displays already. Have you seen reasons to be optimistic?

hobarrera 12y ago

"Feels Like Driving In The Future" And I'm prompted to install a now obsolete plugin to watch the video. Oh, the irony! Anyway, here's a link for anyone else who wants to watch their introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL4PJICS40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL4PJICS40

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

rdl 12y ago

Sort of an aside, but wtf is the car they are using in that video? It looks like a Ford Mondeo with a Bentley hood ornament; otherwise it's the ugliest Bentley I've ever seen. Did they do that as a joke (including the SANDWCH license plate from the video production company)?

ibejoeb 12y ago

Holy shit, people. The point of this product is not to enable tweeting. Did you miss the ever-present navigation hud? This is a good product. Don't you use nav? What's better: Looking at your nav screen pinned to the dash or in the console; looking down at the phone in your lap, because you know you can't be seen holding it; or looking at the road with augmented information? If you think HUDs are more dangerous than squinting at road signs or reading maps, then you can petition your legislators to make it illegal. I'm all for it, though, because I know the alternatives are worse.

fistofjohnwayne 12y ago

This is the same actor that appeared in the original Coin video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0

popol_kon 12y ago

Maybe it would be a bit off-topic - but why these kind of startups doesn't support WindowsPhone system?

kitsune_ 12y ago

"From One Second To The Next", A Film By Werner Herzog: http://youtu.be/_BqFkRwdFZ0 http://youtu.be/_BqFkRwdFZ0 Absolutely gut-wrenching.

bsenftner 12y ago

Safety issues asside, no one seems to be pointing out that this product is unprotectable: nothing they are doing has any barriers to entry, so what is to prevent a car manufacturer or anybody else from doing the same? Here's someone doing the same without any hardware: http://www.hudwayapp.com/ http://www.hudwayapp.com/ Also, that video is too smug.

wuliwong 12y ago

For all the anti-distraction people: Why is the Navdy HUD so much more dangerous than the already existing stuff in your car? At least when you are looking at Navdy you are still basically looking through the windshield. When I look at my radio or speedometer on my current vehicle, the windshield relegated to peripheral vision which is useless in this case as you get no depth information from the peripheral. With Navdy, you still should be able to see something coming at you. It seems far superior to the current HUDs in cars.

gdubs 12y ago
Illusion of safety. It's the distraction that really matters. Of course looking down introduces a risk factor, but studies have shown that it's the distraction itself that is dangerous. The HUD will create the illusion that it's ok to do certain things -- more often probably too -- while driving, now that you don't have to look down to do them. One could also argue that when you have to look down to do something distracting, at least you are being reminded -- by taking your eyes off the road -- that the thing you're doing is distracting and you should probably pay attention to the road.

namuol 12y ago

Just give me a standalone, turn-key GPS app that lets me keep my eyes on the road. I don't want phonecalls or texts interrupting my driving.

lazylizard 12y ago

i can't wait for self driving cars and a ban on human drivers.