Navdy

https://www.navdy.com/

by esolyt • 12 years ago

415 209 12 years ago

navdy.com

mmastrac2• 12 years 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.

brownbat2• 12 years 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.

joshvm2• 12 years 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.

jannes• 12 years ago

I would say that camera lenses can ice over just as well as mirrors.

mbrubeck4• 12 years ago

Several cars already have night vision cameras integrated in their heads-up displays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_night_vision

sciguy77• 12 years ago

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

dilipray2• 12 years ago

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

iherbig• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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.

dilipray2• 12 years ago

Hahaha. True.

molecule• 12 years ago

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

applecore• 12 years ago

Does one company make every startup's tech product video?

Edit: Yes. http://sandwichvideo.com/

numann• 12 years ago

haha, saw your comment before the edit and made an account just to post that url.

sixQuarks2• 12 years ago

how much do these videos cost to make?

paraboul• 12 years ago

http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/

soahc• 12 years ago

TIL Real Player still exists and they are a customer of theirs..

jafingi• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

I see on their client list both Lyft and Uber.

bad_alloc• 12 years ago

Check out the license plate at 0:51, it reads SANDWCH.

LukeHoersten2• 12 years ago

They replaced the Ford logo with a Bently logo on the car as well.

Twirrim• 12 years 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.

danielweber4• 12 years ago

Check out Navdy's rad video!

jstanek• 12 years 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.

vlasev• 12 years 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.

cle2• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

You still need to shift your cognitive, focus. It’s still a distraction, and similarly dangerous [1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safet...

clusterfoo• 12 years ago

You're still not focused on the road though, that's just not how the human brain works, and insinuating that this device somehow makes texting while driving safe is hugely irresponsible IMO, considering how many thousands of lives are lost every year to distracted driving.

(I also doubt a commercial pilot is using this tech to send tweets to his mom while landing a plane. The "Pilots use this, so it's gotta be safe, right?" line just made me facepalm.)

karzeem• 12 years 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.

coldtea3• 12 years 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.

The thing is, jet fighter pilots use HUDs. If those work for them, I'm pretty sure it's ok for a car too.

Plus the road is quite boring site most of the time. You are not always in fast traffic or streets full of pedestrians. If you leave in Nevada, close to Highway-50 even more so, but I digress.

jre• 12 years ago

Jet fighters pilot are (amongst other things) selected on their multitasking skills. Plus they have extensive training regarding concentration, reaction time and so on. You cannot really compare them to the average driver.

scrollaway• 12 years ago

Jet fighter pilots are extremely focused at all times and use a HUD to be able to increase focus, not the opposite.

I can't believe I have to say this but JET FIGHTER PILOTS DO NOT USE HUDS TO TWEET.

TeMPOraL5• 12 years ago

The thing is, jet fighter pilots use HUDs. If those work for them, I'm pretty sure it's ok for a car too.

I really hope you're being sarcastic and just forgot about Poe's law here.

defen• 12 years ago

This must be a joke...have you met the average driver? Compared to fighter pilots, who are the best of the best and have years of specialized training plus millions of dollars of military-grade hardware devoted to giving them situational awareness of all possible threats?

TeMPOraL5• 12 years ago

It's odd that they promote their product by saying that phone use while driving is unsafe.

That part of a video is basically a slap in the face. The video says that when you use a phone while driving, bad things happen. What are those bad things? A police car stopping you. What the hell. They definitely should stop you. And take away your driving license. And your car. And maybe your offspring.

Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. Basically, police stopping you for texting while driving is the least bad possible consequence.

spydertennis• 12 years ago

finally someone made this. spot on.

guybrushT• 12 years 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 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance).

martin-adams• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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...

abroncs• 12 years ago

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

oinksoft• 12 years 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

See the context? "Navdy (navdy.com)"

rayiner2• 12 years ago

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

csallen3• 12 years ago

The same could be said of cars themselves. And phones. And kitchen knives.

coherentpony• 12 years 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.

justinpombrio• 12 years 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.

berberous• 12 years ago

I agree that people should just put the fucking phone away, but if this product is bought by people who already text and drive, maybe it's a net gain.

rayiner2• 12 years ago

The danger is that it creates the illusion of being able to text and drive safely, so that people who wouldn't text and drive on a cell phone do so with this product.

dj-wonk3• 12 years ago

Probably, but this misses the point. On a differential basis, it may save more lives on the whole.

blauwbilgorgel• 12 years ago

I am not so afraid of the loss of attention. I think this takes a little getting used to, like using a route planner.

I didn't see a comment yet about placing a loose object in front of your face. During a head-on collision you will eat that thing. Don't even put a box of matches on your dashboard. CD's become chainsaws. And this hunk of plastic?

Every year, loose objects inside cars during crashes cause hundreds of serious injuries and even deaths. In this paper, we describe findings from a study of 25 cars and drivers, examining the objects present in the car cabin, the reasons for them being there, and driver awareness of the potential dangers of these objects. With an average of 4.3 potentially dangerous loose objects in a car‟s cabin, our findings suggest that despite being generally aware of potential risks, considerations of convenience, easy access, and lack of in-the-moment awareness lead people to continue to place objects in dangerous locations in cars. Our study highlights opportunities for addressing this problem by tracking and reminding people about loose objects in cars.

http://www.star-uci.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ubic489n-...

dalek2point3• 12 years ago

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

mindcreek• 12 years 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.

smacktoward2• 12 years 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• 12 years 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

willis77• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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.

adidash• 12 years ago

Because instant gratification. We are living in the real-time world after all!

brm• 12 years ago

It's because of the act of driving itself. Before it was phones it was shaving, doing makeup, or eating. Driving promotes an individualist mentality. Backed up by the fact that cars are designed to remove and protect you from the environment that you're still participating in. This separation leads to many things including road rage and not believing that being on your cellphone is a problem. *IMHO

arjie4• 12 years ago

I think it's just that we all suck at multi-tasking but underestimate how much we suck at it. I have never actually met a good multi-tasker. People who do lots of tasks sequentially, but never anyone who does a satisfactory job at two things that are done simultaneously.

sitkack2• 12 years ago

I pray for self driving cars, so these idiots can use their phones all they want.

I was following a riced out Acura today that was flashing the brakes all the time, GF said ?old person?, but grandma doesn't drive that car. Some rapper's white girl friend in head to toe pink was diddling on her phone WHILE DRIVING and tapping on the brakes every time she looked up. I see phone usage while driving everyday and the majority of it isn't talking it is interacting with the device itself. Madness.

gfodor2• 12 years ago

no way this stays legal in CA

mbrubeck4• 12 years 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.

gfodor2• 12 years 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-c...

Codes• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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.

danielweber4• 12 years 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.

sergiotapia2• 12 years 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.

mbrubeck4• 12 years 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.

mikkom• 12 years ago

The money shot

https://www.navdy.com/assets/bg_10-88a56c4c20214704cf0b39542...

twatshaft• 12 years ago

So stupid

tantalor• 12 years ago

The image is focused into the distance so the road stays in focus

What magic is this?

mbrubeck4• 12 years 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

For example, here's a description of the HUD currently available in several BMW cars:

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."

coldtea3• 12 years ago

The magic of projection.

dj-wonk3• 12 years ago

And then the projected light goes into your eyes and strikes your retina, sending signals to your brain. Amazing!

smacktoward2• 12 years 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."

LukeHoersten2• 12 years ago

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

Yxven3• 12 years 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)

mden3• 12 years 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.

brown9-23• 12 years 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• 12 years 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.

markbao2• 12 years 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.

dogecoinbase• 12 years ago

I'm sorry but experience and common sense says otherwise.

Whenever you find yourself saying this, particularly in response to an expert in the field, that is the time to stop and listen instead of talking.

goblin893• 12 years 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.

I'm going to speculate that driving is such an activity that doesn't require constant attention and involves quite a bit of monotony. In such circumstances, mind wandering will happen—be there a mobile phone, Navdy, or nothing at all.

This is a human factor. The only complete solution to this issue seems to be self-driving cars, when your mind and its wandering are taken out of equation.

With that in mind, a mobile phone doesn't seem to stand equal to other causes of mind-wandering, contrary to your claim. A phone also obstructs large portions of the road from your view when you're using it.

hbosch• 12 years ago

I'm going to speculate that driving is such an activity that doesn't require constant attention...

Stop there. What would lead you to this speculation?

Of course driving requires constant attention and care, the full time you are behind the wheel of an automobile. You're piloting a 2 ton machine made of whirling metal and filled with flammable liquid traveling at high speeds, usually within less than a meter of someone else doing the same.

There is never a good reason to divert attention from the task of driving while you are driving. Full stop.

cheepin• 12 years ago

One of the problems is that whatever you happen to be focusing on, you also have to be able to react quickly to potential hazards. I'm pretty sure (guessing) that being not particularly focused on the road is still significantly better than being focused on a mobile phone/Navdy.

I've read the literature on multitasking while driving. Texting is one of the worst. Talking on the phone comes somewhere in the middle (hands free or not doesn't seem to matter), but even talking to passengers has a measurable decrease in safety. The problem is that people, as a whole, are willing to bear quite a bit of risk in order to indulge in their distractions, but their behavior additionally forces those around them to bear some of the risk as well.

I agree that self-driving cars are a huge way forward for safety, but in the meantime it makes sense to minimize human error.

dirtyaura2• 12 years ago

First, road accidents are are among top 10 causes of deaths in the world, so this isn't a small matter.

Second, there is research that shows that dividing your attention just between driving and talking can cause a significant reduction of reaction speed. Driving safely is not monotonous activity. Of course, if your car is crawling in a LA traffic jam, accidents are mostly non-fatal, but when you are driving 100km/h, cars are dangerous objects.

brown9-23• 12 years ago

Why speculate? It's not like no one researches this stuff.

Yxven3• 12 years ago

Your speculation is mostly right. Our brains are pretty good at automating repetitive tasks such as driving, so most drivers regularly don't pay complete attention.

The trouble is our brains primarily adapt to repeated stimuli eg driving in good conditions. Since no one spends most of their time driving narrowly avoiding accidents, that activity isn't one the brain can learn to automate ( well, maybe it's possible with a realistic driving simulator), so dangerous driving requires everyone's full attention.

Since we don't usually have advanced warning of when dangerous driving will happen, the best we can do is spend as much time as possible paying attention to road conditions.

Studies have found hands-free phones are just as dangerous. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hands-free-phones-just-as-risky-...

leephillips• 12 years ago

This will make driving safer for me. I'm already checking my speedometer and other instruments and often use a GPS. Now I can do all that while not removing focus from the road. This looks like a great device and the pre-order price is fantastic.

And yes, I have no problem with the head patting/belly rubbing. Have you ever seen a cop driving a patrol car? He's juggling radios, phones, a computer with a big screen for looking up warrants and stuff, entering plate numbers, looking out the windows for suspicious behavior - the actual road is a mere distraction. People can learn to manage their divided attention, and if they can't handle checking a speedometer without crashing into the guardrail they probably shouldn't be driving.

That said, I wouldn't use this to text while driving. Seeing who's calling and waving my hand to answer for a brief "I'll be there in 10 minutes" seems reasonable, however, and is safer than fumbling with the phone the old-fashioned way.

danielweber4• 12 years ago

Do cops really type things into a computer and read the results while in motion?

kohanz• 12 years ago

The thing with an activity as ubiquitous as driving is that when judging the usefulness or conversely danger of a certain aspect of it, you have to consider the least-skilled (or more susceptible to distractions) group of drivers. Saying "I can do activity X and driving together" is a nice anecdote, but it doesn't give much information as to the overall safety of activity X and driving.

For example, I would guess that there are people out there who can safely drive a car with their blood-alcohol level past the legal limit. There are presumably people who can multi-task (text or phone & drive) safely too.

Once these activities become acceptable, you can't pick and choose who is allowed to perform them based on some skill metric.

korzun• 12 years ago

BS in psychology

Ah yes. Do you also give philosophical advice by any chance?

Displays like this are standard on a lot of high end performance vehicles. The teams who worked on stuff like this can run circles around your BS in psychology.

I drove cars with this technology and it's actually better since you don't have to look down at the wheel or at the awkwardly mounted portable GPS/phone that usually falls off the mount every other day.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/mseries/m5sedan/2013/s...

zecho• 12 years ago

I'd be willing to bet no auto manufacturer will ever integrate twitter in their HUDs.

theflubba• 12 years ago

This.

soup10• 12 years ago

Associating this product with blood money is highly offensive and it's disappointing that this is the top comment. The team behind this has put a lot of sweat and tears into making this a reality, as is always the case when starting a business of any complexity, and especially true in tech when operating in uncharted waters.

The important tech is heads up display projected rendering on glass in a car. As long as that works well there will be good applications beyond reading twitter. safety information, car and dashboard alerts, and gps map information all come to mind. Anyone who has ever played a video game should be familiar with HUDs that help you and aren't distracting.

GregorStocks• 12 years ago

Video game HUDs are pretty distracting, though. I think the farthest I've driven a car in a video game without hitting something is about a mile.

makeramen• 12 years ago

Just because the founders put effort into something doesn't make it ethically good. The advertised use is still messaging and communication, and I'm sure if they open it up to developers there will only be more distractions like flappy birds on a car. The point is a powerful technology with smart people and good intentions behind it can always result in poor unintended consequences. In this case I can see a lot more potential consequences than advantages.

rhizome2• 12 years ago

The team behind this has put a lot of sweat and tears into making this a reality, as is always the case when starting a business of any complexity, and especially true in tech when operating in uncharted waters.

As long as we're being figurative, a lot of sweat and tears have gone into missile design and prison labor contracts. And this is not completely uncharted waters, phone-HUD has been a thing for years now.

kitsune_2• 12 years ago

I guess virtually everyone who has ever played a video game will remember a moment where you got killed because you looked at your ammo reading for a split-second.

JonoBB2• 12 years ago

No, this is only partly true. Driving is primarily a visual activity. If your eyes are not on the road, then your chances of an accident increase. If you are looking down at your mobile, then the chances of an accident increase markedly.

Yes, looking at a HUD increases your risk of an accident. The best option is to have 100% attention focused on the road and your surroundings. If I had to choose between mobile or HUD, HUD would win every single time. If I had to choose between HUD and nothing distracting, then obviously the later is better. Yeah, just put the freaking phone away when you are driving.

raz32dust• 12 years ago

I agree with you in that navdy will not eliminate risk of attention loss. But at least it should reduce the attention loss. Sure, any kind of attention loss is not acceptable in theory. But if navdy is found to reduce attention only as much as say talking to a co-passenger, then may be it's not a bad trade-off. Like one of the other commenters said, we cannot ensure that drivers have 100% attention. Anything that at least reduces risk is still a good thing.

jacquesm8• 12 years ago

How about the speedometer dial, the fuel and the oil temp gauges?

Those need to be checked regularly as well and they occupy mindshare. You even need to focus on them and given that they are a lot closer than the road that takes time away from the road, refocus, then inspect the dials then look back out of the front windshield and re-focus.

Driving itself is a multi-tasking effort.

The number of buttons and indicators in a car (especially a high end one) can be quite distracting.

And not checking your speed diligently where I live gets expensive really quickly, 3 km over the actual limit (as checked by the GPS) will get you a ticket. So I actually drive with the GPS 'on' even when I know perfectly well where I'm going because it checks my speed without me looking at it.

barrkel• 12 years ago

I think the speedo dial is a dangerous distraction when speed cameras are about. I know I focus almost entirely on the speedo and only use peripheral vision for the road ahead when going past a speed camera.

When there's no speed camera or other risk of speed trap, I don't pay attention to numeric speed at all. Instead, I drive to the conditions, and approximately follow the speed limit as appropriate - but I may be 5 or 10 over or under depending on how clear the road ahead is of hazards.

Fuel, oil and other gauges don't change constantly and don't demand attention with flashing and animations, unless something is seriously wrong - in which case the vehicle should be stopped.

I should add, though, I don't actually drive. I ride a motorcycle and scooter, daily, all year round in London. Anything less than 100% focus is a quick route to A&E.

petilon• 12 years ago

Totally agree. Any kind of distraction while driving is unsafe. Research has shown that even hands-free phones are unsafe while driving. Here's a much better gadget: http://www.mobileye.com/products/mobileye-5-series/mobileye-...

industriousthou• 12 years ago

This is pretty accurate, but I think one of the issues with driving is that it's often really... boring.

I mean, I know that it's incredibly dangerous, but because I do it for hours every day, I become desensitized to the danger. So, I check out my facebook feed or respond to that text message. Before smart phones, I would pick up a paper book that I had just bought and skim a little 'cause I just couldn't wait to get home. If it weren't that, I might be looking for wildlife out my passenger-side window or fiddling with the radio, etc.

I guess I'm a bad person, but I'm pretty confident that I'm not the only one. My guess is that a device like this that can keep your attention without diverting your eyes from the road is, in general, going to improve safety.

Of course, I could be wrong.

icelancer2• 12 years ago

(Try patting your head while rubbing your belly counterclockwise)

What? This was exceedingly easy to do. And I've never heard of this.

Yxven3• 12 years ago

Most people have difficulty with it initially, but it's not difficult to make it harder. Try doing all that while rotating one leg clockwise.

gamzer• 12 years ago

Looking at something indeed doesn't mean paying attention to it. That's why head-up displays can be dangerous (just like handsfree phone usage).

Daniel Simons, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois, says this in his episode of the You Are Not So Smart podcast:

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2012/04/24/yanss-podcast-episode...

Head-up displays are discussed starting at 12:31.

If I remember correctly, pilots were at danger to miss planes on the runway while using a head-up display.

"Even pilots use it – it's safe." Is it?

afro88• 12 years ago

It is more dangerous to not look at the road than to look at it. Surely.

This is safer than looking at a phone. I agree that it has the same inherent problem of distracting the driver with other tasks and making it easier for your mind to wander. But it's still a step up.

Perhaps they should make it a "driving tasks only" device. Speed, navigation etc. But unfortunately the law allow devices in the car that provide other information and services as long as they're hands free and they're not playing video. While the law allows it, people will fill that gap and these guys would fail miserably by ignoring that side of the market.

Edit: I read comments further down that enlightened me to the point of view that this creates the illusion of safely texting while driving, and people may be texting and tweeting more while driving, distracting them more rather than less. The laws need to change.

flexie• 12 years ago

Bloodmoney?

No-one died just yet from Navdy.

I love to see this kind of technology on HN and not just apps that play with pictures, videos or text.

wuliwong3• 12 years ago

Yea but your brain doesn't work at all like a single process cpu.

mrharrison• 12 years 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.

Glan1984• 12 years ago

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

ezpuzzle• 12 years 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

brown9-23• 12 years 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.

pj_mukh• 12 years 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• 12 years 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.

rdl2• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

But navigation was a very small fraction of the video, much less than texting and tweeting.

akerl_• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

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

thomasfoster962• 12 years 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).

aianus2• 12 years 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.

thomasfoster962• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

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

jacquesm8• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

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

SoftwareMaven• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

If you're feeling left out: http://www.skullysystems.com/

cezarywojcik• 12 years 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-wonk3• 12 years 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• 12 years 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

rdl2• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

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

popol_kon• 12 years ago

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

kitsune_2• 12 years ago

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

Absolutely gut-wrenching.

bsenftner• 12 years 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/ Also, that video is too smug.

wuliwong3• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years 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• 12 years ago

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

Navdy

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