Concept: Heads Up Display Use

A Heads up Display (HUD) is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the user to look away from his or her usual viewpont. The origin of the name stems from the user being able to view information with their head "up" and looking forward, instead of angled down looking at lower instruments.

HUDs have been used for years for helping aircraft pilots navigate and more importantly target enemy aircraft. More recently, it's been used for car dashboards; however, the most popular contemporary usage appears to be 1st person shooter video games. The HUD is frequently used to simultaneously display several pieces of information including the main character's health, items, relative position, and an indication of game progression (ie. points).

The most useful aspect of 1st person gaming is the fact that the game is user-centric and all graphical information is ideal for the individual. If we were able to take some aspect of this and apply it create a user-centric bus passenger experience, it would be awesome.

Some information shown on gaming HUDs:
- health/lives
- time (usually a countdown timer)
- weapons/ammo
- capabilities
- menus (to exit, change options)
- game progression (current score, money, level)
- mini-map (show relative position, sometimes radar like, locations like safe houses, streets)
- speedometer (for driving games)
- context-sensitive information (shown only as it becomes important)
- reticle/cursor/crosshair - indication of character aim or focus


For the bus, we'd implement a sparse HUD. Too much info would overwhelm the typical passenger. Just adding key touchpoints will make the displays very useful for passengers when they think "Where am I now, and when do I get off?" The POWER of the HUD really shines during the night when passengers can't see major landmarks through the conventional window. The HUD would aid passengers at night as its aided aircraft pilots.

The HUD also works naturally with the passenger since they're looking out the window most of the time for wayfinding information.

Possible passenger HUD information:
- current time
- route info (ie. bus, route, zone... etc)
- mini-map showing relative position and landmarks
- context-sensitive information such as NEXT STOP, CURRENT STOP, PAST STOP
- reticle/cursor/crosshair - indicate landmarks or other visual cues