Research topics and implementation trends on automotive head-up display systems

For about 5 years, production of automobiles equipped with head-up display (HUD) systems has continuously grown and this trend will remain for at least three years more from 2014 [7, 19]. Therefore, looking for clarifying how to orientate future efforts in developing these systems, a systematic analysis approach has been implemented for identifying best design practises, common characteristics, gaps, implementation trends and research topics on automotive HUD systems. The proposed approach is conducted on two areas, firstly exploring the current scientific literature to find the most relevant research topics and understanding how these are evolving. Secondly, a competitive intelligence analysis was conducted compiling patents related to automotive HUD systems. This analysis was specially oriented towards determining, currently and in the near future, basic product design implementation trends in automotive HUD systems. Finally, the results obtained from both scientific and technological points of view were compared and commented, looking for determining common, converging or diverging, evolution parameters in automotive HUD systems. In this way, the results exposed the distraction as an outstanding research topic for these systems, becoming even more crucial if they are mixed with augmented reality projections, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or infotainment systems.