Navdy, a startup in San Francisco, California, is marketing a heads-up display (HUD) device for drivers that functions much like the HUD used by jet fighter pilots.

The device, also called Navdy, will hit the market in early 2015. The company said the device will retail for US$499 but those interested can preorder it now for US$299.

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The Navdy device is a portable HUD that displays car data like speed and direction onto a plastic screen almost at the driver's eye level. It also links to a driver's mobile phone via Wi-Fi and can make and take calls or send and receive text messages.

Text messages can be sent via voice commands while gestures control the other functions. A thumbs-up sign will signal Navdy that you're accepting an incoming call, for example. Navdy can also play music.

Navdy displays data in full color and seems easy to read even in sunlight. It draws power from a car's onboard diagnostic (OBD) port. The OBD connection supplies essential data such as speed to Navdy.

There seems to be a lot going for Navdy. In 2007, scientists at the Munich University of Technology and BMW conducted a study that found HUDs in vehicles provide information more efficiently than heads-down displays such as the established dashboard controls

HUDs also kept the eyes of the driver on his path for longer periods of time.

The study, however, found that HUDs did have disadvantages such as reduction of peripheral vision and distance overestimation.

TagsHUD, Heads-up display, car accidents, Accidents, car crash, Tech, technology