I'm a little confused. If it "mirrors" your smartphone, what's the difference between this and simply mounting your smartphone to the dash? It is still a distraction from the road, whether it's on your phone, or any other screen, no? If anything, doesn't this increase the likelihood of distraction? EDIT: I just read the makers' comment above and understand the gesture control takes control of the interaction distraction. The point of it being a visual distraction still remains, though.
@matt_aunger Hey Matt, if you mount your phone to the dash or the windshield, it will completely obstruct that portion of your view. the great thing about Astro is that the screen being projected onto is still see-through, while a mounted phone is not. As long as there is technology there will be distractions. Astro takes steps to greatly minimize those distractions. With Astro you can still keep your eyes on the road while doing tasks such as navigating or taking calls.
@cc0724 Don't get me wrong, it's impressive as a product, but doesn't it still enable? the same scenario a dashboard mount does, of an irresponsible driver not paying attention to the road. That's what it boils down to. Saying "As long as there is technology there will be distractions" doesn't really justify it.
Apologies, for being quite oppositional here. I'm of the belief that while driving, your attention should be on the road, not on other tasks.
Hi Hunters!
We're super excited to be launching Astro soon on IndieGoGo!
Astro is the world's first head up display to mirror your phone's screen. You will be able to fully use any of your favorite apps while safely keeping your eyes on the road. Astro also uses gesture controls to do tasks such as answer phone calls and change songs without touching your phone.
"The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year." It's no wonder California implemented the law stating you can no longer hold your phone while driving. Astro will help remove the temptation of reaching for your cellphone to keep drivers safe and out of trouble.
Head over to http://www.headupdisplay.co/ to sign up for updates leading up to the campaign launch. A limited amount of backers will be able to save OVER 50% off on IndieGoGo, so make sure you're one of the first people there!
@cc0724 was just telling my product designer friend a few days that a projectable interface would be cool for the dash with driverless cars coming through, this looks really promising.
@shashwatpradhan Hey Shashwat, thanks for showing interest! It definitely makes the HUD more versatile. Other similar HUDs can only use navigation features or have dedicated and limited apps, so this would definitely be a great fit in driverless cars.
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@cc0724 how do you solve for apps or parts of the OS that don't support the landscape orientation? Like Apple Music.
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I literally mounted my phone over my LCD display to solve this problem. Bwahah
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How is this in any way less distracting than looking at the phone screen? Also, there are several heads up displays on the market for mobile phones, so this is hardly new.
Nice to see this. I hope it gets some momentum. I'm shocked by the number of people in LA that drive while texting, snapping, etc. I saw someone on the freeway the other day using their knees to guide the steering wheel while they were texting with both hands.
@erictwillis Hey Eric, we totally agree with your concern about irresponsible drivers. One of the main goals of Astro is to create safer driving conditions. Hopefully we can reduce the temptation to reach for a phone while driving.
Shit like this is why I tell you to check out PH more often man.. @farin99
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What phones / OS does it work with? Do you have to touch the phone to control apps or is it also a touchscreen?
Website and video have a complete lack of useful information.
@parsley72 Astro emits it's own WiFi signal which you connect to from your phone. Once that's done you can cast your screen using your specific phone's cast settings.
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@cc0724 Does that use AirPlay on iOS? What about my previous question - Do you have to touch the phone to control apps or is it also a touchscreen?
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@cc0724 Any response? I see your website says "Interact using swipe, rotate, and pinch gesures." so I'm guessing you either support touch or recognise gestures.
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Great concept, though im not sure which will cause more accidents first: Pokemon go or gps based hookup apps like tinder/grindr!
As for the distraction effect that was mentioned I assume the hud screen will be installed so that it's positioning of the screen and the way the image is projected are optimised to make it blend holographically into the same depth of field as your eyes would normally focus at when driving anyway. Thus no reduced awareness when glancing at the screen. I know I saw a curved windscreen mounted optical glass screen/dash mounted projector combo 2nd gen redesign go past on one of the big crowdfunding sites a couple months back which was based on just that concept.
IMHO, Heads Up Display (HUD) work best if the projection is right in front of the driver, having driven couple cars with HUD. Would it be possible for anyone to mount Astro above the meters on the driver side ?
Also, I am so frustrated by the lack of cross-platform car entertainment operation systems. Why can't I simply mirror my smartphone's screen on the car's entertainment system screen ? Wouldn't that solve the need for most of this stuff ? While Apple's CarPlay is one way to think about this, but most of the apps on my iPhone aren't CarPlay compatible and for obvious reasons, I am unable to project Google Maps via CarPlay.
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