'Head-up' dials

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33058, 27 October 1972, Page 11

'Head-up' dials

The ideal instrument panel is not inside the car—it is floating in the air some yards in front of the radiator grille, "The Times” says. This, in effect, is what a new head-up instrument display developed by Smiths Industries achieves, the newspaper says. The display incorporates an optical device which projects an image of the speedometer through the windscreen, allowing the driver to see how fast he is going without taking his eyes from the road. At present only the drivers of a handful of experimental cars (and the pilots of supersonic aircraft) get the benefit of head-up display. Smiths are working

on head-up displays for family cars, but they are still a year or two off, mainly because of cost.

Car makers are not unanimous about what constitutes a satisfactory instrument panel layout. Some seem to put function

firmly in second place. They let the stylists decide where the dials and the minor controls like screenwipers and washers and light switches should be placed. As a result, instead of being able to operate them without moving a hand from the wheel, one has to grope around, diverting attention from the road at what might be a critical moment, “The Times,” says. The dials are often dotted about the fascia, so that while the speedometer and perhaps rev counter are above the steering column, and thus fairly easy to read, others may be tucked away on the centre console. They are so far out of the driver’s line of sight there that they might just as well not be there for al! the good they do. Curiously, some of the cheapest cars have the best ergonomic layouts. Some of the most expensive cars

have indifferent layouts, because of the manufacturers’ attachment to what might be called Victorian sideboard fascia styling.