Raythink Debuts New AR HUD for 2024 Smart Vehicles

By Bobby Carlton

Starting in Q2 of 2024 automobile companies will be able to integrate Raythink AR HUD into their vehicles that will include stereoscopic interactions, safety alerts, and navigation.

Raythink, a Chinese company that specializes in the development of AR head-mounted displays for the transportation and automotive sectors, debuted its new HUD solution at the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Expo.

The company showcased its new product at the event, which utilizes Raythink’s OpticalCore picture generation module. It can project an image that’s 3D to the naked eye.

The company's HUD technology projects various driving-related information onto the windshield, such as speed, directions, and assistance features, in real-time. This eliminates the need for drivers to look down or turn their heads.

True AR HUD Functionality

Displaying navigation and instrument cluster

• Instrument information
• Driving lane markings
• Lane-level AR navigation

Safety Alert

• Pedestrian Collision Warning (PCW)
• Bus lane occupancy warning
• Vehicle speeding alert
• Vehicle slowdown reminder
• Blindspot Warning

Stereoscopic interaction

• AR holographic advertising
• Nearby Hot Search (POI) push
• Call/meeting reminders

OTA

• Intelligent upgrades

According to the company, their AR HUD utilizes laser beam scanning to source its light. This technology allows it to achieve a wider field of view (FoV more than 20°) and provides a higher contrast and long-range imaging (VID more than 15 meters), enabling the projection to cover three lanes as you drive.

This will deliver a deep integration of real scenes, clear picture with no ghosting, and resolve distortion and other problems that could typically occur with AR solutions. Integrated data sources such as ADAS, DMS, instrument clusters, and infotainment systems come together to provide stability and low-latency output AR real-life fusion images. With professional personalized UI design, Raythink can display basic driving information, AR navigation, ADAS warnings, POI and more for a more personalized human/machine interaction experience allowing you to customize applications and graphics according to your needs.

Better Optic Design

Design and craftsmanship

• The self-developed optical path design scheme can realize the reflected optical path design from single to up to 5 times, and can utilize a variety of light sources to achieve high-precision, large FOV display.
• With ultra-high-precision surface technology and optical large mirror group design, and independent research and development of optical system automation test equipment, Raythink can ensure the stability of HUD imaging.

Multifocal range imaging

• With a single PGU design they are able to expand the optical path, allowing their AR HUD to display graphics at variable focal lengths, and are able to manage the volume size and reduce cost of the AR HUD. 

Algorithmic correction

• With powerful algorithms and machine learning systems, Raythink is able to incorporate AR image correction, ghosting, distortion and other algorithms to achieve adaptive and automatic high precision adjustment for stable and clear projection.

Raythink noted that its new solution will be used in various AR-based applications, such as in-car micro projections and AR-HUDs. It is expected to be mass-produced in the second quarter of 2024. They also noted that it will be increasing its production capacity this year to accommodate the growing demand for AR-HUDs. It will also be developing new immersive models for use in smart cars.

In April last year, Raythink was able to pass various quality certification tests, such as IATF16949, ISO9001, and other certifications. The company noted that it has already received 10 orders for its AR-HUDs, which will be used in over 400,000 cars worldwide.

During the Shanghai Auto Show, Raythink also partnered with AI Speech, a Chinese AI startup. This partnership further strengthens the company's already existing collaborations with other tier-one suppliers. Some of these include Aptiv, a UK-based mobility service provider, and AliOS, a smart system manufacturer.

Raythink provides more details about its AR head-mounted display technology for automotive applications on its website.