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WayRay's augmented reality displays go beyond cars at CES 2019

The company is displaying the tech in a Genesis G80, but the auto industry is just the beginning.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
2 min read
WayRay

WayRay's augmented reality head-up displays can make you a better driver, whether on the track or in day-to-day navigation. At CES 2019, WayRay is showing off this wild windshield tech, but it's not stopping with cars.

After announcing last September that it counted Porsche and among its investors, WayRay came to Las Vegas to show off its technology in person with a third automaker -- , Hyundai's fancy-pants spin-off. The in WayRay's CES booth also shows just how easy it is for its HUD to work with current vehicles, not just cars in some distant future.

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Whiteboards? Pfft. Who needs 'em?

WayRay

The tech is pretty slick -- instead of relegating data to a small corner of the windshield-like current HUDs, WayRay's system expands that to the whole windshield, overlaying three-dimensional animation onto whatever the driver sees ahead. It could be used to teach budding drivers how to follow specific racing lines, or it could further enhance current in-car navigation systems.

But why stop at cars? WayRay's booth will open up its AR tech to other industries, too -- in addition to automotive applications involving drivers, WayRay will show off how its tech could be used in autonomous vehicles, flying taxis and boats. It didn't get into specifics, but it did say its AR could be used for "safety, navigation and infotainment content." Really, anywhere there's a piece of glass, WayRay could probably find something cool to put there.

And by the sounds of it, there could be plenty of cool stuff coming if this tech makes it to production vehicles. WayRay has a True AR Software Development Kit that will let third-party devs add their own creations to drivers' windshields. So, the sky's the limit in terms of what these windshield displays could, um, display.

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