Technology start-up, Navdy, has released a smartphone-powered, portable, head-up display system that responds to hand gestures.

MOST CARS ON AUSTRALIAN roads don’t have a navigation system and some of those that do are so bad that they’re practically useless. While some high-end machinery, like BMW, offer head-up displays they certainly can’t respond to a hand gesture…

Well, earlier this week, a San Francisco-based company released the Navdy, a portable device (about the same size as an iPad Mini) that sits atop your car’s dashboard on a non-slip mat. It has an infra-red camera aimed at the driver, and a flip-up screen to provide a head-up display.

Navdy pairs to either your iPhone or Android smartphone via Bluetooth; Navdy is then connected to your car either via an audio cable or Bluetooth – Navdy is powered via your car’s OBDII port meaning it can also access vehicle data. How’s it work? An app running in the background tells Navdy what to display – it’s capable of showing navigation with turn-by-turn instructions, caller ID, music information and text messages (it can even show Facebook), but not all at once; it is able to show two things at once, though, so navigation and caller ID.

Because it features an infrared camera you can hang up a call simply by swiping your hand in front of you. Clever. You can even access Siri with a hand gesture. According to Navdy, the head-up display is 40-times brighter than an iPhone so that it can be read even in direct sunlight. The 5.1-inch wide screen projects an image, like all head-up displays, that appears to be floating above the car’s bonnet.

Pre-orders for Navdy began on August 5 with a price of US$299 (RRP will be US$499 when the device goes on-sale in early 2015).