HUD: technology keeps crime fighters looking up.

Beginning in 1994, government mandates require new law enforcement vehicles to be equipped with dual air-bags. Currently, most communications and crime-fighting equipment such as MDTs (Mobile Data Terminals), radar screens and video monitors are placed below or in front of the dash. With upcoming dual air-bag requirements, this equipment will have to be placed further down in the car, usually in a console located between the seats. This will greatly impair personnel inside the car from maintaining visual contact with activities outside the car while keeping an eye on incoming date inside the car.

GM Hughes Electronics, which pioneered head-up display technology for some of the world's most advanced military aircraft, has developed a solution to the dual air-bar problem. Called DataVision HUD (Head-up Display), this converted technology will allow law enforcement personnel to keep their eyes on the road while receiving crucial data coming through on the MDTs and other internal monitors. An aircraft head-up display presents information crucial to a pilot's survival, such as radar data, on a transparent viewscreen (called a combiner) so pilots don't have to look down to read their instruments. "Looking down for information can cause a momentary loss of visual contact with the outside world, which can be changing very rapidly," said Joe Smalanskas, marketing manager for the DataVision HUD. "The pilot's survival depends on maintaining that contact with his environment.

"In the same way, public safety officers need to be aware of the constantly changing situations outside their vehicles, while at the same time, making use of the new tools technology has made available to them,' he added.

"Enthusiasm for the product is universal among communications specialists and patrol officers in that it provides real-time communications with personnel in the field while allowing them to maintain situational awareness," Smalanskas said. "We adapted the technology to provide police officers with another tool to use in the increasingly complex and dangerous world of law enforcement." The DataVision system was first demonstrated in an actual police vehicle during the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference last October. Additional units have been undergoing field test with police departments in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Garden Grove, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Dallas, Texas. Production deliveries are scheduled to begin in August.

"The HUD can provide drivers with information from the vehicle's computer, MDT, radar surveillance camera, or other sensors, displayed on a combiner mounted on the windshield where they can read it without taking their eyes off the road or a suspect," Smalanskas said. "The Hud readily interfaces with most MDTs used by public safety agencies all over the world."

"We've joined forces with some of the leading companies in the public safety communications field to move defense technology from jet fighter to crime fighters," said Smalanskas.

With this solution to the dual air-bag mandate, law enforcement agencies can expect improved performance from personnel, as well as a reduction in opportunities for accidents.

For more information on DataVision HUD, call 1-800-DATA HUD.