Donmai

imply heads-up_display -> user_interface

Posted under Tags

heads-up display is just called "HUD" nowadays. Does it make sense to say "the HUD is a type of user interface"? To me they're almost synonyms. I guess you could stretch it and say "the HUD is a videogame user interface", which would make it a separate subcategory from something like, say, a drawing interface or a windows desktop.

I think there are actually two semi-distinct uses for the tag right now.

There's the video game interface, a "virtual" HUD, so to speak, and as nnt says, it's nearly always abbreviated.

Then there are "physical" head-up displays, as used in fighter jets and some other vehicles. (Even some cars in real life have them on the windshield these days.)
I feel like this version is less often abbreviated? at least among people who are likely to make up most of our userbase.
We do have some posts illustrating these, for example under cockpit heads-up_display.

It's probable that the video-game usage stemmed from the real-life version at some point, with a sci-fi helmet interface modeled off a fighter jet or something. At this point, however, I'm not sure they mean the same thing. I could certainly imagine searching for one and not wanting the other. I don't know what would be good separate tag names for them, though.

(Tangentially, and pedantically, I think "head-up display" with singular "head" is the more common / correct spelling.)

Super_Affection said:

There's the video game interface, a "virtual" HUD, so to speak, and as nnt says, it's nearly always abbreviated.

Then there are "physical" head-up displays, as used in fighter jets and some other vehicles. (Even some cars in real life have them on the windshield these days.)

These should get their own tag to be honest. It doesn't make much sense to have both those and video game huds in the same tag without a way to search for one or the other.

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