Hyundai Mobis said Wednesday it invested $25 million in Envisics, a UK-based augmented reality head-up display provider.

The auto parts company has been making investments in autonomous driving and electrification over the last three years in response to the growing need for self-driving cars. The augmented reality head-up display, or AR HUD, is a next generation safety convenience feature that matches driving information with the road ahead in real-time and projects it onto the windshield.

“Hyundai Mobis will jointly develop autonomous driving specialized AR HUD with Envisics, targeting mass production by 2025,” said Executive Vice President Cho Sung-hwan.

“We will proactively present the next generation AR HUD solutions to global automakers for increased safety and convenience to avoid distracting drivers,” he said.

AR HUD is currently in the initial market creation stage, but is considered a major field for car infotainment that will expand competitively in the next 10 years. According to multiple global market research companies, the HUD market is expected to grow by at least 12 percent on average every year by 2025, and AR HUD in particular is expected to grow rapidly from the market size of 1 million in 2025 to 12 million in 2030. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)