Major Trends in In-Vehicle Head-Up Display Research: A Bibliometric Study

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jes.202602116

Author(s)

Jianan Lyu

Affiliation(s)

School of Art and Design, Huizhou University, Huizhou, China

Abstract

This research is based on 816 documents from the Scopus database from 2015 to 2025 and uses bibliometric methods to analyze the study trends, cooperation networks, and intellectual evolution in the field of in-vehicle HUD. The research shows that the global annual publication volume has experienced three stages of fluctuating growth, reaching a peak of 98 articles in 2019 and rebounding to 97 articles in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 31%. In terms of the characteristics of the research subjects, China leads in research output (169 articles, accounting for 20.7%) and influence (total citations 887 times), while the United States and Germany rank second and third respectively. The core authors are Gabbard JL (h-index = 13), Burnett G (h-index = 10), and Wang J (22 articles), who form the core cooperation network. The China-UK-Germany transnational cooperation cluster contributes 46% of the highly cited literature. In terms of the trend of intellectual evolution, augmented reality (AR-HUD) is the core research direction (keyword frequency 291 times), and the research interest increased by 300% from 2018 to 2022. In terms of technological transformation, it has shifted from optical design (2016-2018) to integration with autonomous driving (2021-2025), and panoramic HUD (P-HUD) was confirmed by CES 2025 as the next-generation key technology. In terms of the structure of the cooperation network, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden have formed a high-density cooperation sub-group in the group in Europe, and Singapore, as a bridge node, has promoted cross-regional technology integration (such as AR algorithms and waveguide design). This review is the first to reveal the interdisciplinary collaborative mechanism of HUD research through bibliometrics, providing empirical evidence for optimizing the R&D path and international cooperation strategies.

Keywords

Academics; Bibliometric Analysis; HUD; Augmented Reality

References

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