"Becoming a pilot like I have feels enough like a dream to me. But, recently... I've been thinking—that if the body is nothing more than a container for the mind, then it doesn't actually mean anything to me. I only use my mind when I fly. My body didn't come with wings, but my mind does... and it gave me the sky."

A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view information with the head positioned "up" and looking forward, instead of angled down looking at lower instruments. A HUD also has the advantage that the pilot's eyes do not need to refocus to view the outside after looking at the optically nearer instruments.

Although they were initially developed for military aviation, HUDs are now used in commercial aircraft, automobiles, and other (mostly professional) applications. In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface. The HUD is frequently used to simultaneously display several pieces of information including the player's health, items, and an indication of progression (such as score, level or kills). Prolonged display of HUD elements may cause permanent damage in the form of burning into the inner coating of the television set, which is impossible to repair. Players who play their games for long hours without turning off the television risk deep harm.