Patent ID: 8140260

Claim:
A system for enhancing a vehicle operator's orientation and ability to navigate a vehicle, the system comprising: a display unit configured to display three-dimensional graphical images; a data storage unit configured to store terrain data relating to a plurality of geographical locations; a position determining unit configured to determine a position and a heading of the vehicle; and a processor communicatively connected to the display unit, to the data storage unit and to the position determining unit, the processor configured to obtain the position and the heading of the vehicle from the position determining unit, to obtain a subset of the terrain data from the data storage unit, the subset corresponding to the position of the vehicle, and to control the display unit to display a three-dimensional representation of a terrain that is representative of an actual terrain proximate the vehicle, the processor being further configured to control the display unit to overlay a three-dimensional compass onto the three-dimensional representation of the terrain in a manner that depicts the heading of the vehicle, the three-dimensional compass being displayed at a location that is representative of the position of the vehicle with respect to the actual terrain.