Everyone wants to know what Google Glass is good for. I’ve figured it out: It’s the killer app for your car.

I spent several minutes playing with a prototype pair of Google Glass, and while the phone and messaging notifications are cool and the interface is surprisingly slick, it’s the navigation and GPS functionality that has me champing at the bit.

For the moment, forget the knee-jerk potential for distraction. Legislators are already drafting laws against using wearables in the car. But think about it. What’s more dangerous behind the wheel? Constantly checking and poking a small smartphone screen stuck to your dash or tucked away in a cup-holder, or simply glancing up – through a transparent screen directly in your field of view – to see when to make your next turn.

Even built-in systems designed by automakers aren’t much better, with small touch points, horrid user interfaces and finicky voice controls.

Now I’m not talking about text messages and Tweets – this is the ultimate head-up display for your car. Glass could replace everything from speedometers to music controls. And do it better in the process.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in a clapped out Corolla or a $250,000 Bentley, you get the same experience. And since it’s not hard-wired into a vehicle that was developed four or five years ago, it has the potential to surpass the systems fitted to high-end machines from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz that were outdated the moment they landed on showroom floors.