The US Army is testing a military version of Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality goggles equipped with a night vision system. The gadget is planned to be used to train soldiers and increase their effectiveness in combat. The development was named IVAS (The Integrated Visual Augmentation System) and is part of the 480 million contract between the Pentagon and the tech giant, which Microsoft signed in early 2019.
The fact that Microsoft was going to conclude a contract with the Pentagon became known in November 2018. According to information and analytical publications, the US military is going to purchase about 100,000 headsets. Their introduction into service is planned in 2028.
In February of this year, the tech giant unveiled the HoloLens 2 headset, and employees of the company openly opposed the contract with the military. Nevertheless, after a few days of hype, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella responded to an open letter from company employees, stating that Microsoft will continue to fulfill the contract.
As reported by ArmyTimes, the military received the first headset sets in March 2019. The headset uses a technology called mixed reality. With the glasses on, the soldier can still see the real world, but a "user interface" is superimposed on the image with additional useful information.
When turned on, the headset shows a map of the area with the location of the user and all other members of the squad with IVAS.
The first tests of the device in the army showed that the map can distract soldiers, so a strip with a compass was placed at the top.
Promotional video:
The display also shows dynamic notes, for example, which side is an ally or enemy. To aim the soldiers, it is enough to point the weapon at the enemy. In addition, a target designator is integrated into IVAS, which is also shown through the display.
An example of how night vision works in IVAS.
Journalists who were allowed to try the headset for the first time noted that using it was similar to a Call of Duty-style computer game. For the average person, this may indeed look like entertainment, but for soldiers in combat, the information provided by a headset can be vital, the military notes.
It is reported that testing of the headset is planned to be carried out not only in combat conditions, but also for training soldiers, using various scenarios. According to the military, in this case, the use of the device will allow analyzing the actions of each soldier and improving his performance. For example, after training to clear a building at a training center, soldiers will see a report on their effectiveness collected by the IVAS system.
The system collects thorns statistics and issues a report on the effectiveness of each soldier.
The current version of the system has a flaw. The headset cannot be used with helmets. However, the military plans to seriously modernize the gadget and reduce its size to ordinary sunglasses.
Nikolay Khizhnyak