Last fall, it was announced that Microsoft signed a contract with the US Army for a total of $479 million. Under this agreement, the manufacturer must supply HoloLens mixed reality headsets. This decision was criticized by Microsoft employees, who believe that the company should not take part in military development.
Now, CNBC spoke about how the military perceived an early version of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, which is based on the HoloLens 2 headset. Visually, the device strongly resembles the commercial version of the device, supplemented by a FLIR thermal imager.
CNBC journalists pay special attention to what exactly the presented prototype is capable of demonstrating. The on-screen display shows the exact course of movement of the fighter, a compass is placed above the field of view. In addition, the display shows a virtual map, which shows the position of all members of the squad. The integration of the headset with the FLIR camera made it possible to implement a thermal and night vision mode.
From the CNBC report, it becomes clear that army officials and ordinary soldiers are considering the IVAS system as a full-fledged military tool that can provide undeniable advantages in combat operations. It is also known that at the first stage, the military planned to purchase several thousand HoloLens headsets. According to Reuters, the US Army has purchased about 100 Microsoft-made headsets. The military plans to equip thousands of soldiers with the IVAS system by 000, with a larger rollout of the device by 2022.
Source: 3dnews.ru