In 2018, Microsoft took on a project in which its augmented reality (AR) engineers worked in the field with US Army soldiers to develop and test AR headsets designed to provide next-level situational awareness and exceptional team command and training capabilities. The US$480 million prototyping phase has ended with Microsoft winning a ten-year production contract to build its advanced augmented reality system – the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). The deal will bring the company’s net worth up to US$21.88 billion over ten years.
A US Army press release reported:
The IVAS aggregates multiple technologies into an architecture that allows the Soldier to Fight, Rehearse, and Train using a single platform. The suite of capabilities leverages existing high-resolution night, thermal, and Soldier-borne sensors integrated into a unified Heads Up Display to provide the improved situational awareness, target engagement and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries. The system also leverages augmented reality and machine learning to enable a life-like mixed reality training environment so the CCF can rehearse before engaging any adversaries.
The headset is a lightweight but chunky device with Microsoft HoloLens technology built in. It attaches to a soldier’s helmet, with large goggles positioning AR lenses over the users’ eyes. Above the googles is a range of sensors and cameras. A cord connects all this to a chest-mounted control unit. It’s simple enough to operate that the user can do it without looking after a bit of practice.
Some of the features include:
- The ability to bring up a 3D map overlay of the terrain ahead, marking location data, key objective points, mission parameters, and navigation prompts.
- The ability to see the movements and locations of their teammates for coordinated action.
- The ability to highlight enemy targets for all team members to see.
- Built-in thermal vision.
- Built-in night vision.
- The ability to see through smoke.
- Linkage to external cameras – like one on the end of a rifle to allow the user to see around corners just by pointing the gun’s barrel around. They can even shoot from behind cover like this. Also, cameras can be mounted to the exterior of armored vehicles to enable 360-degree vision.
- Training exercises with AR hologram enemies to fight and advanced post-mission replay to go over how a user, and the team, can improve their performance.
- Connection to Microsoft’s Azure cloud service o commanding officers can see what’s going on and direct their teams’ actions and locations. With real-time multi-angle views and 3D map overlays, this feature allows for extraordinary tactical advantages.
One of the soldiers involved in the prototyping phase said that the system becomes “second nature after extensive training.” (See video below)
This deal with the military will also give Microsoft a formidable advantage in the AR sector moving forward. Having the ability to produce gear at military-grade standards and huge volumes with a giant beta testing team means this technology will undoubtedly have relevance to future consumer offerings.
In addition to this futuristic headset, modern soldiers also have various projectile drones in their arsenal.
