'Mixed Reality' Goggles Will Give U.S. Army Soldiers Super Vision

[F-22Raptor]

The U.S. Army is planning to buy 40,000 pairs of 'mixed reality' goggles, enough to outfit nearly one in ten soldiers. The IVAS goggles, derived from Microsoft’s Hololens program, will allow soldiers to identify friendly and enemy forces and aim their weapons without directly seeing the enemy. Soldiers will be better informed and able to trade fire on the battlefield while benefiting from better cover and protection.

The Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS goggles were developed from Microsoft’s Hololens 2 "mixed reality” system. Hololens is basically a consumer helmet mounted display similar to those worn by fighter pilots, projecting data into the field of view of the goggles wearer. Hololens was released in 2016 and runs on Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.

The U.S. Army has spent more than a decade trying to figure out how soldiers in the field can benefit from the so-called information revolution. Early efforts involved PDAs, smartphones, and even tablets, all of which failed for one reason or another. One major reason was that it was a distraction to fire up a smartphone during combat and then use the interface to figure out where friendly units were. And other tasks, like sighting a weapon, were a non-starter.


IVAS goggles, on the other hand, allow the user to maintain his or her situational awareness while interacting with the device. A soldier can continue to scan a hillside for enemy movement while using the Hololens goggles.

The final product coming in late 2021 will include: a color see-through digital display that makes it possible for the user to access information without taking his eye off the battlefield; thermal and low-light sensors that make it possible to see in the dark, literally; rapid target acquisition and aided target identification; augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to name just a few.


More abilities, such as facial recognition, may eventually be rolled into the system. One possible killer app for IVAS is future integration with the Next Generation Squad Weapon systems, which will replace the M4 carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Soldiers will be able to “see” through the sights of their IVAS goggles to aim and fire their weapons. A soldier would be able to hold her rifle out around the corner of a building, never physically laying eyes on the target but able to see the target through IVAS and open fire.

According to the Army Times, the U.S. Army plans to ultimately buy 40,000 sets of IVAS goggles, enough for those in the combat arms branches, combat engineers, and U.S. Army special operations forces.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a30898514/mixed-reality-goggles-army/

 

[jamahir]

This is indeed a good application.

 

[F-22Raptor]

U.S. Army officials are so confident in reality-augmenting goggles in development that they’ve requested over 40,000 pairs in their fiscal year 2021 budget.

Troops on the battlefield will soon be able to scan their sector while also having simultaneous access to thermal signatures, aided target identification, night-vision technology, artificial intelligence, and other features.

Officials have requested 40,219 Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) for troops and want to begin exhaustive field testing in 2021.

“Maj. Gen. Paul Chamberlain, director of Army budget, confirmed the [$906 million 2021] procurement numbers listed in the budget but did not immediately have specific fielding information,” Army Times reported Wednesday. “However, he expected that the Army would move quickly to field the devices.”

Officials are requesting $1 billion in 2022, which would be followed by $320 million in fiscal year 2023 and roughly $150 million by fiscal year 2025.

The new technology would first go to the nation’s most elite units.

“Developers have also included weapons sight view that would help soldiers acquire targets, see through smoke and dust and run in daytime and nighttime environments,” Army Times reported. “Other engineering work gives the device navigation and wayfinding abilities and can link to a Stryker or other vehicle to upload information to the larger formation when soldiers are transiting across the battlefield.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/14/armys-high-tech-goggles-to-give-troops-battlefield/

 

[jamahir]

@F-22Raptor, your posts remind me of the Indian Army program called F-INSAS :

F-INSAS is India's program to equip its infantry with state-of-the-art equipment, F-INSAS standing for Future Infantry Soldier As a System. However the Indian Army has decided to drop the F-INSAS program in favour of two separate projects. The new program will have two components: one to arm the future infantry soldier with the best available assault rifle, carbines and personal equipment, such as helmets and bulletproof vests. The second component is the Battlefield Management Systems (BMS).

The program is modeled on the US military Future Warrior system.

The helmet includes Level-IV bullet-proof helmet capable of stopping a 9mm round at close range, facial protection, ballistic and laser eye protection and flame-resistant eye & face protection.

The visor will contain a mounted flash light, thermal sensors, advanced night vision capability, a digital compass, shoulder video camera, a computer, nuclear, biological and chemical sensors, and an audio headset. The visor is intended to be integrated and to act as a heads-up display monitor equivalent to two 17-inch computer monitors.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]