Microsoft is supplying 120,000 HoloLens-based headsets to the US Army

Microsoft has won a contract to supply the US Army with a HoloLens-based headset. The contract can be up to $ 21.88 billion over 10 years, and Cnbc Reports This would include the supply of 120,000 headsets by Microsoft. The software maker has been working closely with the military since 2018, and soldiers have been testing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) headset for the past two years. These devices combine high-resolution nighttime, thermal and soldier-borne sensors into a head-up display.

“The system also leverages augmented reality and machine learning to enable a life-long mixed training training environment so that the Close Combat Force (CCF) can rehearse before engaging any adversary,” A US Army statement reads. in February, Army revealed For example, operators of armored vehicles can be given new and more rugged versions through the walls of a braided fighting vehicle. An earlier version was Criticized For poor sensor and GPS performance, but you can see that the design has changed a lot now.

Picture: US Army

Microsoft initially won a $ 479 million contract in 2018 to supply the US Army with a version of its HoloLens augmented reality headset. This was a move met with fierce resistance from some Microsoft employees, forcing CEO Satya Nadella to respond. The call did not stop the United States Department of Defense and Microsoft from working together on this new headset.

“Microsoft has worked closely with the US military over the past two years, and together we pioneered Soldier-centric design to enable rapid prototyping for a product to allow soldiers to achieve their mission The necessary equipment and capability can be provided. ” Alex kipman says, Microsoft’s HoloLens Inventor.

Since the second version of Microsoft’s mixed reality headset in 2019, HoloLens has not seen any significant hardware changes. Along with improving the gestures, Microsoft is slowly improving the software side of its HoloLens headset. Recently, it has expanded to include Microsoft Mesh, which the company’s vision allows people to reveal themselves in a virtual space to support what Microsoft calls “holoportation”.

Although the initial wave of augmented reality and similar headsets such as Holoens, Google Glass, and Snapchat Spectrum pull their business models from end users to commercial, industrial and military applications, things heat up again in space. Facebook reportedly has about a fifth of its employees working on VR and AR, with Apple accusing its former hardware boss of exclusively overseeing AR and VR, and Samsung, Snap, Qualcomm other Recently showing more prototypes.