The US Congress recently approved spending $40 million on new Microsoft Hololens augmented reality headsets for the US Army after complaints from users.
So-called Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) are designed to pull data from various sensors and databases to provide soldiers with real-time updates, as well as combine an augmented reality display with night vision tools.
A leaked report that I saw at the beginning bloomberg (Opens in a new tab) Note that the headset, which is built on Microsoft’s HoloLens technology, causes “mission-affecting physical impairments” and, for this reason, has had low adoption. Many users also complained about the light emitted from the goggles, which would hurt the soldiers’ secrecy.
US Army IVAS 1.2.1 Update
Congress reportedly rejected the Army’s request for approximately 7,000 headsets, worth up to $400 million, and instead provided a budget of about 10% of that amount, which would be used to develop a newer version called 1.2.
Army statement (Opens in a new tab) He notes that, in addition to the IVAS 1.1 improvements (which brought better low-light performance), and some software tweaks:
“IVAS 1.2 will include a new form factor to handle the integration of human systems, including physiological effects identified during testing, and a lower-profile display with distributed counterweights for improved user interface and convenience.”
To date, the test has involved nearly 100,000 man hours for more than 1,000 participating soldiers.
Despite the apparent error, bloomberg I mentioned that the Army has already spent $125 million (in addition to the newly approved $40 million) on version 1.2. The Army said it will continue to work with Microsoft as its IVAS partner, and that orders for the newer model will be placed “after qualification and operational testing.”
Microsoft recently revealed a set of new features for the HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset, one of which is the addition of the popular Teams video conferencing service.
The update will provide full support for Microsoft Teams tools and functions for HoloLens 2, including screen sharing, calendar formatting, and of course, live video calls and meetings.