Over the past two years, Microsoft has worked with the US Army on the prototyping phase of what is called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS. The company said the US Army had moved into the production phase of the project.
In a blog post, Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman said the headsets are designed to deliver enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios .
The headsets will be manufactured in the US, according to the Microsoft spokesman.
This is not the first time Microsoft has worked with military to develop AR capabilities.
In 2019, the British Army began trialling HoloLens 2 headsets with 1,500 military personnel to help frontline medics carry out operations in war zones. The devices are programmed to send instructions to those providing emergency medical treatment on the ground from specialists anywhere in the world.
Microsoft, US Army join hands for 120,000 AR headsets deal
By IANS |
Published on
Thu, Apr 1 2021 14:42 IST |
4 Views
Microsoft. (File Photo: IANS). Image Source: IANS News
San Francisco, April 1 : Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it has received a contract to outfit the US Army to produce 120,000 augmented reality (AR) headsets based on the company s HoloLens tech.
The US Army, this week, said that it will work with Microsoft on the production phase of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) programme as it moves from rapid prototyping to production and rapid fielding. We appreciate the partnership with the US Army, and are thankful for their continued trust in transitioning IVAS from rapid prototyping to rapid fielding, Alex Kipman - Microsoft Technical Fellow said in a blogpost on Wednesday.
Published April 01. 2021 12:05AM
Aaron Gregg, The Washington Post Get the weekly rundown Email Submit
The U.S. Army has awarded Microsoft a contract worth up to $21 billion for augmented reality headsets that are supposed to help soldiers map the battlefield, select targets and stay aware of possible threats by overlaying intelligence information directly onto their field of vision.
The Integrated Visual Augmentation System, known as IVAS, is part of a broader set of investments meant to make military intelligence data more useful to deployed soldiers, who must quickly make decisions in far-flung battlefields based on the limited information available to them. Many of these so-called tactical edge devices build on recent advancements in cloud computing that were developed in the commercial business world.
Microsoft wins $22 billion US Army contract for augmented reality gear
Apple, Google, and Facebook are among the tech titans investing in mixed reality.
April 1, 2021 04:57 BST
Microsoft has won a Pentagon contract for augmented reality headgear for soldiers worth $21.88 billion over the next decade, the company and the US military announced Wednesday.
The headsets, based on commercially available HoloLens, will make soldiers safer and more effective, according to Microsoft technical fellow Alex Kipman.
The Department of Defense (DoD) said the production agreement is for five years with a renewal option that could make the contract worth in excess of $21.88 billion over 10 years, a Pentagon official said in a statement.