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Tactical Situational Awareness (Head-Up Display, AR helmet, wearable devices)


1. are solving the same problem

1. Microsoft IVAS - poorly suited for military use:

  • glowing screen
  • short battery life
  • many cables on the body and head (there should be no cables at all, it is dangerous)
  • low FOV
  • poor image contrast
  • conflict of vergence and accommodation
  • lens fogging problem
  • passive cooling problem
  • problem of fatigue
  • few functions
  • problem of the price ($55,000 for one)

2. L3Harris ENVG-B

  • analog device
  • glowing screen
  • very low FOV
  • low magnification coef. (3x)
  • poor image contrast
  • problem of fatigue
  • very few functions
  • problem of the price ($25,490 for one)

3. SMASH

  • rifle mount only (not using Head-Up Display)
  • very low FOV
  • low magnification coef. (4x)
  • visible laser range finder
  • very few functions

3. ARC4

  • see more

4. Red6

  • L-STE (Live-Synthetic Terrain Environment) only

5. C5ISR CCDC (DEVCOM) - there's no evidence for several years, perhaps just words

6. DARPA - there's no evidence for several years, perhaps just words

7. Elbit Systems - there's no evidence for several years, perhaps just words

8. Airbus Defense - there's no evidence for several years, perhaps just words

9. Future Soldier Worldwide Programs (50+)

2. are using similar technologies

1. Dauntless XR

2. LetinAR

3. Vuzix

4. Nicholas C

5. Technifex XR

6. EolianVR

3. are more than 10% alike

1. Unknown

4. are non-competitors

1. Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro

2. Apple Vision Pro

3. PlayStation VR 2 (PSVR 2)

4. HP Reverb G2

5. Valve Index VR kit

6. Bigscreen Beyound

7. HTC Vive Pro 2

Traction

Microsoft IVAS
Dec. 14, 2023 | China's State Media Shows Military Using Microsoft's HoloLens 2 Headsets
 
Microsoft HoloLense 2 in China Army

The technology of the mixed-reality headset gives the user an "in-depth understanding of the equipment without needing to touch it," the report said of the training conducted by the PLA's Eastern Theater Command, headquartered in Nanjing.[1]

In the CCTV-7 video, the PLA Air Force trainee was seen calling up the headset's operating system by raising his palm to his face. He highlighted a panel on the nearby fighter jet engine and called up interactive tools, including a drill and a wrench.

The tools were digitally overlayed on the physical surface in front of him as he stood a short distance away, simulating aircraft maintenance protocol with hand gestures, the broadcast showed.

The technology, as described in Chinese state media, was adopted to accelerate combat effectiveness and reflects China's ongoing efforts to modernize its military under President Xi Jinping.

The use of emerging technologies in the armed forces suggests China's readiness to utilize any relevant advances when practica, even those developed by the U.S., its long-term strategic competitor.

At the Reagan National Defense Forum earlier this month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the U.S. was preparing more curbs on China to win the technology war.
 
Microsoft HoloLense 2 in China Army
The PLA has used mixed or virtual reality for training for several years, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post. China's military has also deployed an augmented-reality system that enables soldiers to control unmanned aircraft and vehicles, the newspaper reported on Thursday.

The PLA's use of Microsoft hardware sparked a flurry of comments on Chinese social media this week, with a related hashtag later trending with half a million views on Weibo, the country's X-like microblogging platform.

Microsoft also has contracts with the Pentagon for its mixed-reality. In 2021, the company agreed to supply the U.S. Army with more than 120,000 smart glasses in a deal that could reach $21.88 billion over 10 years, following an initial supply of prototypes in 2018 as part of a $480 million contract.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, senior U.S. lawmakers are calling for a further tightening exports to prevent the Chinese military from accessing U.S. technologies, particularly those with so-called dual uses in the commercial and defense sectors.

Reps. Mike Gallagher and Michael McCaul, Republican House committee leaders representing Wisconsin and Texas, respectively, informed Raimondo this month that further resources for her department would be conditioned upon institutional reforms that effectively limited the flow of U.S. tech to America's adversaries.

But in China, major tech players like Xiaomi, Lenovo and Oppo are already developing their own augmented reality devices, signaling a new era of civilian and military applications for cutting-edge technology.

Sep 13, 2023 | US Army orders more Microsoft AR headsets now that they no longer make soldiers want to barf

 
Microsoft IVAS

The US Army is awarding Microsoft[2][3][4] with another order of advanced mixed reality goggles designed for combat situations, Bloomberg reports. Microsoft had sent the Army a batch of 20 updated prototype headsets in late July, which were tested by two squads of soldiers in August who responded positively to improvements in its design: namely, they no longer felt nauseous and pained while wearing them.

Microsoft, in the past year, has worked with the US Army to create HoloLens-like mixed reality headsets known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), but initial reports in 2022 indicated it was causing headaches, nausea, and eyestrain in testing. The problematic headsets were part of an order of 5,000 headsets the Army started taking delivery in September 2022.

The newer headsets, now on version 1.2, had “demonstrated improvements in reliability, low light sensor performance, and form factor,” Army spokesperson David Patterson tells Bloomberg. The US Army awarded Microsoft with another contract on September 5th for the new systems and to see if the company could scale production.

The US Army had asked Congress to fund its purchase of 6,900 headsets from Microsoft, but it was denied earlier this year. Instead, Congress reduced the $400 million in funding the Army requested to just $40 million to improve the system. The Army awarded Microsoft that money plus an additional $125 million to continue development.

The US Army plans to spend as much as $21.9 billion on the project, and the headset will undergo testing in 2025 by the Army for use in combat. Microsoft’s HoloLens tech continues to live on in these special military goggles, as the development of the home and work use cases of the headsets seems to have dropped off following layoffs affecting the teams involved in January.

...

Elbit Systems

Nov. 29, 2023 | Elbit to provide electro-optics night vision goggles that combine infrared and light-amplification sensors

 
SBNVG Elbit Systems

SBNVG has binocular image intensifier with a modular uncooled thermal imaging, dual-power cable, external power supply, and helmet mounting system.

U.S. Marine Corps night vision experts needed an updated helmet-mounted night vision system that combines thermal imaging and light amplification. They found their solution from Elbit Systems of America-Night Vision LLC in Roanoke, Va.[5]

Officials of the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., announced a $500 million five-year contract Monday for the Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle (SBNVG), which enhances the infantry’s lethality and situational awareness at night and in poor visibility.

The optical sensors combines several technologies to enhance the infantry warfighter's capabilities in low-light and degraded-visibility conditions. Light amplification helps illuminate targets at night, thermal imaging enhances vision in smoke and other obscurants, and the binocular design enhance the warfighter's depth perception.

On this contract Elbit will do the work in Roanoke, Va., and should be finished by November 2028. For more information contact Elbit Systems of America online at www.elbitamerica.com/night-vision, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.

...

Strategy

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Competitive Advantages

Plan

Table: Specific | Measurable | Achieveable | Realistic | Time-related

Partners

New partners

Existing partners

Fixing weaknesses

Areas of research

Situational Awareness

Related fields

Additional:

  1. Augmented Reality Technologies
  2. Head Up Display

Future ideas

Further reading

See also

Public External Sections: Public Wiki Sections: Public Wiki Sections: Not-Public Wiki Sections:

Note: Unless otherwise stated, whenever the masculine gender is used, both men and women are included.


References

External links

  1. ↑ Newsweek, China's State Media Shows Military Using Microsoft's HoloLens 2 Headsets, (Dec. 14, 2023)
  2. ↑ The Verge, US Army orders more Microsoft AR headsets now that they no longer make soldiers want to barf, (Sep. 13, 2023)
  3. ↑ DefenseScoop, Army awards Microsoft $95M for additional IVAS 1.2 headsets, virtual trainers, (Sep. 21, 2023)
  4. ↑ Army.MIL, Army accepts prototypes of the most advanced version of IVAS, (Aug. 1, 2023)
  5. ↑ Militaryaerospace, Elbit to provide electro-optics night vision goggles that combine infrared and light-amplification sensors (Nov. 29, 2023)
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