Image source: topwar.ru
From 2023, the introduction of special mixed reality glasses will begin in the American army. Initially, these glasses were supposed to appear in the equipment kit of the US Army soldiers in 2021-2022, however, for a number of reasons, the process was postponed. The glasses themselves were tested in several detachments of special purpose units.
The total cost of the IVAS program, which was originally intended as a program for creating situational awareness systems for a fighter pilot, is $ 22 billion. One of the directions of this program was the creation of special glasses for soldiers of ground units. First of all – for special forces.
IVAS, an integrated visualization system, allows you to connect real objects with technical data displayed on glasses, as well as with virtual objects. In this case, virtual objects are understood not only as objects that are displayed on glasses for training personnel, but also, for example, enemy army soldiers who are in shelters and identified with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles.
At its core, these are not so much glasses as the visor of a helmet with sensors and cameras connected to it.
One example of their display in the IVAS system is described as follows: a fighter of a special unit during an operation in urban conditions sees a machine gunner who is directly in the middle of a wide street, at the same time silhouettes of a group of armed persons hiding in the bushes are displayed on his glasses. The latter are detected using thermal imaging sensors.
It is known that the new glasses also combine a night vision device.
The virtual reality unit was created based on Microsoft HoloLens.
Image source: topwar.ru
The device as a whole combines NVR, augmented reality tools for training and missions, wireless communication with the weapons platform and target detection - all in one package.
The Pentagon reports that in 2023, 10,000 mixed reality glasses will be delivered to the army, including IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1, which also differ in software capabilities.
