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Microsoft secures $480 million HoloLens contract from US Army

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
I've been defending Microsoft's AR/VR efforts for some time, and I wondered if and when they would finally step up. Seems that time is now.

The US Army has awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply the military branch with as many as 100,000 HoloLens augmented reality headsets for training and combat purposes

“This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the Department of Defense to this new area.”

According to Bloomberg, the military-grade headsets would vary extensively from the existing HoloLens design. They would include thermal sensing and night vision and be used in both training and on the battlefield. Microsoft would be expected to provide at least 2,500 units of the headset to the military branch within the next two years.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/28/18116939/microsoft-army-hololens-480-million-contract-magic-leap

In a hilarious spin on the story, Magic Leap was competing for the same contract. But MS and HoloLens won.


19 REPLIES 19

Anonymous
Not applicable
@Morgrum 

https://imgur.com/gallery/4nDCekB

I froze my ballz off at jber for uncle sam.  I love the USA.  😉  plus the moose meat was yummy

Anonymous
Not applicable
http://imgur.com/gallery/uT7PPOF

But when you sleep with the generals daughter, you get reassigned to area 52, bio chemical weapons.  I lost the ability to see blue for a few months while breathing dugway air!  But my tongue grew 3 inches longer, so then I started getting gene Simmons old girlfriends

hoppingbunny123
Rising Star
it will be very sad when they try to use the HoloLens and it gets confused. technicians will be brought in, a lot of technical talk, then after a lot of problem solving they will says its a toy. its a toy. man smh. I hope they get occlusion worked out and a bigger fov then it will be good.

"with things like augmented reality you see the occlusion fail where the virtual object isn't hidden by a real world object or other virtual object as the person moves their view of the virtual object."

https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/71221/build-in-a-output-for-the-games-x-y-z-for-pro...

hoppingbunny123
Rising Star
this reminds me of the fighting cheese cloth theory I made up.

the fighting cheese cloth theory goes like this. the cheese cloth is a litmus test that assesses your ability, its an imaginary cheese cloth about 4 feet by 4 feet, held about head high, and in-between you and your opponent, much like a bulls red flag in bull fights.

postulate;
if your facing a person who is going to try to beat you up, and you have no cheese cloth separating you from them, it will be easier for them to beat you up than if you had a cheese cloth separating them from hitting you.

litmus test 1 for defense;
as long as you have that cheese cloth separator between you and them you have a better chance of not getting hit by them. do you have the cheese cloth separator that's stopping them from freely poking you? Brazilian jiujitsu redirects the attention before the tackle, if you have the cheese cloth there they can't do this attention redirection. else they can tackle you.

litmus test 2 for offense;
therefore if you try to hit them you have to also get by the cheese cloth separator that impedes your ability to land blows.

that is the cheese cloth fighting theory. its a litmus test to weed out weird fighting styles that don't work. or are not thought out and when facing a person in a real fight they get beat up.

what good is the HoloLens for fighting I thought, then it occurred to me that it could indicate if the cheese cloth was present or not. because you have young men fighting you and they probably don't know if there's a cheese cloth there or not so are vulnerable when they shouldn't be. a HoloLens could have a animation that indicates the presence of the cheese cloth for when in a fight. you might be exiting a door with a sniper on the other side and think your ok but there no cheese cloth when there should be, and the sniper has nothing stopping a poke at the fighter, a HoloLens could see the possibility of the sniper and pop up a message that you might want a cheese cloth there just in case so your not clotheslined by the sniper. but I might be wrong. but that's what I would see being a good use of HoloLens for a war fighter.

Luciferous
Consultant
WTF lol

Zenbane
MVP
MVP


it will be very sad when they try to use the HoloLens and it gets confused. technicians will be brought in, a lot of technical talk, then after a lot of problem solving they will says its a toy. its a toy. man smh.


I'm sure they have similar problems with people using Gamepads to fly drones in the military tbh!

kevinw729
Honored Visionary
I think many are missing the point that this is a contract for 2,000+ units by 2020 - long after the Hololens2 will be launched - rather than the Army buying the current gen. Maybe they saw something they liked with the HL2 prototype?
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
HoloLens2 is still the HoloLens product, and that is what is being discussed. I don't think anyone "missed the point" as to which version the Army will end up with, as no one commented about the exact version. The original post has this exact quote:
"Microsoft would be expected to provide at least 2,500 units of the headset to the military branch within the next two years."

I don't think anyone in this thread thought that MS would keep the exact same Gen1 version over the next 2 years. Especially since this information has already been provided:
"They would include thermal sensing and night vision and be used in both training and on the battlefield."
Clearly those would be in an updated version of HoloLens, since the current version does not have either themal sensing nor night vision.

Besides, this isn't the first time Microsoft has collaborated with the military:
"Microsoft has also previously sold some headsets to the military. But
this contract would go well beyond its earlier collaboration, and could
greatly expand the reach of the headset."
"This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the Department of Defense to this new area.”

Microsoft is simply building on an existing relationship with the DoD. A HL2 prototype isn't what would gain military interest anyway, because HL2 is a Consumer product; and for those who are not familiar with military contracts, the military likes custom military-only products. So whatever MS builds for the Army, it surely won't be the same product that someone can get from Amazon.com

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
And to avoid any misinformation, multiple military groups have been using the current version of Hololens since early 2017. From a Jan 2017 article:
We have seen Microsoft’s HoloLens find application in the Australian, Ukranian and Israeli military forces, and now the most powerful military in the world is also finding a use for Microsoft’s most advanced technology.

Microsoft’s HoloLens is also being used off the battlefield, with
military researchers using it to virtually explore simulations and gain
new understanding of how blast injuries affect soldiers. The technology
was recently demonstrated to RDECOM Commander Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins
along with other advanced technologies which may make for more effective
fighters.

Here's a video of the original HoloLens being marketed to the Army back in 2016:


MowTin
Expert Trustee

MrMeeeSeeeks said:Walking out on Clearwater beach seeing beautiful college girls in bikini is just a gift from God you dont get in Washington;)


I'm married. Sounds like torture having to see young college girls in bikinis all the time 🙂 Seeing all the half dressed women in NY is torture enough. 
i7 9700k 3090 rtx   CV1, Rift-S, Index, G2