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AR/VR and Military Use (no politics please)

Interesting article about providing HoloLens to the military.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47339774

50 Microsoft employees let the company know that's not what they signed up for. It's probably going to become a big issue as AR & VR becomes commonplace in various aspects of life.

My view is, where military cutting edge technology is concerned, that train left the station a long time ago. But I can completely understand the employees viewpoints, if the possibility of military use wasn't in their job descriptions, they seem to me to have a legitimate grievance.

I assume Oculus have mechanisms in place to allow it's employees have a say. Or are at least more explicit in the contracts they write up.

18 REPLIES 18

Richooal
Consultant
In an ideal world, all the sensible, well rounded people would get together and decide what's good and what's bad for everybody. But then you would get minority groups jumping up and down complaining. I don't think we'll ever win because we have so many individuals living together.

I don't think it should be employees deciding the direction a company takes, and in the Microsoft example, we're talking about 0.04% of the employee's objecting.
If the company direction is hard to live with it's probably better to leave and have no part in it.

Also it could be argued that the use of HoloLens technology in the military would save the lives of those using it. Being able to see something added digitally gives options to avoid as well as encounter.
i5 6600k - GTX1060 - 8GB RAM - Rift CV1 + 3 Sensors - 1 minor problem
Dear Oculus, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, please.

Totally agree. But an employees contract should include a clause stating something like 'Microsoft reserves the right to use the technology you're developing in any way it sees fit'. Also, not sure what percentage that 50 is of the total HoloLens development team. Maybe a small percentage but more than .04% I'm guessing (unless the letter signatories were form all areas of Microsoft's business).

The problem probably stems from the big divide between what most people associate VR/AR use with when they become developers, I.e. entertainment, and a $480m contract for military use (Edit: and the line between what Microsoft has previously done with military contracts and what is now seen as weapons development).

Edit:

Incidentally I have no issue with military use of technology and I made the same arguments about engineering saving lives rather than costing lives when I was asked the same question during my very first job interview for aircraft technician with the RAF.

I think though that HoloLens devs wouldn't have had a similar question asked at their interviews, and looking at the figures, 100,000 headsets for the military is a large enough percentage of overall sales to warrant that question being asked.

Just my view.

saami81
Rising Star
VR isnt good for military use. THere was a big article in finnish PELIT-magazine about it. Itt was said that VR glasses are way too big and it is impossible to use weapons naturally with them. Even for simulator uses old way with cockpit and screens is better.

That was an finnish military professionals opinion. I trust that they know what they talk about.

One day, headsets will be small enough for that not to be an issue I think @saami81 but yeah, right now probably worth investigating the possibilities rather than for use in combat situations.

LZoltowski
Champion
I think AR will definitely be used in a HUD kind of way more and more. Basically what games have had for ages. 

Combined with biometric sensors, infrared lasers and all sort of another tech, such as smart guns etc,  a soldier could in theory have

X-Ray vision
Health bar! (i kid you not)
Remaining ammo in clip
Location of the enemy based on satellite imagery fed directly onto the HUD in 3D
Using a miniaturised head mounted LIDAR, a 3d map of their surroundings (perfect for scouts, to relay that back to HQ)
On-screen information about the position of squad mates within the terrain

AR has HUGE applications in this space. It's not a matter of IF, but when.


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Be kind to one another 🙂

Morgrum
Expert Trustee

VR would only be used for training purposes in the military.

I have shown one of our pilots my VR rig for DCS and he liked it a hell of a lot more then their ancient simulator.

We already have AR helmets being used for our fighter pilots translating information directly from their HUD and PAD in front of their eyes.

It helps reaction time because pilots are not constantly glancing in three different locations while trying to maintain contact.

Lets not bring up that abysmal failure of a HMD that the F35 was supposed to use.

There is a reason that they had to redesign the 75% of the F35 cockpit to put a HUD back into it.

To much information is just to much information and can be disorienting.

WAAAGH!

Anonymous
Not applicable
Yup, I have no problems with VR and AR being used by the military. Anything that has the potential to save lives of our servicemen and women is a good thing imo. Sounds like the Microsoft staff that complained about it were a bunch of lily white snowflakes to me.

We're also starting to see VR being used to treat PTSD these days, our servicemen and women don't get and have never had anywhere near as much support that they deserve after serving their country.

LZoltowski
Champion
@snowdog lets not use the snowflake term please, it can lead to derailment. Thanks. Id like to keep this thread open on a pure tech front. Thanks.
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂

Anonymous
Not applicable
Generally I've found technology being pushed the furthest and the fastest by 2 industries, porn and military... I respect people disagreeing with it, but until we have "world peace" I double it'll ever change.