Microsoft's augmented reality headset the HoloLens has been in the works for years now, but it's been a while since we've heard any news. We were seeing demos of it way back in 2015, but Microsoft has been pretty quiet on the tech in recent years when it comes to a consumer release.
What we've heard tons about is Microsoft's deal to supply the United States Army with HoloLens tech. We first got Microsoft officially signed a much pricier $22 billion dollar contract with the army for military grade HoloLens supply.
It's taken a fair while to get there but now we're finally seeing that contract start to deliver. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft has begun shipping the first lot of military HoloLens headsets.
There have been delays with the deal thanks to the system needing tweaks to be fully army-ready. Though there have been leadership for some time that likely didn't help move things along. Still, that's a big deal and the US Army clearly wants the tech.
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The HoloLens augmented reality tech provides a heads-up display giving the wearer additional information via a system called IVAS, which stands for Integrated Audio Visual System. It's been compared to what a pilot in a jet might see, built into a helmet for soldiers that also includes night vision.
The display could help in identifying structures, providing distances, highlighting moving objects, and so on. It sounds a lot like a videogame UI, which is a little concerning when you these are designed for use in actual combat.
doctors to the ISS rather than warfare.
