Microsoft and the US Army continue to explore how to turn mixed reality into helping soldiers, not a hindrance. A U.S. Army report that Bloomberg and Business Insider claim had access to indicates that Microsoft’s HoloLens-based headsets made soldiers feel physically sick and more vulnerable to harm during testing.
The insider reported that an excerpt from a US Army report on “recent”field testing, dictated to her by an unnamed employee, included a soldier testing the technology, saying, “The devices would have killed us.”
This is reportedly due to the light emitted by mixed reality headsets such as HoloLens.
“A criticism, according to an employee who dictated to Insider excerpts from this report, was that the glow of the device’s display was visible from a distance of hundreds of meters, which could give away the position of the owner,”Insider said on Tuesday.
Bloomberg said it had access to a 79-page report from the Pentagon’s testing department detailing field tests of headsets like the HoloLens that took place in May and June. In it, US soldiers reported nausea, headaches, and eye strain that could interfere with actual missions. Neither Bloomberg nor Insider have specified whether this experience represents the majority.
However, Bloomberg reported that among those who experienced “mission-affecting physical impairments”, 80 percent fell ill in less than three hours.
The insider also reported more discomfort, similar to what many consumers complain about when getting used to the head-up display (HMD): the weight of the hardware limits movement and a limited field of view. But while concerns about these issues may deter potential buyers of gaming and entertainment gadgets like the Quest Pro, for military personnel, they can be a matter of life and death.
Insider quoted an anonymous “Microsoft employee briefed on the event”as saying that HMD failed four out of six “work demos”.
According to Bloomberg, Nicholas Gertin, director of performance testing and evaluation for the US Army, said in a summary of the US Army report that the goggles need improvement regarding field of view, low light sensors and display clarity, and even stated that some key features were not working. securely.
But that was not all. The summary of the report indicated that the mean time between downtimes has been reduced, and the latest updates have resulted in “improved navigation and coordination of unit movements,”according to Gertin, according to Bloomberg.
The US Army has been familiar with Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality technology for years. It began testing prototypes in 2017, four years before the US Army announced a historic 10-year contract with Microsoft to supply 120,000 HoloLens-based headsets. At the time, the Army stated that the Integrated Vision Augmentation System (IVAS) would “provide next-generation night vision and situational awareness capabilities”for close combat, and would also be used for training. The Army expected improvements for soldiers in “situational awareness, hitting targets, and making informed decisions.”
Microsoft’s deal, valued at $21.9 billion, represents the largest public sector mixed reality deal ever, so there’s good reason for both sides to do it right. In a statement to Bloomberg, Microsoft said it quickly built and modified the IVAS gear to “provide increased safety and efficiency for soldiers”and that the company “continues to manufacture and supply a starter set”of headsets.
But just like off the battlefield, new technologies struggle to prove their worth. According to Bloomberg, an Army test summary said that adoption of the headsets “remains low”among soldiers who believe the headsets do not “contribute to their ability to carry out their mission.”Bloomberg noted that the May-June field test was the fifth Soldier Touch Point Test for IVAS feedback.
In a summary of the report available to Bloomberg, Gertin reportedly advised the US Army to “prioritize improvement”of the technology.
In a statement to Insider, Doug Bush, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, said the Department of Defense is adjusting the schedule for the IVAS program “to allow time to develop solutions to identified issues.”