"(T)he US Army awarded Microsoft Corporation a fixed price production agreement to manufacture the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS)," the release said. "This award transitions IVAS to production and rapid fielding to deliver next-generation night vision and situational awareness capabilities to the Close Combat Force (CCF)."
In the contract, Microsoft will deliver to the US Army more than 120,000 HoloLens augmented-reality headsets for $21.88 billion over a ten-year period, according to reports.
15 March 2021, 20:59 GMT
"The IVAS aggregates multiple technologies into an architecture that allows the Soldier to Fight, Rehearse, and Train using a single platform. The suite of capabilities leverages existing high-resolution night, thermal, and Soldier-borne sensors integrated into a unified Heads Up Display," the release said.
The headsets will provide improved situational awareness, target engagement, and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries, the release added.
A standard-issue HoloLens, costing $3,500, lets its wearer see holograms over their actual environments and can display a map and a compass with thermal imaging to reveal people in the dark and can aim a weapon, according to the release.
