A new report (via Mixed) revealed that the US military is set to officially use Microsoft’s military Integrated Audio Visual System (IVAS) HoloLens in 2023, which is a bit of a surprise, given that reports months ago showed the device during testing. How troubled was he?
Microsoft’s contract with the United States government is incredibly large as it could reach $21.9 billion over ten years depending on the success of the project. welcomed the partnership with doubt Seen by many, especially after signing the contract with slow progress. Then, in September, it was Reported Microsoft began shipping the first batch of IVAS combat headsets after US Assistant Secretary of State for Acquisition Douglas Bush issued a directive to accept delivery. Bush said he “did a good test” and was “confident that the program will be successful.”
However, in an October report Bloomberg, it turns out that the Pentagon Office test was a nightmare for some soldiers. According to the Test Summary Report, 80% of soldiers experienced “mission-affected physical impairment” (including headaches, eye strain, and nausea) after wearing the unit for three hours. In another report accessed by business Insider, It was said that the device also affected the soldier’s performance in the field due to its design, as the bright light could alert enemies. One soldier even said that “the equipment would have killed us.” Microsoft reportedly resolved the issue, although it failed to pass the full six evaluation processes at the time. Then, this month came a surprising report saying the Army will now be using IVAS headsets in the field next year. Specifically, the equipment will be delivered to operational and training units of the military, but it is not clear where and for what the soldiers will use it.
In October, Microsoft noted having “no roadmap to speak of” for Hololens as it tries to focus on its military contract. This could be a result of that, but it is still a mystery as to how the tech giant was able to do it in just two months, with no details to specifically indicate which specific areas of the IVAS were improved. Furthermore, there is still no known statement from the US military to clarify whether the device has already ticked all the right places, but given that it will allow soldiers to use it in the actual field, Perhaps that explains why it’s already at that level of success. According to Mixed, This will lead to the delivery of two versions of the headset (IVAS 1.0 and IVAS 1.1). Both will compose 5,000 units, although the differences between the two versions are still unclear.
If both this plan and the reports about IVAS are entirely true, it could mean that Microsoft has solved one of the biggest hurdles in its HoloLens device, which recently received negative reviews. There is a hazy future due to the news and “no roadmap to speak of”. comment (although Scott Evans, vice president of Mixed Reality at Microsoft, recently clarified saying that they are “looking for the right design point to make this a worthwhile update”). And if all goes well for the military, Microsoft may soon loosen its belt and focus on its next plans for the next HoloLens device.