Microsoft has signed a contract with the US Army and will provide it with 120,000 HoloLens

Are American soldiers on the ground soon equipped with HoloLens? At least that’s what CNBC says. The site shows that Microsoft and the US Army have signed a major ten-year contract. Indicates that Microsoft will provide about 120,000 helmets to the army.

This deal is worth it 21.88 billion dollarsAccording to a US military spokesperson. Its action increased by 1.7% after the announcement, a huge sum that allowed Microsoft to gain the trust of investors.

The idea of ​​the military is to use Microsoft’s helmet, but also to use mixed reality technology on its own account. The Redmon firm signed a $479 million contract with the US Army in 2018. Working on a derivative prototype called IVAS (Integrated Visual Magnification System). Already tested by the soldiers, this helmet makes it possible to display a map, compass, thermal image or indicate the highlighted position of his comrades in front of his eyes, in the same way as the HUD in a war game. We are far from gadget as this valuable information updated in real time can bring a definite advantage in the field.

Microsoft already has a partnership with the Pentagon

Therefore, this agreement will make it possible to continue this partnership. As a reminder, Microsoft introduced the HoloLens in 2015, followed by a second version that was more successful in 2019. This helmet will also continue to evolve in its “civilian” versions, with Mesh integration making it possible to hold virtual meetings, for example via holograms. Note that the company is used to contracting with the American Government: it signed a $10 billion partnership with the Pentagon for the use of the Azure cloud.

So the war of the future will be technological and mixed reality could play a big part in that. Microsoft was also elected in 2018 after the first contract was signed, and some employees protested when they saw their technology being used for war purposes. Accusations pushed aside by Satya Nadellastated that these technologies would be used first and foremost to defend freedom. A very American response.

Source : CNBC