Microsoft to manufacture ‘special HoloLens’ for US army

Microsoft was chosen by the United States Army to provide technologies that enable Augmented and Virtual Reality work.

According to CNBC, the negotiation involves making available to the military more than 120 thousand devices “based” on the HoloLens headset, currently in the second generation. The contract is valid for ten years and involves the payment of US $ 21.8 billion to the company.

She is currently also the cloud computing technology provider to the Pentagon on a contract worth more than $ 10 billion.

Futuristic accessory

This is not the first time that Microsoft has participated in the supply of military technologies. In 2018, it already provided prototypes for a headset called Integrated Augmented Visual System (IVAS).

The glasses are part of the surveillance and combat equipment, displaying data such as thermal map, night vision camera and navigation using gestures and voice commands. At the time, groups of employees criticized the company’s decision to sell technology to military means.

The IVAS in detail, with sensors above the display.Source: Microsoft

It also allows the sharing of tactical information and even targets by a command center. The devices will all be manufactured in the USA and have no delivery date yet, also without details on exactly where they will be employed.