Although Microsoft signed a multibillion-dollar contract with the US military a few years ago to provide an Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) based on its HoloLens technology, over time we have realized that the project is easily Hasn’t gone. Now, it faces another hurdle as the US Congress has blocked the military from buying more HoloLens hardware.
As noted by Bloomberg, Congress rejected a request to buy 6,900 additional headsets for $400 million in the bill due to some very poor results in the field. Essentially, on-field testing of the headsets resulted in “mission-impacting physical impairments” for 72 soldiers who wore them for three 72-hour periods in various combat scenarios. Side effects include eye strain, headache and nausea. For 80% of infantry soldiers who experienced the discomfort, symptoms appeared less than three hours after using the headset.
Although Congress rejected the $400 million funding request, it still approved a $40 million budget for a new IVAS model that addresses the aforementioned issues. The new variant is expected to be physically more comfortable and have a better software with less power draw.
Microsoft’s HoloLens ride with the US military has been bumpy before. Last year, a leaked Microsoft memo indicated that the company had heard very negative feedback from the US military, even when it came to functionality. Then Microsoft HoloLens head Alex Capman resigned amid allegations of workplace misconduct.
Source: Bloomberg
