Microsoft Is Selling A Lot Of Ar Headsets To The Us Military

Microsoft announced yesterday that it’s confirmed a new contract with the United States Army to provide 120,000 augmented reality (AR) headsets to its soldiers. Microsoft estimates that the contract will be worth a total of around $21.88 billion over the next 10 years.

The headsets will be based on Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality technology, and will be enhanced by the company’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) design, as well as their Azure cloud services.

Together with the U.S. Army, Microsoft has been developing the IVAS headset program for the last two years. The headsets boast a “Soldier Centered Design” which aims to enhance the safety and efficiency of soldiers in the field, through the power of AR. The headsets, which look like they’ll be attached to soldiers’ helmets, will reportedly deliver “enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios.”