Tag: military augmented reality

U.S. Navy researchers have developed a new high-tech underwater helmet with AR display.

While augmented reality (AR) displays are nothing new to the military, as they’ve used these displays for decades (particularly in the form of heads-up displays (HUDs) in the cockpits of aircrafts and more recently integrated into helmets), this technology is now evolving further with the development of an underwater augmented reality helmet. The unique diver’s helmet is being developed by engineers at the US Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division. It will feature a built-in HUD, which can guide divers to specific locations, help them find objects, and even provide them with vision when there is almost no visibility.

The AR helmet is being designed to increase the efficiency and safety of divers in the line of duty.

According to Tech Times, the futuristic Divers Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) helmet will help to make the work of professional divers easier and more streamlined compared to the current standard masks and neoprene gloves that are worn. The mask narrows the field of view and the gloves obstruct precision.

Just like the Marvel superhero Iron Man, divers will be able to view all the necessary data they need within the helmet, from checking their location to tapping into sonar data. They can keep looking straight ahead instead of having to check a smartwatch display.

Dennis Gallagher, the research team leader, said that what users of the new helmet can expect is “a capability similar to something from an Iron Man movie.”

Although still in the prototype phase, the underwater augmented reality helmet could see widespread use.

Due to the fact that underwater work typically involves poor light conditions and/or salty water, the DAVD displays can help to provide additional visual clues that could greatly assist divers, showing them the image in front of both eyes, creating visual depth. The AR display can also improve their connection to surface sources, such as a ship, which can send out information to the display.

While the device is only in its early prototype phase, future improvements made to it could lead to the inclusion of sonar sensors mounted on the helmet, which would make it even easier for information to be collected and displayed.

The Navy has said that in-water simulation testing for the underwater augmented reality helmet is slated for October.

New AR systems could potentially make a very big difference in complex emergency response.

A team of British engineers is currently developing a new form of augmented reality technology that could become highly usable for the improvement of military operation emergency responses.

The idea is to design the AR tech into highly mobile devices that can be used while in the field.

Among the various applications for the augmented reality emergency response technology includes a portable command center the size of a briefcase. That would be easy to transport and to use in a broad range of different types of emergency situation. Another type of AR tech under development includes a form of wearable device that pilots could use as a type of portable cockpit in order to enhance their awareness.

The British engineers who are working on this augmented reality technology are from BAE Systems.

They have joined University of Birmingham researchers in order to come up with a number of concepts that involve mixed reality that provide the user with the ability to view their actual surroundings combined with virtual images, objects, video feeds, avatars and other types of usable content.

BAE Systems futurist, Nick Colosimo, explained that both virtual and AR technology are becoming increasingly commonplace in consumer products. This has opened up a broad range of potential for that market, but has also revealed the type of benefits that it could provide to the military and armed forces.

These various types of mobile device use an AR headset that has been compared to the Oculus Rift. The use of that gadget will make it possible for commanders to direct various forms of military operation, regardless of whether they involve the use of drones or troops, by viewing a virtual representation of the real situation. The device can also be implemented as a powerful training solution.

The researchers who are working on this augmented reality technology have stated that the headsets may one day be replaced with alternatives as small as eyeglasses or even contact lenses, as the tech continues to develop. University of Birmingham professor and simulation and human factors specialist, Bob Stone, explained that “Since my first virtual reality experience at NASA nearly 30 years ago, the technology has evolved from the primitive head-mounted displays and computers to today’s world where we can interact with complex virtual objects, integrated in real-time with real-world scenarios.”