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The Military Is About To Get New Augmented Reality Spy Glasses
schwit1 writes in with this story about some interesting new eyewear purchased by the Defense Department. Getting secret information to specific people, like the location of the nearest nuclear power plant, in a way that doesn't draw attention from outside is a classic spy problem. Another one is giving agents the ability to match names to faces in the real world, at blackjack tables and fancy soirees and other places spies frequent. The Defense Department is buying some new spy specs to give spooks in the field an intelligence edge over everybody else. The glasses, called simply the X6, are from San Francisco-based Osterhout Design Group. They look like the lovechild of Google Glass and the Oculus Rift, providing more information to the wearer than the small window on Google's much-maligned headset but not obstructing vision like the Oculus Rift. (Admittedly, for spy glasses, they lack a certain subtlety.)
Augmented reality glasses sound awesome, and these look much more interesting than Google Glass, but I'm not sure spies are the market here.
From the article: "Admittedly, for spy glasses, they lack a certain subtlety." A bit of an understatement, I'd say.
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
now that is funny, even a basic non-smart net10 phone with primative browser can pull up that info, it's quite public. Information about people and resources moving in and out of one might be better example of something that might be transmitted
if this were an education project or something i could have at my library id think this is awesome, but we spend more on defense than the next 4 largest spending countries combined. we're constantly sold on the idea that america is broke, so broke that an entire party of the government often times refuses to increase our debt limit. nearly every american highway is riddled with potholes, highschool kids have to pay a portion of their textbooks in many cases, and the entire city of detroit is about to cut off water service to a quarter of its population. The only thing that ever seems to happen in america is war. we dont have the cash to keep street lights on anymore, but we sure as shit have cash to burn for training some syrian rebels. it didnt work the first or second time, but we sent troops back to iraq for a third round of 'father knows best' diplomacy by the gun, and now we have augmented reality for the troops? How about this:
we give them augmented reality but it is designed to simulate a life after 2 tours with stop-loss, a GI bill that no longer pays for college, a medical system thats underfunded and crooked, the hallucinations and nightmares from PTSD, and the constant struggle of putting a shirt on with only one remaining arm. and in 5 years when the defense department finds a way to sell it to civillians like they did the hummer and the barret 50 caliber rifle, it can be recalibrated. here it will simulate a reality where the user has a well paying job, affordable housing, healthy food to eat, clean air and water, social healthcare system, and a highway as nice as the one we built in afghanistan.
Good people go to bed earlier.
This is a solution in search of a problem.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
Recall how well the wig was used
"The name is Blond... James Blond: Russia set to expel US 'spy' caught wearing a shaggy wig as he offered millions to agent to switch sides" (15 May 2013)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...
"Red-handed? Russia ‘catches CIA spy on Moscow recruitment mission’" (14 May 2013)
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
Giving your spies even more complex equipment might just make for even more photogenic press reports.
Keep the spying face to face with simple items any local tourist, student or academic might have.
The more complex the spy kit the more it will be used, then detected and shared with the worlds press.
Anybody of real importance will not let any foreigner near them.
Anybody else will let any foreigner or tourist near them.
The only win in this is the sale of the product, support and maintenance contracts to the US gov.
Launder ex mil staff as aid workers is always a good front. Use faith based groups to hide ex mil staff. Multinational telco workers contracting for a private sector upgrade are good cover too.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Yeah nice false dilemma there. Just because some good comes of it at times does not mean we should just accept the status quo of rising taxes, rising inflation, and diminishing returns. On the flip side we have:
1. bio warfare
2. nuclear weapons
3. autonomous robot weapons
4. electronic surveillance
5. speeding fines that have nothing to do with safety
6. e-waste
Now shut up and go reread the bill of rights.
Really? The whole point of the GP post was that nearly all of the technological underpinnings of our modern, leisure-infested lifestyle are the result of governmental (and much of it military) research. I hate war as much as the next liberal, but it seems that the efforts of short-sighted humans are focused by the desire to be able to kill as many people as possible as easily as possible. Without it, we'd still be monkeys. Now if we could just quit the actual killing of people we'd be making some progress.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Yeah nice false dilemma there. Just because some good comes of it at times does not mean we should just accept the status quo of rising taxes, rising inflation, and diminishing returns.
Only, we don't have rising taxes. Right now inflation is at or below what the Fed generally goes for. I don't even know what you mean with dimishing returns. And none of these is strongly related with military or intelligence R&D.
On the flip side we have:
1. bio warfare 2. nuclear weapons 3. autonomous robot weapons 4. electronic surveillance 5. speeding fines that have nothing to do with safety 6. e-waste
Now shut up and go reread the bill of rights.
Humans have misused almost every scientific and technological advance. They are short-sighted, greedy, and oppress their fellow humans. None of this is a surprise. However, things like the 'toy' that the OP complained about, and the list of negatives that you give, are not a reason to stop progess. The human race is better off, living healthier, more connected, safer lives, due to the creation of 'toys' paid for by taxes, even taking the negative effects into account.
The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
OR you could go to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website (www.nrc.gov) and get the street address of every the nuclear power plants in the US, then look at them on Google Earth. If that doesn't do it, go to nukeworker.com and get driving directions from the nearest airport and the recommended hotels. Nuclear power plants are BIG. We don't rely on anonymity. We rely on walls, fences, and a LOT of people with guns.