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Magic Leap is Pushing To Land a Contract With US Army To Build AR Devices For Soldiers To Use On Combat Missions, Documents Reveal (bloomberg.com)
Magic Leap, a US-based startup valued at north of $6 billion and which counts Google, Alibaba, Warner Bros, AT&T, and several top Silicon Valley venture capital firms as its investors, is pushing to land a contract with the U.S. Army to build augmented-reality devices for soldiers to use on combat missions, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing government documents and interviews with people familiar with the process. From the report: The contract, which could eventually lead to the military purchasing over 100,000 headsets as part of a program whose total cost could exceed $500 million, is intended to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy," according to an Army description of the program. A large government contract could alter the course of the highest-profile startup working on augmented reality, at a time when prospects to produce a consumer device remain uncertain.
Building tools to make soldiers more deadly is a far cry from the nascent consumer market for augmented reality. But the army's program has also drawn interest from Microsoft, whose HoloLens is Magic Leap's main rival. The commercial-grade versions of both devices still face significant technological hurdles, and its not clear the companies can fulfil the army's technical requirements. If recent history is any guide, a large military contract is also sure to be controversial within the companies. Last month, Magic Leap unveiled its much-hyped AR device to the press and select developers.
Building tools to make soldiers more deadly is a far cry from the nascent consumer market for augmented reality. But the army's program has also drawn interest from Microsoft, whose HoloLens is Magic Leap's main rival. The commercial-grade versions of both devices still face significant technological hurdles, and its not clear the companies can fulfil the army's technical requirements. If recent history is any guide, a large military contract is also sure to be controversial within the companies. Last month, Magic Leap unveiled its much-hyped AR device to the press and select developers.
You are giving the army waaay too much credit here. They have some general guidelines but nothing even close to what you're saying. A lot of soldiers carry different guns for instance if their preference is something else and qualifies. That will weigh a different amount. Some soldiers already carry some pretty heavy gear. I'll agree that Magic Leap is dreaming and I worry the military is spending money on vaporware. As someone with family in the army I'd rather see properly HUDs that can highlight enemy activity and improve aim.
That said, AR would have a lot of uses, everything from not hitting explosive unintentionally to warning you about the presence of children, hidden targets and supplies that can only be seen through AR. No more sending up smoke and giving away your position. It would be great if it could get off the ground.
If the only use of this was the ability to identify friend-foe on the battlefield, it would be worth it.