The devices will be based on Microsoft’s HoloLens headset
that made its debut in 2016, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. More
than 120,000 units of the custom gear will be delivered over a 10-year period
and supported by Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing service. The headsets will
run on Microsoft software and help keep America’s soldiers safer as well as
make them more effective, the company said, in part by enhancing their
situational awareness and providing training opportunities.
The military has long relied on vision-enhancing tools like
night-vision goggles to improve combat effectiveness. But that advantage has
been reduced as such equipment has become more widely available, adding to a
push to find a new technology edge.
In a statement, the U.S. Army called Microsoft an “industry
leader in developing innovative technology” and said its partnership with the
company “illustrates areas that the Department of Defense and industry can work
together toward achieving modernization priorities in the interest of national
security.”
CNBC earlier reported the deal’s value.
Augmented reality, known as AR, overlays digital content
onto a person’s view of the real world. AR headsets have been gaining
popularity as a resource for workers in industries such as retail, healthcare
and automotive manufacturing, especially since the start of the pandemic.
Microsoft competes in the space with several dozen companies, including
Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Magic Leap Inc.
The technology industry considers AR the next major
computing interface. Facebook Inc. earlier this month announced plans to make
AR glasses for consumers and this week “Pokémon Go” creator Niantic Inc. hinted
that it is developing a pair as well.
The Army for years has been experimenting with equipment to
help soldiers be more aware of what’s going on when they go into battle, often
in unfamiliar surroundings. The branch of the military sees AR headsets as a
potential way to make sure troops are more aware of dangers around them,
keeping them safer.
Microsoft has a long history of supplying tools to the U.S.
military. In 2019, the company won a landmark cloud-computing contract with the
Pentagon worth up to $10 billion over the next decade, beating out Amazon.com
Inc., which had been widely seen as the front-runner. Also that year the U.S.
government awarded a 10-year $7.6 billion Pentagon contract to General Dynamics
Corp. that included replacing existing IT systems with Microsoft’s Office 365.
The Marine Corps also has experimented with Microsoft’s HoloLens technology.
The new deal with the U.S. Army comes after Microsoft in
2018 won a $480 million contract to supply it with 100,000 modified HoloLens
headsets. The custom-designed devices will help soldiers make informed
decisions as they confront current and future adversaries, the Army said. For
example, the headsets will feature night-vision capabilities and allow soldiers
to measure the distance between their current location and their team members
in the dark, according to Microsoft.