Military to succeed in their missions, require a robust, multi-faceted picture of their operational environments, including the location, nature and activity of both threats and allied forces around them. Warfare is becoming increasingly networked, so finding an effective way to quickly display the deluge of information available, in an easily digestible format, has never been more important.
Many future military operations are expected to occur in urban environments which faces many challenges like complex 3D environment, dynamic situation, limited visibility, lack of familiarity with the environment, sniper threats, concealment of enemy forces, ineffective communications, and a general problem of locating and identifying enemy and friendly forces.
Currently maps are being used that maps draw a user’s attention away from the environment and cannot directly represent the three-dimensional nature of the terrain. Better situational awareness is required for effective operation in the urban environment.
AR is a tool with the capacity to do just that. Augmented Reality technology is making this kind of rich, real-time situational awareness increasingly available to for aircraft, submarines and tanks and other vehicle-assigned forces, along with a capacity to deploy precision armaments more safely, quickly and effectively. Military augmented reality systems are also being used by divers underwater. According to GlobalData estimates, AR will generate revenues of $152 billion globally by 2030, and the defence sector is leading the charge.
This is different from Virtual reality which creates a virtual world for users to interact with. VR creates a simulated environment that engrosses the user’s perceptions, a completely virtual experience with no recourse to the real world. It is more about what users feel or experience in that world than how they connect with it.
Augmented reality, on the other hand, blends elements of a virtual world with the real world, so it is more about how the user interacts with those various elements and the components of the real world. Furthermore, virtual reality is well-suited for the gaming, training and simulation sectors, while augmented reality is better positioned in the commercial, industrial, educational and medical sectors.
AR superimposes sounds, graphics, and other elements to the real world — but the virtual and real worlds remain separate. An observer can experience both real and virtual elements in real-time but can’t make them interact. Mixed Reality, on the other hand, brings the real and virtual worlds together. In MR, virtuality and actuality interact in real-time. MR enables users to manipulate and communicate with virtual and physical environments or objects through high-level imaging and sensing technologies.
Soldiers do not have constant access to information – maps, health scores, enemy location – like they do in the video games. Rather, they must stop what they are doing and reference a paper map or electronic tablet, putting them in a precarious situation. To remedy this issue, the Army has attempted to develop a heads-up display (HUD) that can provide critical information to a soldier within their field of view.
Militaries such as Infantry squads, however, have fallen behind because many of these systems are too bulky to carry on the frontline says DARPA. Under the SXCT (SXCT) program, DARPA envisions future supersoldiers using advanced technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), to intuitively understand and control their complex mission environments and enable them to combat advanced adversaries all across the globe.
The augmented reality or AR displays will let soldiers access more and better battlefield data, researchers say. The information includes travel routes through dust storms and other hazards, battlefield threats around the vehicle and navigation support, even in areas where GPS is unavailable.
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