At Last, a Google Glass for the Battlefield
BY ALLEN MCDUFFEE
02.24.14
6:30 AM
(Embedded image moved to file: pic29873.jpg)Photo: BAE Systems
Photo: BAE Systems
Walking around Silicon Valley with an augmented reality display on your
face makes you a glasshole. On the battlefield, though, similar technology
will soon turn U.S. soldiers into a lethal cross between the Terminator and
Iron Man.
Q-Warrior, the newest version of helmet-mounted display technology from BAE
Systems' Q-Sight line, is a full-color, 3D heads-up display designed to
provide soldiers in the field with rapid, real-time "situational
awareness."
With a high-resolution transparent display, Q-Warrior overlays data and a
video stream over the soldier's view of the world. Q-Warrior also includes
enhanced night vision, waypoints and routing information, and the ability
to identify hostile and non-hostile forces, track personnel and assets, and
coordinate small unit actions.
"Q-Warrior increases the user's situational awareness by providing the
potential to display 'eyes-out' information to the user, including textual
information, warnings and threats," Paul Wright, the soldier systems
business development lead at BAE Systems' Electronic Systems, said in a
statement. "The biggest demand, in the short term at least, will be in
roles where the early adoption of situational awareness technology offers a
defined advantage."
This technology is not the stretch you might think. Specialty work-related
applications for everyone from cops to doctors are increasingly considered
the future of wearable computing. BAE clearly wants to be the Google of the
warzone.
(Embedded image moved to file: pic17124.jpg)Image: BAE Systems
Image: BAE Systems
The display would play well with the Army Tactical Assault Light Operator
Suit (TALOS) currently under development. TALOS is a powered exoskeleton to
haul heavier equipment with liquid armor capable of stopping bullets and
the ability to apply wound-sealing foam.
"[The] requirement is a comprehensive family of systems in a combat armor
suit where we bring together an exoskeleton with innovative armor, displays
for power monitoring, health monitoring, and integrating a weapon into that
? a whole bunch of stuff that RDECOM is playing heavily in," said Lt. Col.
Karl Borjes, a U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (
RDECOM) science adviser, in a statement.
Q-Warrior is initially expected to be deployed with Special Forces and at
the section commander level, but BAE says it expects the technology to
eventually reach all soldiers.
"This is likely to be within non-traditional military units with
reconnaissance roles, such as Forward Air Controllers/Joint Tactical
Aircraft Controllers (JTACS) or with Special Forces during counter
terrorist tasks," said Wright. "The next level of adoption could be light
role troops such as airborne forces or marines, where technical systems and
aggression help to overcome their lighter equipment."
Watch video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUs9HTncy2FLGgj00WY2k2JQ&v=bWsWOFcXHU4&feature=player_embedded
