The Magic Leap One has been named the official AR headset of the US Navy. A new training tool named Magic Leap Horizons will be used by the Navy inside of the Magic Leap One headset as a training program to keep soldiers combat-ready while at sea. Marines and sailors are going to be the ones primarily using this new technology, especially while they are at sea.
The new training is called TRACER, and although it sounds cool, it is an acronym for “tactically reconfigurable artificial combat enhanced reality.” There are many different parts to this simulation and a lot of new technology that is being used for the first time. The Magic Leap One uses a little processor on your hip for the headset, but the Navy is using a full backpack of computing for this computing task. The simulation weapon is from Haptech, and it offers a realistic recoil through powerful haptics. There is also hand tracking technology inside of the gun, making this a truly immersive and realistic training process.
The US Navy released a promotional research video in which Dr. Patrick Mead, the head of Human Systems Development and Research Branch in the Dalhgren Division said “If you look at the training systems throughout the navy, we’re still using a lot of legacy traditional training methodologies. We have limited time to get the sailors the training that they need,” going on to say that, “AR and VR technology and some of the emerging peripheral devices and capabilities that come along with those are gonna allow for training scenarios that we’ve never been able to train to before.”
Mead continued to say that “Ultimately, TRACER provides sailors with dynamic, engaging, and less predictable training scenarios that would be too costly or time-consuming to create in the real world.”
Mead is correct when he says that Naval Officers have limited training time. When out on the water, the ship is not the ideal place to be training. Although some carriers are large, most have just enough space to get by, and not much more. Creating realistic training without the help of an altered reality would be nearly impossible on any sort of boat. The versatility is going to help the US Navy more than anything. Being able to create different scenarios inside of the same small area will give many sailors unique and beneficial training exercises while at sea. This is something that is hither to undreamt of.
Everybody now knows that the US Army has made a contract with Microsoft for just under $500 million, and they have made massive leaps with their new technology. We were completely shocked when the Magic Leap One was the official AR headset of the Navy and not the Hololens like the Army. We know that these two branches of the military operate on two different levels and not together, but we could’ve seen a massive deal that included both branches of the military. This is a huge win for Magic Leap, and a massive “what if” for Microsoft.
Both AR headsets are being utilized and modified to fit the needs of the people that are using it. It is unlikely what we see the Magic Leap One in any sort of combat, but we are expected to see the Hololens in the battle field well before 2022. With any luck, but then Microsoft finds a way to slim down the design while adding more features and much wider field of view. Until then, check back at VRGear.com for more AR and VR news.
