Congress refuses Army request to spend $400 million on Microsoft HoloLens-based headsets

midian182

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What just happened? The controversial deal between Microsoft and the US Army for the military branch to buy 6,900 HoloLens-based headsets at the cost of $400 million has been blocked by congress. As a consolation, the government approved $40 million for Microsoft to build a new and improved version that soldiers will hopefully hate less.

To recap, Microsoft was awarded a $480 million contract to provide the US Army with Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) headsets in 2018. The devices combine high-resolution night, thermal, and soldier-borne sensors into a heads-up display. Powered by Microsoft Azure cloud services, they also leverage augmented reality and machine learning to enable a life-like mixed-reality training environment.

The initial agreement was expanded in March 2021, ensuring Microsoft would provide finalized production versions, parts, and support in a deal potentially worth billions across a decade.

But the IVAS deal has been beset by problems from the start. There were the delays that pushed back orders by a year, a warning from a Department of Defense oversight agency that the whole thing could be a waste of taxpayer money, and, most worrying of all, reports that soldiers hated them as they can cause headaches, eye strain and nausea, symptoms that 80% of testers said appeared within three hours of use—and that's not even mentioning the devices' failure of essential functions. One tester said the headsets could get military personnel killed.

The latest setback comes in a defense appropriations summary (PDF) that reveals the IVAS program will not receive the $400 million in funding requested by the Army to buy 6,900 headsets; instead, it will get $40 million to go toward developing a new, better version.

Last month, the Army said it would place orders for completed IVAS version 1.2 headsets "after qualification and operational testing."

The Army has already ordered 5,000 IVAS units and handed Microsoft $125 million to create a revised model. It still plans to spend up to $21.9 billion over the next ten years for as many as 121,000 headsets.

Microsoft doesn't seem to be worried about congress' decision. A spokesperson told The Register, "The regular cadence of building and testing IVAS is a critical part of the development process. Ultimately, this cadence will help us refine and improve the technology to ensure it brings unparalleled protection and capabilities to America's Soldiers."

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$57,971 each?

In whose virtual world is that a bargain?

For a product nobody wants to use?

For a product that gives you headaches, eyestrain and nausea?

For a product that spontaneously freezes and reboots during battle?

For a product that interrupts your critical mission with buggy updates?

For a product that will be outdone by a Chinese version for $57.98?

Seriously?
 
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Why would trained military need this, if they want to see what enemies are hiding in the distance just use a small drone with a IR or thermal camera. What a waste of money.
 
You know, as ridiculous as this is (and it IS ridiculous), it's not as bad as the flight helmets for the F-35 which cost (last I checked) $400,000 EACH!

The US military is just as corrupt as the Russian military with the only real difference being that they have unlimited funds and so they still manage to operate effectively. The F-35 is still the biggest boondoggle in military history that I've ever seen or heard about. What we see here would be considered mild.
 
You know, as ridiculous as this is (and it IS ridiculous), it's not as bad as the flight helmets for the F-35 which cost (last I checked) $400,000 EACH!

The US military is just as corrupt as the Russian military with the only real difference being that they have unlimited funds and so they still manage to operate effectively. The F-35 is still the biggest boondoggle in military history that I've ever seen or heard about. What we see here would be considered mild.
That's saying an awful lot, considering the competition. For instance, shortly to be 100 years old, the National Helium Reserve. Have to keep our airships flying, and hinder the Nazi dominance of LTA flight.....or Cold War something something something......
 
You know, as ridiculous as this is (and it IS ridiculous), it's not as bad as the flight helmets for the F-35 which cost (last I checked) $400,000 EACH!

The US military is just as corrupt as the Russian military with the only real difference being that they have unlimited funds and so they still manage to operate effectively. The F-35 is still the biggest boondoggle in military history that I've ever seen or heard about. What we see here would be considered mild.

The F-35 is a bit of a mess, but it is at the very cutting edge of technology, is pretty much the best fighting aircraft around, and something we can't afford to be overtaken on. And you know... it actually does work the vast majority of the time.
 
That's saying an awful lot, considering the competition. For instance, shortly to be 100 years old, the National Helium Reserve. Have to keep our airships flying, and hinder the Nazi dominance of LTA flight.....or Cold War something something something......
Could be useful for MRI scanners.
 
$58,000 per unit?? Wow. And I thought medical industry are dirty b'stards.

Ah, I get it. We're talking about Virtual Reality. So, I guess it's 58,000 virtual dollars. Zuck Bucks?
 
VRs give headaches to some people. Some. There is no cure for it if it makes you sick.
I wonder if these Hololens are using something from VR that is related and causes problems in VR.
Then they will not build something that does not cause troubles until there is a solution that would fix VRs.
 
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