Saturday, 6 April 2019

What Tactical Augmented Reality Is And How It Is Used In The Army

By Anthony Phillips


While augmented reality has already been used in a lot of applications such as games and virtual training, the US Army has decided to take things up a notch and use the technology for weapons. What the US Army did is create a whole battle set that makes use of AR called Tactical Augmented Reality or TAR for short. The TAR system would give an edge to the soldiers by allowing them to have a clear cut overview of the whole battlefield and the people in it.

Now, TAR was first created by the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Commands Communications Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center. It was a state of the art invention that would help sharpen the senses of the soldier in battle. In fact, it was made to replace all the location tools previously used by the US Army.

The amazing thing about TAR is that it reduces the need for soldiers to have so many pieces of equipment under their belt. This one piece of equipment already has multiple uses such as a very comprehensive GPS system. This GPS system can help locate the whereabouts of the holder as well as his or her teammates and unidentified people.

Aside from that, the TAR is also equipped with night vision goggles that allow one to see in the dark. The amazing thing about these goggles is that they are also connected to the locator enabling one to have a clear view of the battlefield even at night. It also allows one to locate enemy whereabouts in the dark just in case they are hiding.

Of course, the GPS is probably one of the main advantages of this system. Currently, soldiers have to use a hand held device to locate their hereabouts through the GPS. However, the new TAR system is a whole hands free system wherein everything, including the GPS, is already integrated inside the headset, allowing the soldier to geo register their location.

Now, it may be a bit hard to imagine what the TAR looks like so here is an idea of the whole setup. It is actually an eyepiece and headset that is connected to a tablet without any wire. The TAR system is also connected to a thermal sight attached to a rifle. So without the need for any wires, a soldier has a complete battle set ready for any action.

Another cool thing about this system is that it enables the soldiers to share information with each other. First, they can share location coordinates with each other. Aside from that, they can also share images of the terrain through the wireless system.

This great invention is a revolutionary one for the US Army. In the age of technology, battlefield tactics must also be upgraded in order to better the performance of the soldiers and enable them with lighter equipment to make them more agile. With this rather new invention, it is possible to work better as a team, save up cost on those bulky equipment, move at a faster pace, and overall increase performance.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment