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Microsoft The Military Software Windows

Ukraine's Military Wants To Use the HoloLens For Its Tanks (ubergizmo.com) 56

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ubergizmo: Microsoft's HoloLens has so far been positioned as a device for gaming. However it seems that over in the Ukraine, they believe that the technology has use in the military as well, particularly by tank commanders. Given that a tank is more or less fully sealed, it means that looking around isn't quite as easy. Usually this is achieved by mounting cameras on the vehicle with the images projected inside the tank, but with the HoloLens, it will make it easier. Created by Limpid Armor, the HoloLens-enabled helmet will be dubbed the Circular Review System. The video feeds that are gathered from the cameras outside of the tank will then be stitched together and sent to the headset, thus allowing the wearer to see around the vehicle. Not only will this allow them to have a better view, but apparently the helmet will also let the wearer tag enemy and friendly soldiers, and also designate targets and send information back to the commander.
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Ukraine's Military Wants To Use the HoloLens For Its Tanks

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  • by Anonymous Coward

    Brings a new meaning to blue screen of death

  • So, his long until Russia uses WiFi hacking to override the video feeds, and superimpose comical cartoon characters, anti Ukrainian propaganda, or just straight up edit out enemy armor from the feed?

    Maybe even use the tank cams against the Ukrainians by just monitoring the feeds and using it for intelligence purposes to target the tanks with air support.

    • by Calydor ( 739835 )

      What on earth makes you think the cameras don't use wires that go into the tank?

      • Yeah, they probably won't use Wifi and a Signal would be hard to maintain even from a few inches away. That aside, did you ever notice that tanks lack wired gear hanging outside? Don't you think there is a reason for this feat of Engineering not to have wired components hanging outside? 60-75tons of metal bouncing around over and through tough terrain should immediately give you a clue why nobody uses any such technology.

        US vehicles using cameras have them built in to the armor design, not added after th

    • by Luthair ( 847766 )
      Why wouldn't they simply hardwire everything? I'm sure the tank already has a sophisticated network of electronics.
      • This part?

        Not only will this allow them to have a better view, but apparently the helmet will also let the wearer tag enemy and friendly soldiers, and also designate targets and send information back to the commander.

        Unless you think the tank will be trailing a big fiber bundle behind it...

        • Tanks typically have a "Commander" position to go along with the gunner, driver, loader(s) (for tanks without an autoloader).
        • by AK Marc ( 707885 )
          Tank commander (inside the tank). And if the tanks have encrypted communications with field command, it'd be there regardless of whether there are cameras on the tank,
    • Well that's one strategy the Russians could use. Alternatively, they might just try having 50 times as much of everything as whoever they're fighting.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Ukraine is very poor. Sure, they saved some money when they stiffed Russia for their gas bill, but not enough to be able to spend on frivolous things.

    How much would you bet that any work done to develop this is paid for by U.S. tax dollars so that it can all be funneled back to some big defense contractor? Probably at many times the cost of off-the-shelf HoloLenses. All justified because it has to be customized and ruggedized.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      Sure, they saved some money when they stiffed Russia for their gas bill, but not enough to be able to spend on frivolous things.

      Considering how much money the Russian puppet Yanukovych stole from Ukraine before he fled into the arms of Russia, and how much Russia owes Ukraine for the damage it is causing by its invasion and support of the terrorists in East Ukraine, Russia is the one who is spending money on frivolous things it can't afford.

      Since we now know how much money Russia is spending [smh.com.au] to su
      • by Anonymous Coward

        you are an idiot. There never was a country called "ukraine" before Soviet Union. You have to thank Lenin and Stalin for creating that shitty republic out of primarily Russian territories and Russian people.

        Say it - "Thank you, Lenin and Stalin, for creating my shitty ukro-republic that will soon cease to exist under its own weight".

  • why do they still need people in the tank?

    • Because radio signals can be degraded completely. With UAVs at least they have altitude and clearer lines of sight to repeaters and directional laser systems. A tank rolling through a forest or city streets doesn't have that luxury.

  • by Tinsoldier314 ( 3811439 ) on Thursday November 03, 2016 @06:11PM (#53209419)
    By far the best thing about it was it's ability to rapidly construct meshes of the space you're in and track head movements so that holograms displayed in the scene remain stable as you move your head and move around. It seems to me, almost none of those strengths come to play when you're sitting in chair/cockpit of a tank. I wouldn't consider the IMU and transparent OLED screens to be the biggest differentiators of the HoloLens. Also, the viewing angle of the screens sucks balls and is by far the most limiting aspect of the HoloLens experience. Furthermore, the HoloLens is a stand-alone Windows 10 machine which limits the amount of processing power available. Again, if you're seated in a tank then you don't need a cordless experience along with all the handicaps that entails.
  • by BatGnat ( 1568391 ) on Thursday November 03, 2016 @08:19PM (#53210019)
    In the news today, Ukraine loses war while tanks apply updates....
  • for realz

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