Support NeoGAF

[Vasto]

KEY POINTS

• Microsoft will deliver to the U.S. Army more than 120,000 devices based on its HoloLens augmented reality headset.
• The deal, which could be worth as much as $21.88 billion over 10 years, follows a contract Microsoft received to build prototype headsets for the Army.
• The contract comes a year and a half after Microsoft won a cloud contract from the Pentagon that could be worth up to $10 billion.

Microsoft wins U.S. Army contract for augmented reality headsets, worth up to $21.9 billion over 10 years

The Army HoloLens deal comes a year and a half after Microsoft received a cloud contract from the Pentagon, which Amazon has been challenging in federal court.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Jesb]

Why even bother with games lol. Congrats to them.

 

[Punished Miku]

How much is that per headset?

 

[Jigsaah]

jeez. what's this gotta do with gaming though?

 

[dcmk7]

Gaming discussion?

 

[Punished Miku]

jeez. what's this gotta do with gaming though?

Holo lens was at e3.

 

[MightySquirrel]

The tech must be impressive enough to land such a contract and beat out competitors. Eventually we'll see something similar come to next xbox hopefully.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Congratulations to my fellow shareholders!

 

[Sidesalad]

Well, this could be good and bad news I suppose. Good in the fact that the Army has enough confidence in the technology for combat situations, but bad if Microsoft abandons using it for gaming purposes.

Honestly, I doubt a consumer sku would fare much better than VR headsets, so it wouldn't surprise me if they just focus on the military contracts and forget about using Hololens for gaming.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

 

[Dane]

Halo is real now?

 

[jhjfss]

Satya Nadella right now

 

[Nhranaghacon]

Obviously, to anyone with a modicum of insight - this will amplify current technology and allow for extremely sophisticated, sleek headsets in the future - or true sleek AR capable sunglasses.

 

[Jaysen]

Good for them. Or as they say at Reeeeeeee “durrrrrr dey evil and contributing to da deaf of da brown peeple.”

 

[AnotherOne]

Some strange replies in this thread

 

[Craig of War]

Damn so 30 billion from this 2 contract alone no wonder they can afford to buy anything they want it crazy how rich they are now that they seem to open the bank to the Xbox gaming division it gone to get more crazy with Studios acquisition in the coming years.

 

[KyoZz]

Microsoft right now

 

[Gold_Loot]

Welp, at least Someone’s using em.

 

[Kurimao]

 

[wolffy71]

This was always destined to be bigger in non gaming applications. Maybe it started as a gaming app coming out of whatever was left of the kinnect, but gaming will be minor if anything.

 

[M16]

the deal pays 3 zenimax's

 

[Jigga117]

Not suprising being that MS has been contracted with the military for years with Windows PC so to me it makes sense.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

If this gets us closer to a good, affordable consumer device, I'm all for it. Thank you, military industrial complex.

 

[driqe]

imagine getting killed by a guy wearing a vr headset

 

[rapid32.5]

So, three more Bethesdas on the way ? Gotcha!

 

[MaulerX]

Not going to lie, that looks pretty bad ass.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

 

[Lupin3]

Now they can burn it all on Discord. And hats.

 

[SoloKingRobert]

jeez. what's this gotta do with gaming though?

You can play games and earn achievements on Hololens

 

[Mistershine.]

Not going to lie, that looks pretty bad ass.

That VR sandwich looks delicious.

 

[FritzJ92]

Man Microsoft and the DOD are so intermingled. The win contracts because of windows integration. Lower upfront cost vs trying something new.

 

[iamvin22]

jeez. what's this gotta do with gaming though?

Nothing really

 

[pasterpl]

An IVAS prototypethat a CNBC reporter tried out in 2019 displayed a map and a compass and had thermal imaging to reveal people in the dark. The system could also show the aim for a weapon.

aim assist? /s

 

[turtlepowa]

Nice, that could really lower the costs and improve the hardware for gaming in the future.

 

[Kagey K]

Microsoft right now

 

[skneogaf]

Soldiers are becoming less used with drone technology so its kind of surprising. It will be really cool to see one in action in the future.

 

[fersnake]

this is like the ps3 servers thingy xD

 

[Stuart360]

Soldiers are becoming less used with drone technology so its kind of surprising. It will be really cool to see one in action in the future.

I bet we are not too far away from soldiers just plugging into VR machines on base, and controlling robot soldiers through VR. Or something similar.

 

[Mistershine.]

How much is that per headset?

22 billion for 120 thousand headsets works out at over $180k each.

 

[Kagey K]

The battlefields will be CoD drones fighting.

Enders Game but on a daily battle.

 

[Kagey K]

22 billion for 120 thousand headsets works out at over $180k each.

Thankfully military research usually translates to civilian tech a few years later. We might see some real progress in the AR/VR space going forward.

 

[Mistershine.]

Thankfully military research usually translates to civilian tech a few years later. We might see some real progress in the AR/VR space going forward.

Just when we thought aviators couldn't get any cooler. This could pave the way for ARviators!

 

[Kagey K]

Just when we thought aviators couldn't get any cooler. This could pave the way for ARviators!

Or Pit VRpers

So you can be a douche in real life and on the internet at the same time.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Roll on midday

 

[Shelookdlvl18]

I bet we are not too far away from soldiers just plugging into VR machines on base, and controlling robot soldiers through VR. Or something similar.

Imagine your average military soldier in the year 2100. 22 years old, 330lbs, with a man bun.

The go-to move for stolen valor will be painting their fingertips orange with a marker, to get the cheeto effect.

 

[Mistershine.]

Or Pit VRpers

So you can be a douche in real life and on the internet at the same time.

I had never heard pit vipers were until now. Do people actually wear them on their faces for anything other than fancy dress?

 

[Negotiator101]

Gaming discussion?

Well AR should come to gaming in the future in some form, but you are correct this is not games related.

 

[SidViscous]

Microsoft have a strong relationship with the military, they also use Crackdown 3 for demoralising their enemies.

 

[kuncol02]

they also use Crackdown 3 for demoralising their enemies

I know mine taste for games is different than others but I had more fun with Crackdown 3 than with God of War. I also like bad FPS games like Duke Nukem Forever and Legendary.

 

[Alright]

Is this the reason MS bought Zenimax? For AR/VR patents to boost their own AR development?