Microsoft signs contract to supply AR technology with the U.S. Army

The U.S. Army announced that it has signed a contract with Microsoft to supply a customized version of the AR goggles HoloLens 2. According to Microsoft, the contract period with the US military is 10 years, including 5 years for basic and 5 years for options, and the supply quantity exceeds 120,000. In terms of amount, it is $2.18 billion.

This contract can be said to be a new source of revenue located outside of core businesses such as Microsoft operating systems and office software. This contract follows the $480 million contract for the supply of IVAS, the U.S. military integrated vision expansion system signed in 2018, and will change from the initial version of the final supply to the finished version.

IVAS is based on HoloLens 2, and it is a structure that can execute commands with hand gestures or voice while displaying information as a holographic image in the real field of view. According to the U.S. Army, one IVAS can respond to training, practice, and even actual combat. Alex Kipman, a technical researcher at Microsoft, said that Microsoft has been working closely with the US military for the past two years.

Inside Microsoft, there are employees who protest and have critical opinions about the use of IT technology as a war tool. It is said that some employees are complaining about this announcement. When IT companies fully participate in the military industry, interest in how the future war will change is attracting attention. Related information can be found here.