Heads-up display to give Soldiers improved situational awareness

U.S. Army ^ | May 19, 2017 | David Vergun

[Perseverando]

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- A novel technology called "Tactical Augmented Reality," or TAR, is now helping Soldiers precisely locate their positions, as well as the locations of friends and foes, said Richard Nabors.

It even enables them to see in the dark, all with a heads-up display device that looks like night-vision goggles, or NGV, he added. So in essence, TAR replaces NVG, GPS, plus it does much more.

Nabors, an associate for strategic planning at U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, or CERDEC, spoke about TAR at the Pentagon's Lab Day, Thursday.

Currently, most Soldiers use a hand-held GPS system that approximates their position, he said, but only if their device is geo-registered to their location.

Geo-registration is the alignment of an observed image with a geodetically-calibrated reference image.

TAR does the geo-registration automatically, he said.

Staff Sgt. Ronald Geer, a counterterrorism non-commissioned officer at CERDEC's Night Vision and Electronics Sensors Directorate, said that with TAR, Soldiers don't have to look down at their GPS device. In fact, they no longer need a separate GPS device because with TAR, the image is in the eyepiece, which is mounted to the Soldier's helmet in the same way NVG is mounted.

So what they would see, he said, is the terrain in front of them, overlaid with a map.

TAR is also designed to be used both day and night, he added.

Furthermore, Geer pointed out that the eyepiece is connected wirelessly to a tablet the Soldiers wear on their waist and it's wirelessly connected to a thermal site mounted on their rifle or carbine.

If a Soldier is pointing his or her weapon, the image of the target, plus other details like the distance to target, can be seen through the eyepiece.

The eyepiece even has a split screen, so for example, if the rifle is pointed rearward and the Soldier is looking forward, the image shows both views, he said.

Also, a Soldier behind a wall or other obstacle could lift the rifle over the wall and see through the sites via the heads-up display without exposing his or her head.

Finally, Geer said that TAR's wireless system allows a Soldier to share his or her images with other members of the squad. The tablet allows Soldiers to input information they need or to share their own information with others in their squad.

TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGH

David Fellowes, an electronics engineer at CERDEC, said that the key technological breakthrough was miniaturizing the image to fit into the tiny one-inch-by-one-inch eyepiece.

Current commercial technology compresses images into sizes small enough to fit into tablet and cell phone-sized windows, but getting a high-definition image into the very tiny eyepiece was a challenge that could not be met with commercial, off-the-shelf hardware.

Since about 2008, CERDEC, the Army Research Laboratory and industry have been working to make this miniaturization happen, he said.

By about 2010, the image was compressed enough to be shown in black and white, as well as a greenish monochrome version, he said.

Those systems have already been fielded to certain units, he said.

Currently, CERDEC is working on producing more advanced versions that are in full color and have a brightness display that can even be seen in daylight. The current monochrome versions are also bright enough to be seen in daylight.

Fellowes said he's not sure when those will be manufactured and fielded, but during user testing, Soldiers expressed their deep appreciation of the image sharpness and contrast.

He added that the TARs will provide Soldiers with a much higher level of situational awareness than they currently have and he said he fully expects that the devices will save lives and contribute to mission success

[Perseverando]

There's a short video at the end of the source article.

[ckilmer]

Yeah but say you’re in a tight spot, and you get hungry for a big mac or even a whopper—will the device take your order for you. Granted there would need to be big mac or whopper delivery drones attached to this device and the golden arches couldn’t be too far away. btw that’s always been the biggest problem with Burger King. That chain never had anything as distinctive as golden arches.

[allendale]

Face it. Warfare against a technologically sophisticated opponent is now beyond anything heretofore seen or experienced. If you can be seen, sensed, located or identified, you are as good as dead. Ordnance can be directed with accuracy to virtually anywhere. Especially vulnerable are capital surface ships. Even individual soldiers and small units that can be sensed by the electronic signatures of their own weapons and devices are very vulnerable. What’s more the technology gets more sophisticated and deadly constantly.

[Regulator]

Great.

So with all this unbeatable technology, how come millions of Mestizo squat laborers manage to cross unimpeded into the United States?

What’s the point of hyper tech warfare if you can’t defeat an invasion of stone age throwbacks?

[mikefive]

I’m all for using technology, but what happens when someone takes out the satellites that this relies on? End up having a bunch guys with 100lbs of kit and batteries that are now useless. Bet most guys in the infantry now can’t even do a resection, or intersection using a map, compass, and protractor to find out where they are on a map. Like my old CSM used to say, back to the basics.

[21twelve]

I have enough “fog of war” playing paintball in a foggy mask. I can’t imagine trying to look at a little screen.

Shoot! (Oh, that’s the image I’m looking at - not my weapon!)

Shoot! (Crap - that’s the image my buddy sent me.)

[allendale]

They come because they are allowed to come. In the final analysis the use of existing technology and the allocation of effective resources that would largely secure the border is a political decision.

[datura]

When the time comes for bayonets, this will be a detriment rather than a positive. And it always gets there eventually. (Which is why so many of us were grunts.)

If you have to rely on all of these gadgets instead of basics, you’re gonna be _ucked. Resection? Most of these kids have no clue what that means.

[RC one]

I have been dreaming about this technology for two decades. All it needs now is the ability to rapidly order up precision strikes from artillery, air, and naval assets. This is the future of combined arms IMO and combined arms is the future of US warfare. Soldiers will always need to know how to land nav but the potential capabilities that this kind of technology can put into a soldier’s hands is exactly the kind of combat multiplier we need.

[Riley]

I’m all for using technology, but what happens when someone takes out the satellites that this relies on?

Or muddy or dusty or immersed in water or the optical face of it is all scratched up. I think we've almost soldier-proofed the hammer. Even really rugged stuff breaks in the field.

There is still no substitute for training your ass off. I hope this gets some very good field testing before it goes out to the troops.

[Chainmail]

The problem with technologies like this, is that for all the “enhanced capabilities” they bring, they end up really just making things worse.

In combat, your eyes and all your senses combine to allow you a critical edge in detecting the presence and location of the enemy. Putting a screen in front of your eyes causes part of your vision to be blocked and eliminates peripheral vision.

The army just can’t leave well enough alone, the vision screen will have more and more items you wouldn’t need. Higher headquarters will need to “see what you’re seeing”. So they will constantly pinging the soldiers with distracting requests and other messages - “Sitrep due” “send morning report” “need reenlistment pkg”, etc..

As some have mentioned, combat is messy: sweat, dust, mud, rain, snow and other muck will screw up the visor to make it useless. We always fight in crummy places, almost never in laboratories.

A unit depending on these will need a pack full of AA batteries just to make sure that the darn things stay lit through an operation.

I’m reminded about an experiment the army did about 20 years ago at Fort Irwin in the desert, where the soldiers were loaded with high technology situational awareness devices and conducted simulated attacks. The gear included TV cameras on the rifles and weighed a bunch in 110 degree heat. Almost immediately, the consoles went blank because the troops dumped the gear as soon as they started their attacks. The few TV images they got were of other soldier’s butts.

[Riley]

Excellent points all. A grunt in a hot situation doesn’t need some AH in his ear asking for a status report, and you choose carefully what you carry, because weight equals pain.

There is still no substitute for training your ass off.

[freeandfreezing]

You are correct. But some of that kind of technology can be useful. I saw a video recently of US troops returning fire in a Taliban ambush using a turret mounted .50 cal gun with remote controls. It is much better in that situation to be operating the gun from the safety of an armored vehicle than standing in an open hatch, although the loss of situational awareness is the downside.

Realistically, a lot of this technology will be rendered less valuable as remote controlled drones, robots, and attack vehicles become more and more common. And while all those electronics can be helpful against a primitive adversary, their emissions might make the person wearing them a little white dot on a more sophisticated enemy's targeting display.

And for a very sophisticated enemy the little white dot might be annotated with information about the target derived from all the signal traffic. And in the worst case the communications would be hacked, and your friends doing close air support would think you were located elsewhere.

[Joe 6-pack]

Bingo. During my years as a company grade officer, the Army underwent a fundamental transformation. As a new second lieutenant, a company's administrative needs were fully met by Skilcraft pens and typewriters. Not long after that, desktop computers (286s) started popping up like mushrooms and everything changed. In my pre-commissioning training and early years as an officer, the prevailing emphasis was on, "Leadership," and the concept of "management" was a sub-skill that fell under the umbrella of leadership: One needed some management skills to be an overall good leader, but being even a great, "manager," did not necessarily make one a good or even average leader. With the proliferation of PCs this relationship became inverted. Commanders and staff at higher echelons became more statistic oriented and an increasing emphasis was placed on management and leadership became a secondary skill set.

This invariably led, in my view, to an unprecedented degree of micro-management which in may ways subverted the chain of command and individual soldier and junior leader initiative. During this same time, we had Desert Storm where technology came to be seen as the end all be all solution, and the debacle in Somalia which led to even greater degrees of micromanagement. The drawdown of the military during the Clinton years led to a zero-tolerance approach where a military looking to get rid of people looked to any screw up as the means to bring careers to an end, killing initiative even further and fostering a culture of yes men.

IMHO, there is a double-edged sword with this type of tech. I'm not a luddite, and there is much to be said for tactical awareness and the rapid exchange of info on the battlefield. Technology is a tool that can be used for good or bad, and when accurate, timely information is fed to decision makers in a useable format, they will make better, timelier decisions. There is also a risk of information overload which could lead to indecision and hesitation, and as others on this thread have mentioned, I could easily see situations where a brigade or battalion commander or staff member could easily be tempted to try to direct individual soldiers on the battlefield completely subverting leaders at the company, platoon, squad and team level...not a good thing.

[Chainmail]

You are wise beyond your years.

Technology needs support the small unit leadership, not overwhelm it, nor displace it.

You are also correct that leadership is over and above mere management. It's amazing how few recognize that fact.

We need technologists within our defense acquisition and R&D establishments who have infantry and armor and air support combat experience who are groomed for higher education and then lead development/acquisition efforts.

Need a strong dose of reality - and manual backups - to everything.

[TADSLOS]

Spot on for both your comments. The good idea fairies and $$$$$ driven military contractors are run amok again. I just can't see these systems enduring the day to day stress and grime of a grunt's life, not to mention being soldier proof. I can see some value for this particular technology with special operations in conducting short duration raids and building takedowns. Even then, the capabilities you gain here are offset with loss of SA around you and eye fatigue.

There is a similar system used in AH-64 aircraft with a monocle CRT attached to the helmet. There is a whole process to get it optimized prior to flight and requires alot of head movement to use while flying and maintaining SA since it only has a 40 degree FOV.

[Reily]

Because we won’t apply the technology to the border. It’s not that we can’t so far we simply won’t!

Technical surveillance & early warning is so sophisticated, we don’t need an actual physical wall, just the ability to respond & interdict within say 15 minutes (or shorter!) of the I&W. That could be done so far it hasn’t been. The political will hasn’t been there to do it.

[SuperLuminal]

"There's a short video at the end of the source article. "

Yep! Also, "short" will be the best description of the time this stuff will have any value about 1-week into a real war with the chicoms or any other all-out ground war.