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A breakthrough in artificial intelligence being tested by the Australian military reportedly allows soldiers to control robot dogs solely with their minds. Called a brain robotic interface, the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence — through a high-tech biosensor headset — analyzes brainwave readings and feeds them from a person’s visual cortex into the advanced “robodog,” Newsflash reported. The current key to keeping the bots on course are flickering beacons — seen as augmented reality in the headsets — which work as waypoints that the canine-like automatons move toward. “You don’t have to think anything specific to operate the robot, but you do...

ntegrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) iteration is creating problems for soldiers in tests. Some testers suffered nausea, headaches and eyestrain while using the augmented reality goggles. Others were concerned about bulk, a limited field of view and a display glow that could reveal a soldier's position even at long distances. The Defense Department's Operational Test and Evaluation Director, Nickolas Guertin, also said there were still too many failures for essential features. Soldier acceptance is still low, according to the report. The tests are part of a "Soldier Touch Point" program that helps the Army collect real-world feedback and help Microsoft...

It looks like you want to increase your lethality. Do you want some help with that? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has responded to employees' concerns over the company's decision to flog its HoloLens tech to the US military.The deal, worth nearly half a billion dollars, was signed off last November and will see the US military just as disappointed with its field of view as the rest of us, to the tune of 100,000 units.At the time, the goal of the project was to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy".Microsoft to staff:...

More than 150 Microsoft employees signed a letter demanding the tech giant cancel a $480 million contract to build a HoloLens for the Pentagon, saying they "refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression." "We are alarmed that Microsoft is working to provide weapons technology to the U.S. military, helping one country's government 'increase lethality' using tools we built. We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used," the letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith, which was posted to Twitter, states. The employees represent the latest big tech backlash, coming from...

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve probably cursed Microsoft more than most normally well-adjusted adults. And I think that Microsoft defines the situation antitrust laws were written to address. Still, there’s a reason Corporate Boards run public companies not employees. And this is it: Microsoft Workers' Letter Demands Company Drop $479 Million HoloLens Military Contract. The workers object to the company taking a $479 million contract last year to supply tech for the military’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS. Under the project, Microsoft, the maker of the HoloLens augmented reality headset, could eventually provide more than 100,000 headsets designed for...

A group of Microsoft workers is demanding the company cancel a contract supplying the U.S. Army with HoloLens headsets that they say would turn real-world battlefields into a video game. Microsoft's head-mounted HoloLens displays use augmented reality, which means viewers can see virtual imagery superimposed over the scenery in front of them. A letter signed by more than 50 Microsoft employees Friday and circulated on an internal messaging board said the technology could help soldiers spot — and kill — adversaries on the battlefield....

Hot Chips Microsoft today revealed a first look at the inside of its Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) chip used in its virtual reality HoloLens specs. The secretive HPU is a custom-designed TSMC-fabricated 28nm coprocessor that has 24 Tensilica DSP cores arranged in 12 clusters. It has about 65 million logic gates, 8MB of SRAM, and a layer of 1GB of low-power DDR3 RAM on top, all in a 12mm-by-12mm BGA package. We understand it can perform a trillion calculations a second. It handles all the environment sensing and other input and output necessary for the virtual-reality goggles. It aggregates data...

At its Computex Taipei keynote today, Microsoft announced sweeping plans to build off its HoloLens experiment by creating a fully-fledged Windows Holographic platform for hardware partners. The platform is aimed at VR and AR headset makers; Microsoft demonstrated an HTC Vive working in tandem with a HoloLens on stage. After the presentation, Windows chief Terry Myerson and OEMs VP Nick Parker took questions on the initiative in a meeting with reporters. "The framework with which we're approaching this... we have a Microsoft HoloLens device where we're going to push hard on what's possible with Microsoft HoloLens," Myerson said, when asked...

Dev kit for Redmond super-specs will set you back $3,000 Microsoft has opened up its Hololens augmented reality hardware for pre-order with a shipping date of March 30. The Redmond giant said it would begin sending invitations to developers who pre-applied for the preview edition of the hardware. Those who get invites from Microsoft will now be able to fork over the $3,000 price tag for the hardware and receive their kit in late March or early April. While the APIs for Hololens have already been released by Microsoft, this will mark the first time developers have had a chance...

Good news for those who want a hands-on preview of the Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset - the company's New York City store is offering these immersive previews. Bad news - these previews are appointment-only, and are only open to developers, not regular consumers. Developers interested in working on HoloLens projects can pay $3,000 for Microsoft's Development Edition build. But first, Microsoft wants developers to give HoloLens a bit of a test drive before committing to that premium amount of money. The thing, however, is that you'll have to schedule an appointment if you're an interested developer, and that there...

2016 is set to be a huge year for Microsoft. Its first HoloLens kits will hit the market, Build 2016 will provide more evidence of the company's shift to the cloud and mobile, and a new Microsoft phone may surface. Following on from the first full calendar year with CEO Satya Nadella at the helm, Redmond is moving on from a year where it revamped almost all of its major business lines. Windows, Surface, Lumia and Office all made the headlines with huge launches. Column after column has been written about Microsoft's newfound confidence, redefining both hardware and software categories....

The HoloLens will display 3D images in front of a user's eyes. The 3D images will intermingle with a user's real-world environment to create a unique experience. Microsoft's upcoming headset is not trying to be a virtual reality device. Instead, it is an "augmented reality." Someone wearing the device could see some objects on a table that are not really there, and they will be able to interact with them as if they were real and actually in front of them. When someone who is not wearing a HoloLens sees someone who is wearing one, they will think some of...

We've learned some amazing things about Microsoft's Windows Holographic platform since it was announced back in January. We know that NASA is using it to virtually explore Mars, and you can play Minecraft on your coffee table, and today we learned that the company will integrate all universal apps running on Windows 10 into the experience. But a short demo near the end of today's Microsoft Build 2015 keynote showed us a little bit more about how HoloLens can help blend virtual reality with the real world to create what the company calls "mixed reality." A small metal robot drove...

Without a doubt, the biggest surprise from today's Windows 10 keynote at Microsoft's Redmond campus was the outfit unveiling its HoloLens headset. Dubbed as the "first fully untethered, holographic computer" the device and its capabilities looked pretty neat -- if a little fantastical -- onstage when Alex Kipman showed it off. But for all his talk about breaking down the walls between technology and people, there are a surprising amount of them around exactly what the device is packing under the hood. We asked every person at the event that we could (developers, public relations folks, engineers) about the specs...