Palmer Luckey says he wants to 'turn warfighters into technomancers' as Anduril takes over production of the US Army's IVAS AR headset from Microsoft
Microsoft has announced that it is getting out of the Kill-O-Vision headset business, more formally known as the US Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program. While the company's «advanced cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities will continue to provide a robust backbone for the program,» responsibility for actually making the headsets and the software that runs them is being taken over by Anduril Industries, the defense contractor co-founded in 2017 by Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey.
Microsoft said Anduril's «mission focus» as a defense technology company «will ensure future program development specifically tailored to the evolving needs of the Army.» It will also, apparently, enable a lower per-unit cost of the IVAS headsets, which is something of a priority for the military: The US Army signed a $22 billion deal with Microsoft to develop the headsets in 2021, but by 2024—and following various complaints about the headsets including size, weight, and the fact that the glow of the screen could apparently be seen from a very long distance, enabling enemy soldiers to tell exactly where the wearer's head happens to be at any given moment—the Army was asking if perhaps Microsoft could do something about the price tag.
The shift may also help mollify Microsoft shareholders and employees who were less than keen on the company's dealings with the US Army, specifically the potential «reputational and financial risks to the company for being identified as a company involved in the development of weapons used by the military.» With Anduril, of course, that's not a concern: Making weapons is literally all it does.
«The IVAS program represents the future of mission command, combining technology and human capability to give soldiers the edge they need on the battlefield,» Luckey said. «The ultimate goal is to create a military ecosystem where technology acts as an extension of human capability. By empowering soldiers with the tools they need to make faster,
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