Jane Edwards
The U.S. Army concluded a squad-level assessment of the latest prototype of Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, Breaking Defense reported Friday.
Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division tested the phase 2 IVAS 1.2 prototype for five days starting Jan. 22 at Picatinny Arsenal’s Tactical Behavioral Research Lab in New Jersey.
“The [user assessment’s] purpose is to measure system performance to ensure the phase 2 IVAS 1.2 prototype systems continue to meet design objectives,” David Patterson, a spokesperson for Army Program Executive Office Soldier, told the publication in an email.
According to Patterson, Microsoft produced 10 IVAS 1.2 phase 2 prototypes in December, integrating some changes requested by Army officials. The latest prototype now comes with a hinged design with a 60-degree field-of-view.
The Army expects Microsoft to produce and deliver the remaining 270 phase 2 IVAS 1.2 prototypes and continue to assess the devices in preparation for a company-lever user assessment in 2025.
“Our focus for IVAS 1.2 phase 2 is to demonstrate a path to mass production with quality and processes for assembly and calibration at production quality,” a spokesperson for Microsoft wrote in an email. “We continue to make progress and deliver on the goals set out for this phase.”
The new service branch’s augmented reality headset transitioned into Phase 2 of development in September.
