While commercial companies and financial institutions have only recently begun to enter the new metaverse, the US Army has been working on its own version of the virtual world for several years.
Although businesses, large and small, have been focusing more seriously on the metaverse in the past year, the use of augmented reality, virtual reality, headsets and 3D simulations has long been used in the military. However, the outcome of the project being implemented in the army is very different from the metaverse envisioned by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta.
The US Army has recently begun research into creating complex virtual worlds, and now it is possible that all of their previous technologies will be connected in a metaverse-like format. The country's Air Force previously held a high-level conference in a virtual environment in December 2021.
Caitlin Dorman, director of the Improbable Defense Unit, says the U.S. military’s goal is to integrate these technologies. On the other hand, Lucky Palmer, co-founder of defense company Anduril, believes that the potential of the metaverse in military affairs is huge because it significantly reduces the cost of training.
However, efforts to integrate the virtual and real worlds have so far faced many challenges. One leaked document from Microsoft shows that engineers of the IVAS system, or the military version of HoloLens, do not expect consumers to respond well to the device. However, the U.S. military has shown in the past that it pays special attention to virtual technologies and has carried out many projects in this regard.
The U.S. military has been using metaverse technologies for years.
For example, a combination of augmented reality, artificial intelligence and video games has allowed fighter pilots to practice fighting enemies in cyberspace. According to Red 6, the company that developed the technology, the military can use these technologies to assess pilots’ abilities more comprehensively than with conventional simulators. Red 6’s augmented reality technology works with much less latency than conventional AR or VR headsets.
Other recent U.S. military technologies in the metaverse include the F-35 fighter jet helmet, which uses augmented reality to display data such as distance and subject information. In 2018, the military announced that it was asking Microsoft to build a special version of the HoloLens headset in a $22 billion contract.
Augmented and virtual reality have become a regular part of U.S. military training in recent years. Project BlueShark is a system that allows sailors to control ships in a virtual environment. Project Avenger is also used by Navy pilots. Additionally, these technologies are being used to help treat disorders such as PTSD.
