The military is always good for some interesting twist on new technology, and this is the case with latest news from the US Navy Research Lab (NRL) which announced a new initiative, the BEMR (Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality) program. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) initiated this new program to introduce mixed reality (AR / VR) solutions into the training and operation of naval ships. You have to admire the dedication of the military folks to come up with catchy names for their high tech adventures.
The BEMR Lab has a goal to “evaluate, integrate and exploit commercial mixed reality (MxR) technology for adaptation to the battlespace to increase and broaden the US warfighter’s asymmetric advantage in the reduced cost paradigm”. This is quite a mouthful and mostly hints at using commercially available technology in all kinds of military operations. At the current time they seem to be looking mostly at command and control, training, intelligence, communications and the like as potential targets.
Source: US NRL – BEMR Lab
From a technology perspective, it seems that they are still open to looking at all platforms, even though the video (http://tinyurl.com/pots28h) shows the use of the Oculus Rift. There is also the reference to mixed reality, a term that was introduced by Microsoft for its HoloLens platform. It is not quite clear what NRL means by that, as there is seems a clear understanding that augmented and virtual reality that differ because augmented reality allows the user to see real life images and computer generated content overlaid at the same time. It seems that Microsoft’s marketing gurus felt the need to create a new term to set themselves apart from other players already in the market with similar solutions. This “name making” approach also seems to apply for Microsoft’s ‘holographic’ technology, which they have not explained to the public so far.
Just in case you didn’t catch it, the attached picture is taken from NRL’s latest video and introduces a virtual host that shows the officers what this technology could do for them. BEMR stated that it is bringing in commanders on a one by one basis to introduce this new technology to them and see what is considered most helpful. That is a very interesting approach, especially since one would not expect that the US Navy would introduce such technology on a case by case basis. It seems that good old marketing is even important in the military. (NH)
