In Mark Bowden’s book “Black Hawk Down,” he notes that young soldiers repeatedly describe the shocking surreality of combat as “like being in a movie.” As the book covers events that occurred in 1993, these soldiers have no other frame of reference.
The soldier of today grew up in a very different world, and in future, will surely describe combat as “like being in a video game.” Particularly now that this EagleEye, an AI-powered helmet system developed by defense technology company Anduril, has been created.
The EagleEye pulls in information not only from its front and rear cameras, but from data sensors across the battlefield: Real-time drone footage, fellow soldiers’ helmets, intelligence coming from HQ. Built-in AI aggregates the information and projects it onto a heads-up display showing friendly and enemy positions, fields of fire and mapped objectives. These are presented using a combination of AR overlays and a video-game-like circular map.
A “rearview mirror” shows the soldier what’s directly behind him or her.
The helmet’s built-in hearing protection muffles the sound of gunfire, but audio sensors can also pinpoint the locations of gunfire; signals sensors can locate nearby cell phones and radios.
In a sensor-rich environment, the helmet essentially gives the soldier X-ray vision and an unparalleled situational awareness. And yes, it all looks like something you’d see in a video game:
That said, the moment the soldiers walk behind the shipping container does indeed remind me of a movie, “Total Recall.”
The EagleEye was privately developed by Anduril and presented to the U.S. Army, who has greenlit active field prototyping. A hundred or so units will be delivered next year for evaluation.