Virtual Reality Visor Could Help Protect Drivers.

• Position: NEWS BRIEFS

Honeywell Aerospace is working to make driving ground combat vehicles safer with an augmented reality headset.

As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Ground-X Vehicles technology program, the company demonstrated a visor that provides the driver with a 160-degree virtual reality image of outside terrain. Drivers can then operate in an enclosed, windowless vehicle, "which would then allow the driver to be safe, protected from snipers, shrapnel or anything else," Brian Aleksa, senior technical manager of research and development at the company, said in an interview.

"In a Bradley or a Stryker... oftentimes the driver has to look through a little periscope [and] has a very constrained field of view. Or oftentimes the guys will drive lids up to try to get as best situational experience as they can from driving the vehicle, which exposes them," he explained.

Through DARPA, Honeywell began researching the concept in 2015 and continued work on the system under a contract that continued through August 2017, according to a company news release. The system was tested outside of Phoenix, where it was used to help operators drive an enclosed all-terrain vehicle for one mile, Aleska said. It is possible to expand the technology to provide the driver with a full 360-view by integrating additional cameras and sensors, he noted.

It could also potentially be used with "any kind of ground vehicle," he said...