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Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

reuters.com

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Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#91

Post by hutzlibu »

blunte wrote: post #38
high_priest wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is one big war. Just because you live in a pleasant neighbourhood, doesn't mean there are no malevolent people in the world...

I believe that many malevolent people, or at least their followers, would be much less malevolent or active if they had their basic needs met plus a little bit of cushion to enjoy life. To be more specific, many of the worst people have lived through some truly horrible childhoods (often experiencing war and poverty as a child). Stop the cycle of war and poverty, and then see how naturally malevolent people are. We h…

" Stop the cycle of war and poverty, and then see how naturally malevolent people are."

So far it is only a hypothesis, that war can be avoided if people just would not starve anymore.

(I don't think there was really hunger in europe pre WW1 for example)

Also, assuming we would distribute ressources equally (nevermind the political means to achieve that for a moment):

It no doubt would be enough for everyone today.

But the world population is already going steeply up - with people starving.

So if it would go even much more up, if no one would be starving - would it then also be enough for 10 billion people? 20 billion? How much more roundup can the fields take?

So don't get me wrong. A world with no wars and where no one has to starve is definitely a noble cause I agree to. I just thinkt it is not so easy, if it is possible at all, since there was never a time in human history without. We don't know whether it can work out at all.

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#92

Post by remarkEon »

Enginerrrd wrote: post #37
remarkEon wrote: post #3

Anyone work this technology and can talk about it (without breaking whatever NDA of course)? I'm a former infantryman and ... let's just say I'm _extremely_ skeptical of this kind of technology for all but the most niche use-cases (think, AR for the driver in the hole of the truck). Obviously for pilots stuff similar to this has been around for a while, but the article is not really clear about how exactly this would…

I'm inclined to agree. While it might be nice in theory to have your battlefield painted with where the friendlies are or something, there are so many issues with that in practice I can't imagine it actually getting used by infantry. Just off the top: All the electronics shit is gonna add weight, bulk, and power requirements. It's gonna get dirty, fogs up, w/e. It's gonna not work for one reason or another b/c it can…

I agree with all of this.

I'll add one more: so much of what platoon leaders do now is teach about technology. There's only so many hours in the day for training, and (even back in 2013!) the load was starting to cause deficiency in basic combat tasks. We just didn't have the time between all the requirements to get everyone proficient in the myriad of sensor tech we ended up carrying. Plus, if it's possible to break something believe me a Private will figure out how to do it.

>What happens if your guys accidentally switch headsets after lunch?

This right here is a question I hope they're thinking about. In an actual fight, you may need to pick up gear off the ground. What happens if you can't, because "authentication"?

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#93

Post by rtx »

paxys wrote: post #25
ausbah wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

good for R&D I suppose

Private, patented R&D which benefits a single trillion-dollar corporation funded by public dollars. Too common in this country sadly.

>corporation

Public corporation, buy shares and enjoy the loot.

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#94

Post by trentnix »

blunte wrote: post #38
high_priest wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is one big war. Just because you live in a pleasant neighbourhood, doesn't mean there are no malevolent people in the world...

I believe that many malevolent people, or at least their followers, would be much less malevolent or active if they had their basic needs met plus a little bit of cushion to enjoy life. To be more specific, many of the worst people have lived through some truly horrible childhoods (often experiencing war and poverty as a child). Stop the cycle of war and poverty, and then see how naturally malevolent people are. We h…

> We have the productivity to afford that; we just have chosen to consolidate it to a relative few.

And absent the threat of violent force, how do you suppose we take that productivity from this relative few? My government threatens me with penalties and imprisonment if I don't give up my "fair share" via various taxes. And if I resist that, they use weapons to force me to comply.

Are you not just trading one definition of war for another?

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#95

Post by [deleted] »

HNewsInfosec wrote: post #76
high_priest wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is one big war. Just because you live in a pleasant neighbourhood, doesn't mean there are no malevolent people in the world...

Only because you live in a pleasant neighbourhood, doesn't mean you are not living in the neighbourhood that is causing tremendous suffering to the rest of the world.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#96

Post by proc0 »

blunte wrote: post #18

I don't look like a hippie, but I totally subscribe to the idea of "make love, not war". I imagine what the possibilities would be if we funded general non-military projects with the kind of money that goes into the military. Trillions have been spent on wars or war preparation, and of course the net result is worsening for humanity. What if instead that money were spend on helping humanity? Do we really need a confl…

I think war preparations probably prevent war, especially in the intelligence/communications area. Also the military does much more than just fight wars. There are many ways defense and recon tech can be used that have nothing to do with eliminating a target.

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#97

Post by hutzlibu »

datavirtue wrote: post #79
blunte wrote: post #18

I don't look like a hippie, but I totally subscribe to the idea of "make love, not war". I imagine what the possibilities would be if we funded general non-military projects with the kind of money that goes into the military. Trillions have been spent on wars or war preparation, and of course the net result is worsening for humanity. What if instead that money were spend on helping humanity? Do we really need a confl…

"I imagine what the possibilities would be if we funded general non-military projects with the kind of money that goes into the military." Amen. China is. They are building a new silk road that they will control. What's our answer? A bomb?

So china does not have a big military budget, too?

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#98

Post by verdverm »

withinrafael wrote: post #17
numakerg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work with the tech, but is there a use case for operating drones in the field? You want to peek around a corner or under a door, drop a tiny robot. Operate it with a handheld joystick and get a camera feed into your headset while still maintaining your regular field of vision. Final product won't necessarily take the form of the hololens. Might just be an attachment to whatever standard equipment they have, m…

Not really possible with HoloLens. This is AR not VR or a HUD.

Not true, you can watch YouTube in HL2 out of the box. There are videos of hobbyists visualizing a self-driving RC car from the HL2.

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#99

Post by TomK32 »

blunte wrote: post #18

I don't look like a hippie, but I totally subscribe to the idea of "make love, not war". I imagine what the possibilities would be if we funded general non-military projects with the kind of money that goes into the military. Trillions have been spent on wars or war preparation, and of course the net result is worsening for humanity. What if instead that money were spend on helping humanity? Do we really need a confl…

How about putting AR helmets onto generals, politicians and soldiers, all at once due to some special occasion, and never ever bringing them back from that alternative reality where they can keep playing eNdlessWar[1] while we get on with a better reality?

[1] maybe we are already playing it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eXistenZ

Re: Microsoft wins $21.9B contract with U.S. Army to supply AR headsets

#100

Post by kleer001 »

rtx wrote: post #80
blunte wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that many malevolent people, or at least their followers, would be much less malevolent or active if they had their basic needs met plus a little bit of cushion to enjoy life. To be more specific, many of the worst people have lived through some truly horrible childhoods (often experiencing war and poverty as a child). Stop the cycle of war and poverty, and then see how naturally malevolent people are. We h…

This is half true, today religion is the primary driver of conflict.

tribalism is the primary driver of conflict and has always been
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