Instead of $425 million, Microsoft will get $125 million to improve and produce HoloLens for the U.S. Army

Three months ago we wrote that the HoloLens mixed reality headset for the U.S. Army was causing headaches, nausea, and eye fatigue for soldiers. Because of this, Microsoft was left without a big contract.

Here's What We Know

Microsoft Combat Goggles is a mixed reality headset for the U.S. Army. It is based on a commercial version of HoloLens. In the first half of 2022, tests showed that soldiers began to have problems with their well-being when using Microsoft's device. For this reason, the U.S. Congress rejected $425 million in funding.

However, the United States decided not to completely abandon the services of the American company. The Department of Defense sees the prospect and is ready to invest $22 billion in the program for 10 years. Microsoft will continue to work on the mixed reality headset for the U.S. Army, but will receive more modest funding.

The Pentagon is giving the Redmond-based company $40 million to fix flaws that were discovered during tests last year. In addition, Microsoft will get $125 million to produce an updated version of Combat Goggles v1.2.

The mixed reality headset provides the ability to project mission-critical information. Combat Goggles also provide coordinated visual communication between multiple units and have night vision capability.

Source: Bloomberg