South African defense firm Paramount Land Systems is collaborating with Europe’s Defensphere to develop a mixed reality technology to enhance soldiers’ situational awareness.
Dubbed the Vegvisir Mixed Reality Situational Awareness System (XRSAS), the tech will reportedly provide armored vehicle personnel with “through the wall,” 360-degree visibility of the battlefield.
It utilizes state-of-the-art videographic systems, four layers of sensor systems, and various algorithms in synthesizing camera imaging.
Military personnel inside armored vehicles can use a video headset for a mixed-reality overview of activities in the immediate periphery or objects of interest that may be significantly further away.
According to Paramount, the XRSAS is being developed according to NATO standards and integrated into platforms such as unmanned land vehicles, stand-alone sensors, and battlefield management systems.
‘Increasing Demand’
Paramount Land Systems chief executive officer Deon Grobler explained that it has become a crucial advantage for armed forces to observe, decide, and engage in time-sensitive scenarios with greater efficiency.
That is why there is “increasing demand” for outstanding levels of situational awareness on the battlefield, he said.
According to the developers, mixed reality technology would prove advantageous in modern, high-intensity conflict.
“Vegvisir and technologies like it offer today critical actionable intelligence to help decision makers on and off the field of combat to have all the information and understanding that they would need to reach sound conclusions,” Defensphere official Ingvar Pärnamäe remarked.