The future of the Infantry Soldier's Headgear

[Gene2]

I happened to be searching through the typical sights I look at, and found a prototype Rockwell Collins Integrated Headgear System (IHS). I saw a video a while back on youtube of the same prototype being displayed on CNN, but I couldn't find any additional information on the exact version. So, hear it is...

http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1040

http://www.combatreform.com/defrev/AUSAWinterSymposiumandExhibition2007_FutureForceWarrior_RockwellCollinsFusedSensorHMD_1.jpg

[Freibier]

Color Nightvision sounds very cool!

[Gene2]

It will be even cooler when they knock the bulk down. Altogether the system weighs 5.2 pounds. If I went into battle, (I never have, but am just guessing) I sure think that would probably give me some sort of headache.

[Mr.Vegas]

That looks really good. I like how the whole NV device doesnt move to be seen through but just the eyepiece.

[Hispeed1]

I wish that it could be miniaturized and integrated into the ballistic helmet...

[Rekka]

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg18524865.900.html


This might interest some of you interested in colour NV.

[Fade]

Some pretty cool stuff!

[Beowulf]

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg18524865.900.html


This might interest some of you interested in color NV.

.....fixed

[Rekka]

Cheers for fixing the link.

[OMON]

http://www.combatreform.com/defrev/AUSAWinterSymposiumandExhibition2007_FutureForceWarrior_RockwellCollinsFusedSensorHMD_2.jpghttp://www.combatreform.com/defrev/AUSAWinterSymposiumandExhibition2007_FutureForceWarrior_RockwellCollinsFusedSensorHMD_3.jpg

[OMON]

this is the dutch color night vision

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2486/24865901.jpg



A new night-vision system developed for the Dutch military may signal the end of those grainy green and grey images we’ve all come to know. The new system, created by the TNO research lab, works by drawing colors from similar scenes in the system’s memory then mapping them onto the night-vision images (seen in the three-step process above), resulting in a more natural looking image. The researchers say the system will improve soldier’s reaction times and reduce fatigue that comes from staring at traditional night-vision images. Military for now, but we’re sure we’ll see plenty of other uses for the system sooner or later.


A REVOLUTIONARY night-vision system developed for the Dutch military makes night-time video images look as clear and colourful as those shot in broad daylight.

The idea was to improve on the fuzzy grey or green pictures that are the hallmark of today's night-vision systems. Although these monochrome images are an improvement on unaided night vision, their lack of colour can make them hard to interpret.

Full-colour night vision would help emergency services and the military better assess their surroundings, says Alex Toet of the TNO research lab in Soesterberg, the Netherlands, who led the team that developed the system. He says it will make it easier to judge distances, enhancing "situational awareness".

Today's night-vision cameras brighten dim images using circuitry that amplifies what little light there is. An alternative technology, which can be used in total darkness, uses infrared sensors to map the heat radiation that emanates from all objects.

But the detectors in night-vision cameras only pick up a limited range of wavelengths, so do not give enough information to generate a colour image, while thermal imaging cameras pick up no colour information at all. In both systems, the image is displayed in various intensities of green or grey, the colours people find easiest to see.

TNO's new system works by sampling the colours in daytime scenes of the same kind as are being viewed, and mapping them onto the night-vision images. The effect is dramatic (see Diagram), making obstacles and terrain much easier to cope with at night.

The research was funded by the Dutch military, whose previous attempts to fake colour effects in night-vision systems were unsuccessful. The results were often "psychedelic" and distracting, according to Sylvester de Bruin of the Dutch ministry of defence.

Toet's technique, revealed in the journal Displays (vol 26, p 15), produces natural-looking colour by sampling colour daytime images in the landscapes in which the system is expected to be used. These might include rural, urban and desert scenes, for example.

The system selects random pixels from the daytime image to obtain a sample of the range of colours in a typical environment. So a pastoral scene would have browns from the trees, greens from the grass, vegetation and tree canopies, and blues for the sky.

In conventional night-vision equipment these colours appear in monochrome shades. The new system maps these shades onto their colour equivalents, assigning say a light grey to the blue of the sky, or a deep, dark grey to the brown of tree trunks. When the system is later used to view a target scene at night, the mapping is reversed, replacing monochrome pixels in the night image with the closest matching colour from the sample image.

Toet envisages that night-vision goggles using the technology will have a range of settings - rural, urban, sea or desert, for example - each with its own mapping. A more advanced system could use GPS positioning data to choose colours based on the specific location where the system is being used.

The system's inventors hope it will improve soldiers' reaction times and reduce the fatigue that develops from scrutinising night images. Preliminary tests on 12 subjects have shown the colour-enhanced images radically improve people's ability to recognise objects.

The technology is being developed into a prototype for night-time helicopter manoeuvres. The initial aim, de Bruin says, is to see whether it improves a pilot's ability to avoid obstacles.

[bluffcove]

how are you going to aim your rifle with that periscope set up?

[OMON]

how are you going to aim your rifle with that periscope set up?

your other eye

[Ratamacue]

how are you going to aim your rifle with that periscope set up?Notice that it's set up over the left eye, whereas most people use their right eye for shooting (and the mount can presumably be switched over to the other eye). Additionally, there's a reason why the infrared laser has become a commonplace tool on rifles these days.

[Vandervahn]

...(and the mount can presumably be switched over to the other eye). ...

Yes, one can see how the Visor is actually mounted with a separate screw and only connected via cable. Turn the rubber ring around and it works on both eyes.

[hejab99]

Too heavy! I can't imagine having that thing on my head during black-out drives!