Microsoft's Combat Goggles Fail to Win Congressional Approval for More Funding

Microsoft Corp. will not be receiving any more orders for its combat goggles after Congress rejected the US Army's request for $400 million to purchase up to 6,900 of them this fiscal year.
The request for funding for the HoloLens goggles was rejected in the government funding bill. This reflects the concern over the field tests of the goggles, which showed that they caused headaches, eyestrain and nausea.
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Instead of using the $40 million in procurement funds to purchase new night vision goggles, lawmakers have approved transferring the funds to develop a new model of the goggles, Army spokesman David Patterson said in an email.
The Army is projecting that it will spend up to $21.9 billion on 121,000 devices, spares and support services over the next decade. It has already ordered the first 5,000 goggles, which will be used for training as the improved model is developed.
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The Army awarded a $125 million task order for a new model of the Abrams tank last month. The money for this came from the previous year's appropriations. The new model, labeled version 1.2, is an improvement on the previous model.
Earlier this year, Microsoft's Army Goggles left soldiers with nausea and headaches. The company has since made changes to the product, but it's unclear if they will be enough to fix the issue.
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The service said in a statement that the 1.2 version of the task order will include improvements based on completed test events to address physiological impacts identified during testing, and a lower profile Heads-Up Display with distributed counterweight for improved user interface and comfort. The software improvements in the 1.2 version will also aim to improve reliability and reduce power demand.

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A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the congressional actions.
After testing the new version of the device for three weeks, the Army has decided to roll it out to 70 infantry soldiers. The soldiers wore the devices during three 72-hour scenarios involving movement toward an enemy, an attack and a defensive mission. The results were very positive, and the Army is confident that the device will help them in future operations.
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The results of the exercise were not encouraging, with US soldiers reporting headaches, eyestrain and nausea, according to a summary compiled by the Pentagon’s testing office.
More than 80% of those who experienced discomfort had symptoms after less than three hours using the goggles. The system also appears to be experiencing a high number of failures of essential functions, according to the test office.