The Army wants Microsoft to "substantially" lower the price of its $80,000 HoloLens-based goggles
Back in 2018, Microsoft began prototyping the Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) augmented reality glasses and was awarded a $480 million contract by the Army for 100,000 units.
The HoloLens-based goggles that Microsoft is selling to the US Army have had a long and difficult history. While the hardware and software issues of the early models appear to have been addressed in the latest version, the problem now is the price: the military branch wants the headsets to "be substantially less" than the current cost of $80,000 per unit.
Back in 2018, Microsoft began prototyping the Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) augmented reality glasses and was awarded a $480 million contract by the Army for 100,000 units.
The initial agreement was expanded in March 2021, ensuring Microsoft will provide finalized production versions, parts, and support in an agreement potentially worth up to $21.9 billion across a decade. The Army ordered an initial 5,000 units, valued at $373 million, with around 121,000 to be delivered over the course of the deal.
The project has been far from smooth from the beginning. The goggles' rollout was pushed back from fiscal year 2021 to 2022, but the Army said it remained fully committed to the deal.
In April 2022, the DOD warned that the massive purchase could be a waste of taxpayer money. There was worse news for Microsoft that year when an army tester said that the headsets pose a danger to soldiers due to the light they generate while active, which could alert enemy forces to a wearer's location.
Article