End of Hololens: Microsoft hands over military contracts to Anduril
Microsoft discontinues all development of the Hololens, including the military version –, which is taken over by Palmer Luckey's company Anduril.
US soldier with a prototype military version of the Microsoft Hololens.
(Image: Frederick Shear, DVIDS)
Microsoft is finally ending its foray into hardware production for augmented reality (AR) and, following the discontinuation of the Hololens 2, is also discontinuing the military version. The development of the military Hololens and the contracts with the US Army will now be taken over by the defense startup Anduril Industries.
The two companies have entered into a partnership. As part of this partnership agreement, Anduril will take over the supervision of production, the future development of hardware and software as well as delivery deadlines. In other words, Anduril will take over the entire Hololens business from Microsoft. For the military, the AR program runs under the name Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).
However, the US Department of Defense still has to approve the agreement. One of the four Anduril co-founders is an old acquaintance: Palmer Luckey, who previously founded Oculus VR and sold it to Facebook for 2 billion US dollars in 2014. The three other co-founders were previously at Palantir.
Glasses from Anduril, cloud connection from Microsoft
Microsoft will continue to provide the cloud infrastructure for the project. Anduril writes: "This agreement also establishes Microsoft Azure as Anduril's preferred hyperscale cloud for all workloads related to IVAS and Anduril AI technologies."
In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft's Head of Mixed Reality Robin Seiler underlined: "We remain committed to the IVAS program and will shift our focus to cloud and AI technologies that will serve as the foundation for IVAS as a situational awareness platform."
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The US military is currently using IVAS prototypes as an alternative to night vision devices and for threat detection. For example, the glasses warn of drones outside their field of vision.
Microsoft discontinued production of the Hololens 2 in the fall of 2024, but plans to continue delivering software updates until 2027. There will not be a successor model. Development had already begun in summer 2022 after Hololens developer Alex Kipman left Microsoft. However, the manufacturer initially stuck with the military version.
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