Microsoft just keeps on winning. A little over a year ago, Microsoft won a cloud contract from Pentagon reportedly worth more than $10 billion, and now it has won yet another contract with the U.S government.
This time around, Microsoft has landed a contract with the United States Army. The recent deal will have them delivering more than 120,000 devices based on the Microsoft HoloLens AR headset over the course of 10 years. The deal is believed to be worth as much as $22 billion. Microsoft Land Second Multibillion-Dollar Contract For the next 10 years, Microsoft will supply the United States Army with heavily customized versions of their HoloLens AR headsets.
Microsoft's multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S Army was first unveiled three years ago. However, as early as just last year, the Senate considered freezing as much as half of the said contract. Now, it's going to proceed as planned.
As per the agreement, the initial run will be for five years with another five-year option available for a total of ten years. The deal will have one of the world's premier software makers manufacturing augmented-reality devices based on their HoloLens augmented reality headset for the United States Army.
Microsoft's HoloLens AR headset was first introduced years ago. It currently has a market price of $3,500. The headset affords users the ability to see overlaid holograms over actual environments that they can actually interact with using voice gestures as well as their hands.
The earlier prototypes that Microsoft made for the United States Army are known as Integrated Visual Augmented System or IVAS. It reportedly had a system that helped users know where to aim using their weapons. It also had a map, a compass display, and thermal imaging that makes seeing in pitch black possible.