Time for a Halo Push Prize
Next year a group of U.S. infantry will become the first soldiers ever to use wearable electronics in actual combat.
It's been a long time coming. The Land Warrior program was first proposed in 1991. Three generations of hardware/software later, we might have something useful:
Radios and GPS locators come standard. A helmet-mounted monocle lets the soldier know he and his buddies are on a satellite-powered map. That same monocle is connected to the weapon sight, so the infantryman can, in effect, shoot around corners. The sight also serves as a long-range zoom, with twelve times amplification. "It makes every rifleman a marksman," Colonel Richard Hansen, Land Warrior's project manager, crows. Night vision, and laser targeting – which once required clunky binoculars, or attachments to the gun -- are now built in, too.
And the fact that all of the soldiers can be tracked in real time means that friendly fire accidents should occur less often. But of course that means that network security is a BIG issue.
One commentor had a great idea.
...has there been any real keeping-up with progress made in the civilian world?
low-power CPUs, Bluetooth/UWB, low-power OLED screens, cheap GPS and cameras, a lot has changed since the early '90s.. And it's gotten cheap.
I wonder how much of Land Warrior could be built in a garage using COTS parts and some clever programming? I'd bet we could see some interesting analogues on a paintball field first..
Brilliant! DARPA should start an annual Halo Push Prize open to universities and weekend warriors alike. The team that can demonstrate the best wearable electronics in real-world conditions wins. This would require that teams compete against each other Survivor-style. You could end up with corporate sponsors. Intel v. AMD.
Hopefully it would look something like this:
...eventually.
Hattip to Instapundit.
Comments
Actually, it looks more like The Colonial Marines, from the 1986 move Aliens. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
-Jim
Posted by: Jim Strickland![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 23, 2006 12:07 PM
I like the idea of paintball as a lab environment for real combat technology. And it does seem like a lot of folks are receiving advanced military training through Halo and other games.
But the government really needs to work on those FDA-like time scales to get things approved. A push prize might be just the answer!
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 07:34 AM
And it does seem like a lot of folks are receiving advanced military training through Halo and other games.
You're kidding of course, right Phil?
Advanced military training consists of, yes, acquiring skill-sets but the real take-away is learning how to put be a soldier - to be tired and still carry on, to work for 18 hours in horrid conditions because 'the mission requires it' and doing it all with a 'can do' attitude.
Posted by: bdunbar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 08:16 AM
Excellent points, but I wasn't kidding. Just a poor choice of words. Game players are developing and honing skill sets that were not previously available. This can't prepare someone for all the hardships of war, much less make a soldier out of him or her, but apparently there is great benefit to this approach nonetheless.
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 08:42 AM
Huh, bdunbar. Pretty soon you'll be claiming that Starcraft isn't an adequate replacement for basic training. That's just crazy talk.
Posted by: Karl Hallowell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 01:55 PM
Folks on the original post and this blog don't quite understand that there is an amazingly good reason why military computers lag off-the-shelf hardware.
As a test to prove this, please take your computer, and drop it out a 2-story window.
Wash it with a firehose.
Mod your roomba to use your motherboard as a dust filter, and run it for weeks in a sewer.
Put your computer in your oven, and bake a pie on it.
If your computer can't handle it, it doesn't belong on a soldier.
Making things rugged and reliable is essential. I promise you that it isn't a job for universities. They are sheltered from military grade requirements, for good reason: they can't possibly afford to make things rugged when doing pre-proof-of-concept prototypes and research.
Posted by: kbot![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 03:10 PM
I agree with you about the requirements for equipment on a soldier, but will note that this test
As a test to prove this, please take your computer, and drop it out a 2-story window.
and the others would trash the mil-spec computing equipment I used in the Marines. Of course none of that was intended to be worn, just used in the field.
Just saying.
This can't prepare someone for all the hardships of war, much less make a soldier out of him or her, but apparently there is great benefit to this approach nonetheless.
Agreed. There were Marines in the early 90s using a modified DOOM for this reason, and stories of MEU-SOCs deployed using the system to model potential targets for walk-throughs.
You use the tools you've got - and computers are a great tool for the reasons the WaPo article lays out.
It's also a great deal cheaper.
Posted by: bdunbar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 24, 2006 03:45 PM