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Congress has denied the Army\u2019s request to buy up to 6,900 headsets based on Microsoft\u2019s HoloLens technology<\/a>, according to a report from Bloomberg<\/em><\/a>. The military was apparently asking for around $400 million \u2014 instead, it\u2019s getting around a tenth of that to go toward improving the system, as previous versions reportedly caused<\/a> \u201cmission-affecting physical impairments,\u201d such as headaches and nausea during tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It was those results that reportedly led to the budget for new headsets, called Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems or IVAS by the Army, not being included in the government\u2019s $1.75 trillion spending bill<\/a>. The Army says it plans to fix those, though, with a version 1.2 that will include \u201ca new form factor\u201d meant to address the physical symptoms, as well as \u201ca lower profile heads-up display with distributed counterweight for improved user interface and comfort\u201d and software improvements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a statement published earlier this month<\/a>, the Army said it would place orders for completed 1.2 IVAS headsets \u201cafter qualification and operational testing.\u201d So far, around 1,000 soldiers have provided feedback based on 100,000 hours of testing with previous versions. According to Bloomberg<\/em>, it awarded Microsoft around $125 million to develop version 1.2, in addition to the $40 million that Congress recently approved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The headsets are part of a potentially multibillion-dollar contract<\/a> between Microsoft and the Army and have been in development since 2018<\/a>. The purpose of the IVAS is to provide soldiers with real-time information from sensors and navigation systems, as well as night and thermal vision and augmented-reality training.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So far, the Army has ordered around 5,000 headsets, but its contract could let it order up to 120,000 over a decade. It\u2019s not necessarily a surprise that Congress is putting the brakes on new orders for now, though; in 2022, a Senate committee reportedly slashed the Army\u2019s procurement request for more headsets in 2023 in a preview of what would happen with the budget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n