While augmented reality has already been used in a lot of applications such as games and virtual training, the US Army has decided to take things up a notch and use the technology for weapons. What the US Army did is create a whole battle set that makes use of AR called Tactical Augmented Reality or TAR for short. The TAR system would give an edge to the soldiers by allowing them to have a clear cut overview of the whole battlefield and the people in it.

The TAR is a very useful system that was designed to make moving in the battlefield easier for the soldiers. It was created by the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Commands Communications Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center and was made to replace traditional tools. It is now being used by soldiers while the research and development department has been making further advancements.

The amazing thing about TAR is that it reduces the need for soldiers to have so many pieces of equipment under their belt. This one piece of equipment already has multiple uses such as a very comprehensive GPS system. This GPS system can help locate the whereabouts of the holder as well as his or her teammates and unidentified people.

Connected to the TAR system is also a set of night vision goggles allowing one to scan through the battlefield at night. Night battles are extremely tough because they impair the vision of the combatants. Having a pair of night vision goggles plus a comprehensive GPS system will definitely give the soldiers an edge when they go out in the field.

Before the TAR was created, the cadets had to make use of a hand held device similar to a phone in order to control the GPS system. With this TAR system though, they do not need to do that anymore because their devices would already geo register their location automatically. The great part about it is that the locator is wirelessly connected to the headset and eyepiece so there will be no wires to wear the holders down.

Now, it may be a bit hard to imagine what the TAR looks like so here is an idea of the whole setup. It is actually an eyepiece and headset that is connected to a tablet without any wire. The TAR system is also connected to a thermal sight attached to a rifle. So without the need for any wires, a soldier has a complete battle set ready for any action.

Another cool thing about this system is that it enables the soldiers to share information with each other. First, they can share location coordinates with each other. Aside from that, they can also share images of the terrain through the wireless system.

This great invention is a revolutionary one for the US Army. In the age of technology, battlefield tactics must also be upgraded in order to better the performance of the soldiers and enable them with lighter equipment to make them more agile. With this rather new invention, it is possible to work better as a team, save up cost on those bulky equipment, move at a faster pace, and overall increase performance.