Ravenswood awarded AR contract to support Dutch Army

The Royal Netherlands Army Command has awarded RavenswoodSolutions (Ravenswood) a contract for a modular augmented reality (AR) trackingequipment for observers (MARTE-O) kit.

The MARTE-O kit is a power-efficient, conformal, andwearable design that includes a binocular module, head-mounted display, sensorand graphics modules, and a tablet to operate the system. MARTE-O isRavenswood’s solution to the challenge of training military forward observersin a safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable fashion. The AR system wasdeveloped by Ravenswood, in partnership with SRI International and LockheedMartin, for the Office of Naval Research on behalf of the US Marine Corps.

MARTE-O can be used anywhere in the world and lowerstraining costs by simulating vehicles, aircraft and munitions. AR eliminatesthe boundaries of ranges, aircraft and munitions availability, and weather. WithAR, troops can train wherever and whenever is most convenient and accessible. Deployedto actual ranges in austere conditions, troops can hone their skills in callingfor close air support (CAS), artillery, naval gunfire, and casualty evacuation(CASEVAC), when air assets, artillery, targets, or munitions are unavailable,or their use is cost-prohibitive. Bypassing legacy training limitations of livefire, this training can be used on non-traditional ranges, such as an actualurban metropolis or a no-fly zone.

With multiple iterations, observers exponentially increaseproficiency with each evolution. Troops who once trained annually can practiceregularly, and troops who are not specialized Fires Observers or Controllerswill be able to train for incidental fire support.