In a dark demonstration room on the 12th floor of an office building within sight of the Pentagon, a small group of tech-hungry defense journalists recently took turns with a blue gun and the Army s latest binocular night-vision goggles.
The 2½-pound set doesn t seem like much, but Army soldiers testing the device at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the dark of night are raving about the clarity and increased situational awareness.
The secret: black-and-white images combined with augmented reality.
The goggles use the same white phosphor technology used in 1950s black-and-white TV sets. Soldiers say it makes for clearer images than the green screens in legacy night-vision goggles. Targets and depth perception are further clarified by augmented reality outlines of people and landscape features.