Q-Warrior headgear is Google Glass for the battlefield

One of the more interesting of the current crop of wearables is Google Glass. This wearable headset has caused a lot of controversy so far with some places banning people from wearing the headset inside out of privacy concerns. One woman in California was ticketed for wearing Google Glass while driving, but the ticket was later dismissed.

Soldiers on the battlefield may soon be getting a Glass-like headset called the Q-Warrior that is designed to live stream data to soldiers on the ground. The headgear was developed by BAE Systems and gives the soldier a 3D display outlining what is going on in areas they can't see. The goal is to give the solider improved situational awareness and make them safer.

The headgear and systems are in place now that can do things like stream drone video feeds to the solider on the ground via the headsets. Getting the hardware and infrastructure ready isn't holding this tech back from coming to the battlefield. What is holding the tech back is security.

The military has to be sure that the streaming video can't be hacked allowing the enemy to intercept the drone feed. Other things that have to be investigated include the ease of blocking the transmissions. Military officials also have to decide how much data to provide the solider and how much information is too much. There is no time frame for rolling the tech out right now. When it does hit the battlefield, it is expected to be tested by a small number of soldiers, likely Special Forces, before rolling out to the general population.

SOURCE: Mashable