The US Army’s Application Laboratory (AAL) awarded a massive contract to mixed reality (MR) firm Taqtile to complete the former’s Augmented Reality Maintainer-Operator Relay System (ARMORS) platform, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The Army’s Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract will provide the Seattle, Washington-based firm with crucial funding to expand its Manifest platform for the former’s Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) requirements for vehicles.
Taqtile’s Manifest AR platform successfully trialled in a Phase 1 programme, allowing military soldiers and staff to digitally transform their maintenance protocols while boosting safety, efficiency, and accuracy. The digitised processes also significantly scale back paper-based procedures.
Thomas Mead, AAL Project Manager, said,
“Modernization isn’t only about helicopters and drones and the capital platforms. AAL is excited to continue work with Taqtile on a solution that will actually improve soldiers’ experiences in their routine work.”
He added Manifest would provide soldiers with a “state-of-the-art upgrade” to conduct preventative maintenance on vehicles to “save time and money while improving readiness.”
According to Mr Kelly Malone, Chief Customer Officer for Taqtile,
“The nature of service in the Army results in a high amount of turnover in its motor pools as soldiers rotate through their assignments. The expanded use of Manifest with Army personnel will clearly demonstrate that we are uniquely capable of delivering knowledge right to operators and the equipment they’re working on, helping them perform like experts”
The news comes just days after the US Army trialled Taqtile’s platform with Fort Stewart’s 3rd Infantry Division using AR-powered headsets to conduct maintenance operations.
Several army officials lauded the Taqtile-Microsoft effort as a “game-changer,” adding it provided easy-to-understand AR visuals for remote repairs and was expected to have a “positive impact” on the military.
