Several armies around the world are already using smart glasses and innovative eye tracking technology from Vienna for education and training. An interview with Viewpointsystem owner and Managing Director Nils Berger.
The Viennese deep-tech company Viewpointsystem develops and produces internationally award-winning smart glasses based on eye tracking. The company’s data glasses are used by corporate customers worldwide for remote support and remote maintenance, for training and documentation as well as for research, training, education and analysis – increasingly also in the government and defense sector. We spoke to owner and CEO Nils Berger about the advantages and possibilities of the technology, as well as potential areas of application, international sales opportunities and the objectification of otherwise subjectively perceived visual behavior.
Mr. Berger, Viewpointsystem’s roots go back to the 2000s. What prompted you to take over the company in 2016 and significantly change its direction? Did you already have the security and defense market on your agenda at the time?
At the time, the company was anchored in the topic of road safety; the aim was to understand how accidents occur and why the people involved in the accident
may not have seen each other or may have seen each other too late. This is interesting in principle, but I also saw other possibilities for the technology: If I know where someone is looking, then I can more easily instruct and carry out remote maintenance in industrial situations, for example. So we developed the system further in this respect and in 2017 we came into contact with the topic of security in the broadest sense for the first time. At that time, we implemented our first small project in the blue light sector together with the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany.
Was it immediately clear that things could continue in this direction and that, in addition to the police, the rest of the government market would also be of interest to Viewpoint System?
Yes, that was immediately clear. Other interesting doors opened up immediately afterwards, but that didn’t surprise us either: After all, our technology helps us to understand what people – regardless of whether they are police officers, bodyguards or special forces – do with their eyes and how they do or do not perceive things in stressful and dangerous situations. This is valuable knowledge that can be used to optimize one’s own behaviour in education and training. This results in a direct gain in safety and the associated opportunities are obvious. So in 2017, we started to approach the market in a more structured way and implement further projects. We then worked with the military in North America for the first time in 2018.
What applications does the technology offer in the defense and government sectors?
Countless, also because our system works in all lighting conditions and is not limited to a specific environment. It can be used to practice hostage rescue scenarios or house-to-house combat in real environments, for example. The same system can also be used in combat and flight simulators without any adaptations.
How do the glasses work in detail?
Our technology digitally displays what the wearer of the glasses does with their eyes, making it evaluable and interpretable. In other words, we make perception situations measurable, put them on an objectifiable basis and provide users and trainers with an important basis for optimizing their gaze behaviour. In stressful situations, it is not always important to perceive as much as possible, but to see the right things – and that can be trained. Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, I also like the idea of using our expertise to help soldiers increase their survivability.
“When in doubt, my life depends on whether I recognize dangers early on in a stressful situation or correctly assess
scenarios.”Viewpointsystem-CEO Nils Berger
And the armed forces have already recognized these advantages?
In any case. We have now implemented projects with several armies, including Canada, the Swiss Armed Forces and the German Armed Forces. Our focus is now clearly on NATO member states, but we are also holding promising talks in the Asian region. Incidentally, the approach of the armies varies greatly: some only want a few pairs of our glasses, others are equipping entire companies with them, and some are also considering using them for remote maintenance purposes, for example – similar to the industrial sector. For example, experts and specialists from the background could use them to guide people on the front line when repairing a vehicle in order to prevent its loss and ultimately increase the safety of the forces deployed. In order to meet the requirements even better, we have now explicitly adapted our hardware to the diverse applications in the defense sector.
In what way?
With easier handling, even fewer potential disruptive factors, lower weight, more compact design – and of course an olive green color scheme (laughs). The aim is to embed the technology in simulation equipment at some point and integrate it into night vision goggles, for example, so that no additional device is required during training and the interface with people can be further optimized.
Viewpointsystem recently signed an agreement with the Slovenian training simulation provider Guardiaris for the international distribution of its smart glasses. What do you hope to gain from this?
We got to know and appreciate each other as part of the “Advanced Biometrics In Training and Simulation” (ABITS) research project funded by the European Defense Fund (EDF). Guardiaris is a global player and has been active in the government and defense sector for 15 years with its incredibly well-made simulators and platforms. With our capabilities, we can perfectly complement these simulators with the human perspective, i.e. integrate our technology into their technology, and in return receive a worldwide distribution channel that we could hardly build up on our own. At the end of the day, this is a natural match that will enable us to deliver convincing solutions.
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