The smart glasses with eye-tracking technology from Viewpointsystem are used worldwide for remote support and remote maintenance, for documentation and in research. But the Viennese company has also long since made a name for itself in the defense sector, as Managing Director Nils Berger explains in an interview.
“What a soldier can’t see, he can’t fight.”
Nils Berger, Geschäftsführer von Viewpointsystem
Mr. Berger, when you think of military training and education, what comes to mind?
That this is a huge and constantly growing area. Western countries in particular no longer have the large armies they had a few decades ago. In order to still be effective, they invest in the training of their soldiers – at all levels. This involves, for example, modern training cities and simulators in which and with which they can practice. But it is also about supposed details such as our smart glasses and our innovative eye-tracking technology …
… which makes it possible to show where someone is looking, what they saw during an exercise – and what they didn’t.
Exactly. Our great strength is improving education and training in order to optimize our own behavior. A soldier can’t fight what he can’t see. But you can train what you can see, and we can help you with that.
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In what way?
We try to change and optimize routines. In principle, routines are a good thing; they help us in our everyday lives and allow us to complete tasks quickly and effectively without having to think about the individual steps involved. We just do it. However, routines also make us blind, because we overlook certain things and no longer pay attention to details.
But it’s precisely these details that often make the difference.
And that’s the crux of the matter. If you miss a detail in battle, perhaps failing to notice an enemy shooter because you are focused on something else, you have a problem. With our technology, we support people as much as possible in adapting their routines for emergencies. It’s not about seeing more – it’s about seeing the right thing. As we make the behavior of every soldier objectively comprehensible, we can clearly show in training situations who has seen what – and what has not. This approach helps to change behavior and adapt better to situations. In this way, we improve human performance and, at the end of the day, survivability.
And your technologies can be used in training sessions such as practising urban combat scenarios just as well as in the simulator.
Exactly, because the same thing is important there as there. We create a seamless transition from training on the simulator and at the shooting range to combat shooting. This simplifies a lot of things and is of course a huge advantage, which is also greatly appreciated by our customers.
Viewpointsystem recently moved into new premises here in Vienna. Everything is very bright and modern, very friendly. To what extent does this reflect the current success of the company?
Things are indeed going very well at the moment and we are looking to the future with confidence. We recently broke through the 50-employee barrier and the current sales figures are very promising. So there is no reason to complain – on the contrary.
Are you already benefiting from the sales cooperation with the Slovenian training simulation provider Guardiaris, which was concluded in spring 2023?
The cooperation is already a success story, which is one of the reasons why we have recently been able to significantly expand the Authority segment and see great potential for further growth there. We are doing very well in some of the current award processes and expect to receive further orders in the near future.
“If our products are part of military training, then they have to work – no ifs, ands or buts!”
Nils Berger, Geschäftsführer von Viewpointsystem
We know that your company works with the Austrian Armed Forces, the Swiss Army and the Canadian Army. Can you name any other customers from the defense sector?
Glock is now also part of the group, as is Rheinmetall Austria. We were also recently able to enter into a cooperation with the medical technology manufacturer Karl Storz, which has its roots in Germany and is also strongly positioned as a component supplier and in the care of the wounded, in which we are examining the extent to which our products can possibly be integrated into the first aid of patients.
What exactly is this about?
The point is that while paramedics in the field can carry out initial life-saving measures, they never have the resources of a specialist somewhere in the hinterland. The care is good – but could be even better, and with our goggles we bring the expertise of experts directly onto the battlefield. We give them a live perspective of the wounded so that they can provide the best possible support to the medics on the ground.
Together with Guardiaris, Smartex and the ministries of defense from Austria, Slovenia and Denmark, Viewpointsystem is also working on the ABITS project of the European Defence Fund.
ABITS stands for “Advanced Biometric Integration in Training and Simulation” and at the end of the day, our aim is to obtain an all-encompassing picture of the psychophysical state of the training soldier. In order to gain important insights into the trainee’s attention, stress and cognitive load, for example, we combine the recorded eye data with the biometric data from other sensors. The initial results are very impressive and we have high hopes for the future.
In principle, Viewpoint System comes from the civilian sector, but has only been active in the defense sector for a few years. Was it difficult to get used to the material?
In fact, we have grown into this area quite organically. After all, the goal is the same in both the civilian and military environment: to improve our own performance. We can also learn a lot in the defense sector, which also helps us in other markets.
For example?
Let’s take robustness and absolute reliability and fail-safety. If we are part of military training with our products, then they have to work – no ifs, ands or buts. The training cannot simply be repeated, you cannot say, sorry, unfortunately the glasses have slipped, we have no data now, please start again. The products are also subjected to greater stress than in other areas. This is sometimes even extreme, but it also has its good side: if the products can withstand military training, they will also hold up in all other areas. Of course, they have to be adapted and optimized for this.
For the military, it’s increasingly about training as you fight, “train as you fight”. Aren’t your glasses getting in the way?
The defense sector has also accelerated our development in this respect. We are adapting and further developing our product in order to integrate the technology even better into operational reality. This is why we are not only offering smart glasses, but will soon also be offering small, compact add-on modules that weigh practically nothing and can be combined inconspicuously with night vision goggles and equipment from other manufacturers, for example. We don’t have to sell glasses that say Viewpoint System on them to have Viewpoint System somewhere inside. Instead, we are exploring innovative ways of integrating our technology – with the aim of successfully establishing these new solutions.
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