Visualizing Chemical Threats – New Capability

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Tools that see and sense harmful Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) substances are important for alerting military troops before anyone is hurt. The US military was looking for improved real-time CBRN situational awareness that will enable tactical assualt kit (TAK) users to see and avoid chemical and biological hazards. 

In response, innovative battlefield threat mapping and visualization tools will be developed for the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA JSTO). The technology will allow the capability to digitally map hazardous material threats from sensor data and to ‘see’ their exact location via mixed reality on mobile phones, tablets, and heads-up displays.

Teledyne Flir will work with partners to develop software that allows CBRN hazards to be precisely located, measured and mapped for viewing within the Tactical Assault Kit suite of tools.

The threat map will be visualized in a ‘see-through’ augmented reality display by those running TAK on their electronics, as well as by futuristic HUD devices like the Integrated Visualization Augmentation System.

The project also will allow future individuals equipped with IVAS to visualize chemical-biological threats and receive real-time decision support when performing reconnaissance and decontamination missions. 

The program further lays the Artificial Intelligence and AR groundwork for the U.S. Army’s autonomous decontamination efforts.

The contract will fund the development of a mission-flexible prototype consisting of networked chem-bio sensors and AR visualization tools that DTRA will evaluate over the course of several events, according to optics.org.