Better Night Vision Tech Required

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The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA wants to develop enhanced, less bulky night-vision goggles. 10 organizations were selected for this mission.

“Current night vision (NV) systems are bulky and heavy, resulting in a significant torque on the wearer’s neck,” according to DARPA’s announcement. “This torque greatly limits the wearer’s agility and often leads to chronic injury over prolonged use. Additionally, existing NV devices only provide a narrow field of view (FOV) and are limited to the near-infrared (IR) spectral bands, greatly limiting situational awareness in varied night conditions.”

The program, dubbed Enhanced Night Vision in Eyeglass Form (ENVision), seeks to leverage recent advances to develop NV systems that don’t require bulky image intensifiers, provide wider FOV, offer enhanced visual access across infrared bands, and are lightweight to reduce neck strain caused by today’s technology.

The program was divided into two categories. The five organizations selected in the first technical area will try to reduce the size and volume of night vision goggles. DARPA chose Raytheon Technologies Research Center; SRI International, University of California-San Diego, University of Washington and Physical Sciences for that job.

The second technical category will use new technologies and processes to convert and amplify infrared to visible light. The agency selected Raytheon BBN, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, University of Melbourne and University of Pennsylvania.