Augmented reality (AR) has already been used in everything from gaming to retail and tourism.
But technology has been given its biggest role yet, in the new Striker II fighter pilot helmet.
The 4.4-pound (2 kg) device has been developed by British defense firm BAE Systems and presents “mission-critical” data in front of the pilot’s eyes, giving him “unparalleled situational awareness” while patrolling the air.
From hundreds of kilometers away, he can discern between another RAF fighter pilot and a hostile enemy aircraft, such as a Chinese spy drone.
In a real-life defense environment, the technology could help fighter pilots shoot down such a threat, helping to protect British skies.
The RAF has paid £40 million to equip its personnel with the Striker II helmet, of which fewer than 100 currently exist.
BAE Systems calls it “the world’s most advanced helmet-mounted display” that “immediately calculates the exact position and angle of the pilot’s head.”
At BAE Systems’ offices in Rochester, Kent, MailOnline’s Jonathan Chadwick was given exclusive access to test Striker II during a simulated flight from RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales.
Augmented reality (AR) has already been used in everything from gaming to retail and tourism. But this technology has been given its biggest role yet in the new Striker II fighter pilot helmet.
At BAE Systems’ offices in Rochester, Kent, MailOnline’s Jonathan Chadwick was given exclusive access to test Striker II during a simulated flight from RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales.
Nigel Kidd, director of head-mounted displays at BAE Systems, worked on the original Striker helmet, developed in the late 1990s.
This new version features “more information in a sharper format,” including colored symbols (beyond the typical monochromatic green) and integrated night vision, all in a 40-degree field of view.
“First of all, Striker II is a helmet: it keeps pilots safe,” Kidd told me as I stepped into the flight simulator, modeled after the cockpit of a Typhoon aircraft.
“But it’s not just a helmet: it’s a very high-performance augmented reality display system.”
While Kidd did not reveal the exact manufacturing price of the Striker II, he admitted that each individual helmet “comes with a high price tag.”
“The average person would probably buy a small house for what it would cost them,” he told MailOnline.
Striker II, which is strapped to the inside of the cockpit, is made of carbon fiber and weighs about 4.4 pounds (2 kg), so it feels pretty heavy when I place it over my head.
I can’t imagine wearing it for several hours, especially during high-speed flights, although I have been informed that it is lightweight compared to other combat helmets.
A simulator shows the Typhoon aircraft parked at RAF Valley before take-off. This system is used for pilot training.
BAE Systems was paid £40m to develop Striker II for RAF pilots, although the company did not reveal the cost of each individual helmet. Currently there are less than 100
The photo shows the view with the helmet on, with speed shown on the left and altitude on the right. Notice the colored shapes, which indicate objects in the air and on the ground.
Using optical sensors built into the aircraft, Striker II immediately calculates the position and angle of the pilot’s head.
This means that no matter where the pilot looks (left, right, up or down), the screen is always presented right in front of his eyes.
I lower the visor and see a collection of green lines, numbers and symbols, including a target cross in the center and a long horizon line in the middle.
As I take off from RAF Valley, a stack of changing numbers on the left show my speed, while another stack on the right shows altitude.
But in addition to the green markings, there are also plenty of shapes in a variety of additional colors: red, blue and yellow.
These shapes indicate relevant objects in the air and on the ground, which are constantly detected by a vast network of devices, including drones and radar towers, with signals sent to my aircraft.
On the screen, different colors correspond to the nature of the object, so threats are presented in red, while “friends” are blue and strangers are yellow.
Surprisingly, when I move my head and focus on one of these colored shapes, a small pop-up video clip appears showing more about what the object actually is.
Striker II comes integrated with digital night vision (pictured), meaning pilots no longer need to strap night vision goggles in front of their helmet when flying in the early hours of the morning.
Using optical sensors built into the aircraft, Striker II immediately calculates the exact position and angle of the pilot’s head.
For example, I see a short clip playing on a loop of “friendly” trucks moving across the ground; a clip that in real life would probably have been filmed by a nearby drone.
As my plane flies over rural Nottinghamshire, I place my smartphone between my face and the visor, hoping to snap a photo of the colorful screen.
But to my surprise, it doesn’t work: the only thing my camera app shows is a blank visor.
This is because the AR screen is projected onto the visor and reflected into my eyeballs, not my phone’s camera lens!
It is probably the closest the RAF will come to giving its pilots eye implants.
Striker II also comes integrated with digital night vision, meaning pilots no longer need to place night vision goggles in front of their helmet as they did with Striker I.
This was an experience that Kidd describes as “a sack of potatoes hanging from the front of your head,” making neck pain a real possibility.
I expected the Striker II’s AR display to distract rather than help, presenting the pilot with a flood of information that could divert attention from the flight path.
Inside the simulator cockpit, the pilot is presented with additional metrics, including a map of the flight path.
RAF pilots will use Striker IIs while operating the Typhoon (pictured), the aircraft manufactured by German firm Eurofighter.
But in reality, Striker II shows the pilot only the most important metrics he will need to operate the aircraft.
This is augmented reality in its purest form: useful but subtle and unobtrusive.
Overall, a main benefit of this technology is that it means pilots spend more time with their heads up and looking out of the cockpit, not at the controls.
This gives them “a vital advantage” when it comes to making split-second decisions, according to BAE Systems.
Last year the company received £40m to develop the Striker II for RAF pilots operating the Typhoon, the aircraft made by German company Eurofighter.
Striker II is still undergoing flight testing with the RAF before it is used by frontline Typhoon pilots.
Kidd told me that the helmet will also be made available to other Typhoon users in Europe (i.e. Spain, Italy and Germany), but admitted that “there is interest from other nations.”
The frontline Eurofighter Typhoon fleet provides air security over the UK and its allies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.