This article was taken from the April 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The next generation of fighter-pilot helmets lets you target the enemy just by looking at them.
Augmented reality is the fighter pilot's latest weapon. With a helmet-mounted display and in-cockpit cameras responding to the slightest head movement, pilots can align their cross hair with a moving target by following it with their eyes, not the plane.
BAE Systems has developed this bespoke helmet for the Eurofighter, but it can be adapted for any fixed-wing fighter. The visor displays a digital view of the topography and potential hazards as well as key fight and mission data, so there's no need to look down at the instrument panel. That also makes 360° vision possible, even through the structure of the plane. Q-Sight brings the advantages of helmet-mounted display to pilots of aircraft such as helicopters. This rig can be fitted to regular flight helmets to give the helicopter pilot, the gunner or the winch operator a digital view with gun sights through a hologram in the retractable eyepiece. Managing the project for BAE Systems -- and a former pilot himself -- Paul Cooke predicts radical change. "The switch over from fixed cockpit display to helmet-mounted display is going to happen quickly. Once you've flown with these systems, there's no going back."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
