Anduril’s new EagleEye MR headset sees Palmer Luckey return to his VR roots

In the latest attempt by a Silicon Valley defense company to assert its own solution for the military’s mixed reality ambitions, Anduril Industries on Monday unveiled “EagleEye,” a helmeted computing system that seeks to transform soldiers into AI-augmented fighters.

The launch is notable given that the initiative is led by Anduri co-founder Palmer Luckey, who previously launched pioneering virtual reality company, Oculus, which was acquired by Meta.

Anduril describes EagleEye as a modular “family of systems” built on its Lattice software that places command and control tools, sensor feeds and AI directly in a soldier’s field of view.

The company says the system can integrate live video feeds; features rear and side sensors to alert operators of threats; and can follow his teammates in real time. EagleEye variants include a helmet, visor and goggles.

The launch comes as the US military seeks to expand its pool of mixed reality equipment suppliers. The company had been using Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), a $22 billion program awarded in 2018, but after years of problems, the Army handed control of the contract to Anduril in February.

Then, in September, Anduril won a $159 million award to prototype a new mixed reality system for soldiers, part of a broader Soldier Borne Mission Command effort. Anduril said the award was “the largest effort of its kind” to equip “every soldier with superhuman perception and decision-making abilities.”

Earlier this year, Anduril also announced a partnership with Meta to develop extended reality (XR) devices for the military, marking an unexpected reunion between Luckey and his former employer.

“I’m happy to work with Meta again,” Luckey said in a blog post. “My mission has long been to turn fighters into technomancers, and the products we build with Meta do just that.”

EagleEye has a long history: the concept first appeared in Anduril’s first draft pitch deck, before investors convinced the startup team to focus on software like Lattice.

“Confronting Microsoft and Magic Leap would have been a demoralizing windmill driven by magical thinking,” Luckey said in an article on X in February. “Everything is different now. The world is ready, and so is Anduril.”