All the Nexvision Team is very happy to announce that it will design an innovative helicopter pilot helmet as part of the « Extrem OWL – HMSD (Helmet Mounted Sight & Display) » collaborative project. This project is part of the 67 new projects selected in the FUI 18th call for proposals.

The Extrem OWL project, initiated and led by the RISKS cluster and supported by the PEGASE, OPTITEC and ASTECH clusters, has the ambition to develop an innovative night vision system in terms of not intensified image sensors and head-up display. It’s a state of art augmented reality helmet with ultra-sensitive night vision video cameras associated with a projection on visor.

Preserving the structure of the current helmet provided by ELNO, the visualization module will be fixed over the hull of existing protection. The images below are an illustration of what could be the visualization module out of composite material, integrating the video cameras, the processing system and the display, the images transfer module and the projection visor.

For the first time, water dropping air operations will be made by night on forest fires, and with the same day flight parameters. The pilot will have a comfort of sight never reached for night vision binoculars thanks to a very broad field of view, high dynamics and high image color resolution.

The consortium is composed of 6 partners (3 SME, 2 laboratories and 1 firemen center). The project will be led by Nexvision.

In the short run, this project should make it possible to strongly provide to the water bomber helicopters manufacturers a differentiating commercial argument, by offering a night vision system without light intensifier.

In the medium term, it should make it possible to answer “help missions” (medical urgently evacuations, humane missions…), security needs (civil, borders control, anti-terrorism…), air work (off-Shore…), and goods transport.

Civil applications (except helicopters) are also aimed as of now : helmets (snowmobile, ATV…), use in oil and gas offshore station, maritime help, hostile environment (fires in sensitive classified factories, nuclear power…) and piloting of drones from the ground station.

Later on, this project could be proposed at the military market, as well in the air field as in the terrestrial or marine field.

All the Nexvision Team is very excited for this new challenge !

About Nexvision :
Nexvision is a hardware and software design house specialized in vision systems and video over IP network technologies.
Covering needs ranging from defense to cinema fields, Nexvision spends all its resources and know-how to find an appropriate high value-added solution for each market.