Wearable belt helps Dutch soldiers to navigate
Soldier situational awareness in the Royal Netherlands Army is being improved with first delivery of the Mission Navigation Belt (MNB), manufacturer Elitac Wearables claimed on 6 July.
The waist-worn MNB is designed to make GPS-based navigation safer and more intuitive by using haptic (touch-based) feedback to convey navigation cues. The belt allows soldiers to feel waypoint navigation directions through small, quiet vibration motors, located in a lightweight belt.
As a result, soldiers no longer need to consult maps or screens, or listen to directions via audio.
Elitac is providing the MNB as part of a broader effort by the Netherlands MoD to boost situational awareness and survivability via the application of new technologies.
‘The Mission Navigation Belt is fully compatible and interoperable with the VOSS system [Improved Operational Soldier System] developed for the Netherlands Ministry of Defence,’ said Merijn Klarenbeek, CEO and co-founder of Elitac Wearables.
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