Startup wants US soldiers to command AI agents through its smart glasses

Last year, Washington, D.C.-based Rivet was one of two contractors selected for the U.S. Army’s Soldier Borne Mission Command program, an effort to develop a device that enhances situational awareness and communication on the battlefield.

Since then, Rivet has raised $55 million in Series A financing and delivered its first 70 prototypes to the Army, according to co-founder and chief executive Dave Marra.

While the other contractor, Anduril, developed a headset resembling the original Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, which it had also helped develop, Rivet took a different approach: a pair of militarized smart glasses called the Rivet Hard Spec.

Marra explained in an interview with Military Times that the idea behind the Hard Spec is helping people who “do hard jobs in hard places.”

While the initial goal was to give infantrymen actionable information for targeting and navigation, the application has expanded to other tasks, including technical and mechanical work that soldiers may not perform regularly.

He explained that the idea isn’t to turn an infantryman into an IT specialist or mechanic, but rather, the glasses could give a trained professional the correct procedures for a task without requiring a physical manual.