Shot Show 2022 - Magpul / Maztech X4
Augmented reality in service of sport shooters - Magpul and Maztech cooperation
With the growing digitalization of the battlefield and new military AR technologies emerging every day, the sport shooters and weapon enthusiasts were set back for quite a long time, having access only to night vision or thermal imagery equipment supplemented by various laser devices. That put them quite far back from what the military could use.
But the time has come to change that! Magpul and Maztech companies went into a collaboration to create the X4 System. Said system is supposed to incorporate augmented reality into recreational and sports shooting.
FPS-like ammo counter - Magpul and Maztech Round Counter
Everyone that ever played shooting games remembers that convenient ammo counter located somewhere on the users’ HUD. It was an easy-to-read way to check our ammo in real-time while still keeping the capability to blast through the waves of enemies. Well, thanks to the Magpul and Maztech it’s coming out of the gaming world straight to your AR-15 platforms!
The pistol grip and trigger guard developed by Magpul and Maztech cooperation will read the number of remaining rounds in your magazine and stream it to any display supporting the X4 system. It’s gonna provide not only users but also instructors with real-time readings on the number of rounds remaining in the magazine which will help to train efficiency and enhance situational awareness.
X4 System accessories - wireless connection and augmented reality from Magpul and Maztech
The round counter developed by Magpul and Maztech is just the start of the long line of accessories that will be able to work together to enhance the users’ situational awareness or help with rapid target acquisition.
The communication between all of the accessories connected to the system will be done using Bluetooth, Near Field Communication, or NFC for short and Ultra-Wideband systems.
Thanks to utilizing so wide spectrum of ways for communications between each element of the system, it can be scaled to meet the users’ or events’ needs with ease. Each element of the system will be able to work separately which will provide the user with a lot of options to configure his loadout for particular needs.
That’s all cool and that, but where’s the screen? - X4-Fire Control System
The first element presented during Shot Show 2022 capable of displaying all the information that will be gathered from the system was X4-FCS or X4-Fire Control System.
This particular part consists of LPVO scope placed on a mount with an integrated display. Thanks to such a move, shooters getting early into the system will get very well designed by Magpul and Maztech product allowing to engage targets at short to medium distances at the same time enhancing situational awareness of its user.
A display that is integrated into the mount will allow users to choose which information from which part of the system will be used. That move will allow the user to choose only the information he will actually need, and by that not let the display get too cluttered with unnecessary information. All that is gonna be possible thanks to the wide offer of related products that Magpul and Maztech plan to release.
MK
The photos used in the article come from the Magpul company's promotional materials.