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Unraveling the sounds of the battlefield

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We have come a long way in the way that forces operate together on the battlefield, where before we had different command centres co-ordinate artillery and air cover for troops in the field, now that responsibility has been shifted down to the troops. This can place a heavy cognitive load on a communications operator, with hearing multiple voice channels talking at the same time. For instance, a called airstrike, which requires contact down to the last second with the aircraft, and in case of change in target, the outcome may be catastrophic, resulting in civilian casualty, blue on blue, and potentially losing expensive equipment asset. So how do we give this ability to our troops?

Otto, based out of Illinois in USA, have a long history for designing innovative products for the modern warfighter; their particular strength is taking a problem and finding a unique solution, a new offering is Enhanced Spatial Positioning Push-to-Talk (ESP PTT).

Enhanced Spatial Positioning (ESP) untangles multiple audio streams, enabling the operator to clearly hear individual audio sources and focus on the mission. Designed for dynamic environments and the needs of the individual operator, this PTT was developed to allow users to mentally focus on an individual directional audio source, even if other channels are active simultaneously.

As the image below shows, four distinct audio channels are heard around the user’s head. Operators hear each channel distinctly from Left, Left-Front, Right-Front and Right, this solves the problem of stacked audio.

Other major advantages this product provides is it needs no batteries to operate and can be clipped directly into the user's communication system providing a light weight solution to already overcrowded and complicated kit. It's an ambidextrous product, so can be used in either hand, allowing for the product to comfortably be used by any operative; and is fully submersible for 31 minutes at 3ft.

This product is available to order direct from Otto.

OTTO Engineering logo For more information about OTTO visit:
www.otto-comm.com

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