History Of Night Vision Goggles

 War does not stop when the sun goes down, that even during night time, soldiers are on lookout for possible raging troops that might attack their base camp. That’s why, Night Vision Goggles or NVG have been a useful tool during war outbreaks at night.

 The invention of NVG’s by the US Army during the World War II and Korean War, outdid the use of fire and searchlights by soldiers to locate their enemies at night in the battle of the past. Subsequently, these devices were widely used by armies during the Vietnam War and other combats in the 1950’s.

 The first invented night vision goggles or night vision devices (NVD) are classified as Generation 0. In this group, the M1 and M3 infrared night sighting devices or the so-called “sniperscope” belong. Other night vision devices that can be classified in this group are those invented by the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), General Electricity Company in Nazi, Germany.

 Furthermore, additional generations of night vision devices are those that were used during the Vietnam War (Generation I) and those that can be used under moonless night (Generation II). While the third generation of night vision devices are those that has a higher image resolution and more apparent focus.

 The ones being used and developed by the US Military force today are classified under the label of Omnibus-VII, and are yet to be classified as generation IV.

 One person should be credited to be the pioneer of the invention of night vision devices, and that is William E. Spicer, a mentor at Stanford and co-founded the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL). He was best noted as the creator of night vision goggles and some medical imaging devices. He died at the age of 74, and left a very functional innovation in the world.

 Even up to the present, different countries are developing new generations of NVG. The new developments include a higher resolution, clear image focus, and less environment light aid. Others can even see clearer through walls and thick borders between opponents.

 Night vision devices or night vision goggles are indeed very useful. Not only it can be used to plan and spoil an attack, but it is also a device that is very helpful in safeguarding one’s territory against antagonists.