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10 Jul 15. Thales launched Thales xPlor as a strategic function for engaging with strong U.S. start-up and academic ecosystems. This initiative seeks to develop new, innovative and smart solutions for our world. As proof of concept for this initiative, Thales unveiled DragonFly, a product rooted in the technology transfer of Thales’s military head-mounted display capabilities and announced its membership with the MIT Media Lab for collaborative work on cutting edge research and development. Thales xPlor’s mission is to create new streams of value by identifying and partnering with emerging and disruptive technologies and companies within the innovation network to create new business ventures, technology insights and licensing opportunities. Sourcing original concepts and technologies, Thales xPlor has established three complimentary pillars for success.
•The first leverages Thales’ existing competencies in aerospace, defense, security and transportation, to explore new ideas that drive a competitive advantage.
•The second pillar positions Thales xPlor within the start-up community to engage with new ideas, creative minds and critical problem solvers in the interest of discovering mutually beneficial partnerships.
•The final pillar builds relationships with leading academic institutions to engage with critical research in new and advanced technologies.
The new Thales DragonFly product – a head-worn surgical display – aims to modernize the operating room by improving the man-machine interface, simplifying procedures and enhancing operational awareness. Earlier this year, DragonFly assisted in the first ever navigated spine surgery using a head-worn augmented reality display at St. David’s NeuroTexas Institute in Austin, Texas. Thanks to collaboration with future end-users, the results of this initial trial were a resounding success.
DragonFly puts critical surgical information directly in a surgeon’s field of view allowing for 100 percent eyes on the patient during a navigated surgery. It also provides greater operational awareness and reduces physician fatigue by eliminating the need for accompanying monitors outside of the immediate surgical space. Seamlessly integrating with existing operating room infrastructure makes DragonFly a game changing innovation born out of combat-proven Thales defence capabilities.
Thales’s collaboration with the MIT Media Lab is also a key asset of Thales xPlor, and it compliments a core Thales principle – to improve the safety and security of our world. Together with the MIT Media Lab, Thales xPlor will discover disruptive technologies that are at all stages of development and shape products, systems or services that push the envelope of what is possible today. Pioneering these capabilities will help Thales build a better world everywhere.
01 Jul 15. Japanese P-1s to visit RIAT, Djibouti in first overseas trip. Japan will send its Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) overseas for the first time later this month to conduct operational trials in Djibouti and take part in the UK’s Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT). Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) P-1s will leave Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture on 10 July and appear at RIAT at RAF Fairford from 17-19 July, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said on 7 July. A Japanese MoD official told IHS Jane’s that one aircraft will be on static display and the other will fly at the airshow. It is not the first time Japanese military aircraft have been to RIAT: KC-767 tanker transports visited in 2012 and 2014, although these were only part of the static display. After RIAT the P-1s, which are from 51 Air Development Squadron, will head for Djibouti to allow testing and understanding of “the technical challenges when operating in tropical and desert areas”, the MoD