How Night Vision Goggles Evolved

Modern studies theorize that man originated from apelike ancestors that lived millions of years ago. Theorists have said that man evolved from a series of environmental and genetic factors and emerged producing the various ethnicities of today. Up until now, theories about the evolution of man also continue to evolve while earlier incorrect theories were discarded. Same theory applies to many of mans inventions and discoveries.Their discoveries and inventions went through some series of modifications and revisions before it became completely beneficial to mankind. One of the major products of mans ingenuity is the night vision goggles. Vision goggles too, have undergone similar process. It was remodeled, revised and modified to become what it is now, a fully functional and beneficial product of science and mathematics.
The first version of night vision devices were first used during the World War II by the German forces as early as 1939 which equipped their Panther Tanks as a mounted-type device. During that same period, the US government was also conducting parallel modifications in their sniperscope, devices with infrared scope to illuminate targets. The second generation was made of micro-channel plates producing much brighter image thus increased illumination even in full darkness. Since then, each generation of night vision goggles became more sophisticated, more powerful and more refined than previous generations.
How does a night vision goggle work? These devices work to enhance image or light amplification as far as over 200 meters even in full darkness by collecting tiny amount of light even the lower portion of the infrared light spectrum, converting it to electrical energy. It then passes though a thin disk and are converted to light which allow viewers to see but these images were already amplified to the size by which our naked eye is capable of seeing. Another process by which they work is through thermal imaging. This process operates to capture the heat released by warm bodies, especially that of man. Thus humans and animals are better visualized than trees and other non-living organisms because of their innate capacity to emit heat.Night vision goggles that are meant for both public and military use come in four types of generation units. A night vision device can be either a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th generation unit. This categorization of units is based on the light intensifier tube, which is basically the soul of such a device. Some of the latest night vision goggles are the smallest and lightest Viper goggle and military issue AN PVS-7 night vision goggles. They are mostly used in the fields of security, hunting, wildlife observation, boating and also by law enforcement.

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