Ways the make the Night Vision more immersive.

The whole night vision thing is really cool. But there are just a couple thins that I think would elevate it to the next level. First of all, IR light does NOT get absorbed by smoke and dust. There are many videos on youtube demonstrating this. This isn't that big of an oversight by the devs, but it is nonetheless. Change it so that when you have your IR goggles equipt then you can see right through smoke and other dusty debris. It would be so sweet, really realistic, and give that "wow" factor. Suggestion 2 pertains to all the barrels of the guns, when you shoot a lot then smoke pours out of the barren of your gun as you'd think it must be pretty hot, well apparently not because when you put the IR goggles on, it looks as cold as anything else around. Please change it so that when you shoot, your barrel lights up white with heat, that would be so cool and add a whole new level of immersion. And then make the receiver glow white as well, the bullet casings falling to the ground, maybe even the right hand of each soldier as they are holding that hold barrel constantly. It would be so awesome! Please implement!!

Night vision is different from thermal vision.

^This, plus nobody said they're IRNV G, they're just "Nightvision"

@BigBossNass This actually wouldn't be realistic at all.

NVGs, as implemented in Sandstorm, use a technology called image intensification. This is a vacuum tube process where photons entering the front end of the tube are converted to electrons, intensified, and then converted back into photos at a brighter level. Most of the light that is gathered by the NVGs is in the normal visible light spectrum, but typically NVGs are also sensitive to the "near infrared" spectrum as well, which increases the amount of light available for intensification, and allows the use of IR lasers and illumination that are invisible to people not wearing NVGs. The near infrared spectrum is just below the threshold of human vision, and while it is disproportionately released by hot objects, it generally behaves in an extremely similar fashion to visible light. You cannot use traditional NVGs to see through smoke, nor will hot objects seem to glow extremely brightly.

What you're thinking of is called thermographic vision, or in some applications a Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera. These operate on a much lower frequency portion of the infrared spectrum than image intensification NVGs. These devices tend to be larger and more cumbersome, and are rarely head worn as goggles. There are some thermal weapon sights, such as the PAS-13, but these types of imagers are more commonly found on things like tanks and aircraft targeting pods. The reason they're not common as goggles is twofold: firstly the technology isn't yet to the point where they are small and light enough to really be feasible in that role; and secondly the image they generate isn't really conductive to navigating around the world in any normal way. Goggle systems right now, as far as I know, are really only being used as specialty gear by firefighters who need to navigate smoke filled buildings.