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Microvision and Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Announce Distribution Agreement
Leading Aircraft Parts Distributor to Carry Nomad Personal Display System
Thursday October 17, 6:30 am ET
BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2002--Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MVIS - News), a leader in light scanning technologies for personal displays and imaging solutions, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. for the sale and distribution of the Nomad Personal Display System. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty (www.aircraftspruce.com) is the largest distributor of aircraft materials, kit components and avionics supplies for the General Aviation industry.
Under the agreement, Aircraft Spruce & Specialty will market and distribute the Nomad System as a wearable heads-up display (HUD) coupled with a full Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) operating independently of all avionics on the aircraft. Utilizing the head-worn Nomad Personal Display as a HUD, coupled with a full EFIS, pilots will have a back-up system for the primary flight instrumentation.
"Our distribution agreement with Aircraft Spruce & Specialty represents an important milestone for Microvision," stated Bruce Westcoat, aviation marketing manager for Microvision. "This is our first large-scale distributor to join our channel development program and recognize the growing opportunity for the Nomad System. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty is well known for their introduction of innovative products, excellent customer relationships and service. With two distribution centers in the U.S. and international sales representatives in nine countries, Aircraft Spruce & Specialty currently provides same-day shipment of over 2,000 orders per day through its on-line and print catalog, as well as handles hundreds of retail walk-in customers at its facilities in Corona, CA, and Griffin, GA. With over 500,000 active general aviation pilots in the U.S. alone, we see tremendous market potential for the Nomad System to provide an important safety-enhancing visualization tool."
Jerry Aguilar, marketing director at Aircraft Spruce, stated: "We are excited about what the Nomad System offers pilots in the way of safety. We carry over 30,000 products, but the Nomad System is totally unique. The Nomad System provides a wearable display with a see-through format. This enables the pilot to focus outside the cockpit and increase situational awareness with the Nomad System acting as an independent back-up system for the primary flight instrumentation. This product goes a long way toward meeting the demand from pilots for systems that increase safety. We expect to see a positive sales response from pilots for the Nomad System."
Based on Microvision's patented light scanning technology, the Nomad Personal Display System is a high-resolution head-worn display that presents images and information to the user on a see-through, virtual 17-inch display. This unique personal display enables hands-free access to information such as diagrams, instrumentation, maintenance records, moving maps and interactive training manuals, superimposing the information on the user's view and creating "augmented vision." The Nomad System features full daylight-readability, allowing users to view high-contrast images in even the most challenging ambient lighting conditions. High-quality, Super VGA resolution makes the Nomad System immediately compatible with a broad range of existing applications and content.
From flight paths to factory floors, surgical suites, and more, the Nomad System can deliver major improvements in productivity, quality and safety for virtually any type of manual task. The company is targeting applications for workers in four vertical markets -- industrial, aerospace, medical, and military -- that enable customers to keep information in front of people engaged in manual tasks or on the move, allowing access to information at the point of task and information, anywhere.
About Microvision:
The company, located on the web at www.microvision.com, is headquartered in Bothell, Washington. Microvision Inc. is the developer of the patented retinal scanning display technology and a world leader in micro miniature optical scanning technology for display and imaging applications. The company's technology has applications in a broad range of military, medical, industrial, professional and consumer information products. Nomad is a trademark of Microvision, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statement
Certain statements contained in this release, including those relating to product marketing, distribution and applications, market potential and expected sales response, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the company's forward-looking statements include the following: market acceptance of our technologies and products; our financial and technical resources relative to those of our competitors; our ability to keep up with rapid technological change; government regulation of our technologies; our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights and protect our proprietary technologies; the ability to obtain additional contract awards and to develop partnership opportunities; the timing of commercial product launches; the ability to achieve key technical milestones in key products; and other risk factors identified from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including in its Annual Report on 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
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Contact:
Microvision, Inc., Bothell
Matt Nichols (media), 425/415-6657
Brian Heagler (investors), 425/415-6794 |
