MICROVISION DELIVERS GROUNDBREAKING HELMET-MOUNTED DISPLAY TO ARMY
Receives $4.176 Million Follow-on Contract
Contract Represents Major Milestone Toward VRD Commercialization
News March 16, 06:42 Eastern Time
SEATTLE, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq: MVIS, MVISW) today announced it
has received a $4.176 million contract from the U.S. Army's Aircrew Integrated Systems (ACIS)
Program Office, following the company's successful delivery of a monochrome green
helmet-mounted display (HMD) of unprecedented brightness and resolution. The delivery completed
Microvision's $4.6 million Phase I contract, announced in Jan. 1998, to develop a high resolution
HMD that incorporates the company's proprietary Virtual Retinal Display(TM) (VRD(TM)) technology
for ACIS' Aircrew Integrated Helmet System (AIHS) program. The purpose of the new contract is to
further advance the form and functional development of Microvision's HMD.
"We are delighted that the Army has decided to proceed with the next phase of this development
program," said Rick Rutkowski, Microvision's president and CEO. "We've made tremendous strides
in the past year and we believe that the 1999 project will advance the commercial potential of this
product platform significantly."
Doug Stoll, Microvision's director of engineering, said, "This delivery is a major milestone for the
company. In just a year's time, Microvision delivered a device which achieved a new level of
performance for helmet-mounted displays. We're anticipating a very positive reaction. For example,
the effective luminance of our display is 1,500 foot-lamberts, which means the display is daylight
readable. This is a key operational requirement, and we know of no other display that performs at
this level. We also don't know of anything else that could be so easily upgraded to present
multi-color or full-color images to pilots. We think this combination of features will be important to
future products."
Microvision's display projects images into both eyes with a wide field-of-view (52 degree by 30
degree) and a combined resolution of 1716 pixels by 960 lines (1355 pixels by 960 lines in each eye
with a partial overlap). The extremely high resolution and wide field-of-view will enable pilots to fly at
night using a forward looking infrared (FLIR) imager as the primary visual cue, while the high
luminance will permit pilots to see flight symbology against even the brightest daylight
backgrounds.
"It is widely accepted that the performance of both pilot and aircraft can be substantially improved
by providing enhanced visual capabilities, " Rutkowski said. "However, meeting the Army's
demanding requirements for displays that combine high resolution, wide field-of-view, and light
weight with extremely high luminance continues to be a challenge for competing technologies. The
results of this development project give us great confidence that the retinal scanning display can
uniquely achieve the Army's requirements to yield a product with extraordinary market potential.
While the goal of the AIHS program is to create a common HMD platform that could be used in a
variety of existing and proposed rotorcraft, this development project will significantly advance our
ability to create products for fixed wing aircraft, armored vehicles, as well as command and control
functions."
The recent developments are part of Microvision's strategy to deliver improved visualization
capabilities for high value applications in the defense and aerospace market segment. Late last year
Microvision entered into a partnering arrangement with the Navy that identified the widespread
potential for retinal scanning displays in air, surface and sub-surface applications across the military
services. The Memorandum of Understanding with the Navy refers to retinal scanning display
technology as a performance baseline by which optical technologies can be measured.
About Microvision
Headquartered in Seattle, Microvision, Inc. is the developer of
the patented Virtual Retinal Display(TM) (VRD(TM)) technology that uses
a rapidly scanned beam of light to project images on the eye's retina,
allowing the viewer to see large, full-motion images without the need
for a conventional display screen. Microvision's objective is to be a
leading provider of personal display products and imaging technology in
a broad range of military, medical, industrial, professional and
consumer applications. The company was founded in 1993. Additional
information can be found at the company's website at
mvis.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
The information set forth in this release includes
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the safe
harbor created by those sections. Certain factors that realistically
could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the
company's forward-looking statements are set forth in the company's
Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-QSB, as
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Microvision, Inc.
03/16/99 /NOTE TO EDITORS: For more
information on Microvision via fax, at no cost, dial 1-800-PRO-INFO,
ticker symbol MVIS/
/CONTACT: Investor Relations, Stephan Chase, Investor Relations Dir.,
206-623-7055, ext. 238, email, stephanc@mvis.com, or Media, Betsy
Rogers, Public Relations Mgr., 206-515-0046, email, betsyr@mvis.com,
both of Microvision, Inc.; or Lisa Samuelson of Parker LePla,
206-285-5280, email, lisas@parkerlepla.com/
/Web site: mvis.com (MVIS)
CO: Microvision, Inc. ST: Washington IN: CPR ARO SU: CON
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