Siemens AG Automation & Drives Selects Xybernaut(R) Mobile Assistant(R) IV as a Platform for Wearable Computing Projects
FAIRFAX, Va., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Xybernaut Corporation (Nasdaq: XYBR), a leader in the wearable computer industry, announced today that the Xybernaut Mobile Assistant (MA IV(TM)) wearable PC has been selected by Siemens Automation & Drives Group (A&D) Nuremberg/Erlangen as the platform of choice for wearable computing projects at Siemens.
The Siemens Automation and Drives Group (A&D) has 60 locations worldwide with more than 53,000 employees. A&D is a leading supplier of automation and drive solutions for the manufacturing, process, and electrical installation industry. Their line includes standard products for industrial applications and installation engineering as well as solutions, such as high-capacity packaging machines designed for automobile factories and refineries. A& D provides numerous products (switches, sensors, actuators and drives) at the field level, systems for corporate automation like host computers, programmable logic controllers, and hardware and software for HMI, in addition to industrial PCs for process management. All are fully compatible with the "Totally Integrated Automation" (TIA) platform.
Siemens A&D closed the last fiscal year (1997/98) successfully with sales of 6.8 billion dollars (13.7 billion marks); orders of 7 billion dollars (13.8 billion marks); and a profit (before taxes) of 0.6 billion dollars (1.2 billion marks).
Announcing this decision, Wolfgang Wohlgemuth of Siemens AuD stated, "We have thoroughly tested the wearable computer concept in cooperation with Xybernaut Corporation since early 1998 and ran a number of successful pilot projects in various divisions of Siemens. With the advent of the Mobile Assistant(R) IV, we now have a platform available that provides sufficient computing power to deploy commercial applications. Our actual projects focus on the deepened investigation of key industrial application fields for such wearable computing platforms -- especially based on speech-based user interaction. There is still some demand for research in the practical usage of these new interaction technologies in order to identify the best solutions fitting to customer needs."
"Furthermore, Siemens is considering the evaluation of Xybernaut products in the scope of a forthcoming project, which basically deals with future forms of human-technology interaction. This project includes mobile computing application scenarios to support work processes in the development, manufacturing and servicing of complex technical components, systems and installations and aims at the implementation of prototypes for product-suited solutions."
Bernd Wiedmann, General Manager of Xybernaut GmbH, added, "We are excited that our extensive prototyping efforts led to a positive decision for the concept and for our product line. These are very demanding applications and we will continue to work very closely with Siemens in order to make them a showcase for the industrial use of wearable computing."
The MA IV began shipping to European customers in 1st Quarter 1999. It consists of a belt-worn computer, a color VGA head-mounted display suspended in front of either eye with microphone and earphone, an optional wrist-mounted flat panel touch screen color display or keyboard, a battery pack, and integrated voice-recognition software.
About Xybernaut Corporation:
Xybernaut Corporation is the leader in providing hardware, software and service solutions to the wearable computing industry. The company's patented wearable computer systems feature speech-activation, flat panel and head- mounted displays that allow users hands-free access to information in the computer's internal storage, in local area networks, and on the Internet on an as-needed, where-needed basis. Xybernaut's software is designed to provide users with the right information needed for the task at hand using consistent navigation techniques and screen presentations. Xybernaut's current customers include leading Fortune 500 companies and government organizations for many mobile knowledge delivery system applications including maintenance and repair, diagnosis, inspection, inventory control, manufacturing and data collection. Key industries include manufacturing, distribution, transportation, government, and insurance. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, Xybernaut also has offices in Europe (Germany) and Asia (Japan).
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "plan," "confident that," "believe," "expect," or "intend to," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward- looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, the availability of components for, and delays in the start of, production of the next generations of the Mobile Assistant, general acceptance of the Company's products and technologies, competitive factors, the ability to successfully complete additional financings and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and filings.
Visit Xybernaut's Web Site at xybernaut.com
SOURCE Xybernaut Corporation
CO: Xybernaut Corporation; Siemens AG; Xybernaut GmbH
ST: Virginia, Germany
IN: CPR
SU:
04/19/99 10:21 EDT prnewswire.com
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