Wednesday May 18, 6:30 am ET
Spectrum Color, Daylight Readable, See-Through Helmet-Mounted Display is Intended for Military Helicopters and Armored Vehicles
BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2005--Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MVIS - News) of Bothell, WA, the world leader in the development of scanned beam displays and imaging products, announced today that it will reveal its latest version of the Spectrum® helmet-mounted, full-color Display System at the Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium, in Boston, May 24 - 26. The revolutionary scanned beam display is the culmination of a Phase 3, $3.85 million development contract with the U.S. Army Product Manager -- Air Warrior, part of Program Executive Office -- Soldier.
The helmet-mounted display system uses Microvision's proprietary scanned beam technology to give pilots and mounted soldiers unprecedented access to high fidelity imagery and information. Whether airborne or in ground vehicles, soldiers will be able to access computers, sensors and remote data, with the information overlaid on their vision by the Spectrum Display. Such a breakthrough in what the military terms "situational awareness" could be the key to more knowledgeable decision making on the battlefield, resulting in increased operational effectiveness and enhanced safety.
The new Spectrum Display System combines improved laser technology with low profile, light weight optics and Microvision's MEMS-based scanned beam display technology to achieve a level of performance previously unavailable, including full sunlight readability and color fidelity superior to existing display technologies such as AMLCD, OLED and CRT. Competing display technologies have been unable to achieve either the brightness or color gamut that the military has long sought. Additionally, the Spectrum Helmet-Mounted Display attaches to the standard military helmet with no modifications and can be viewed with the glare shield visor in either up or down position. Further, the system control module size and power have been dramatically reduced to fit within the requirements of the Army's onboard electronics transportation rack.
Developed in collaboration with the Army's Aviation & Missile Research, Development, & Engineering Center (AMRDEC), the full-color display system could be ready for military production following the next phase of flight qualification and testing, within the next 18 months. "We believe that the Spectrum System is a natural fit for helicopters and armored vehicles," said Tom Sanko, Microvision Vice President, Marketing. "Our technology in the form of the Nomad® Helmet-Mounted Display System has been deployed in Iraq over the past 18 months with the Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Adding color to the Nomad architecture is a natural evolution in the ongoing development of the technology. We are pleased and honored to be teamed with Program Executive Office -- Soldier in an effort to extend our breakthrough display technology to military rotorcraft and ground vehicles to enhance situational awareness and to give our troops an operational advantage on the battlefield."
In addition to the Spectrum Display System, Microvision plans to showcase the following products and prototypes at the SID exhibition: the MicroHUD(TM) automotive head-up display system, a high contrast, high resolution windshield projection display with a display engine a fraction of the size of LCD-based displays, and the Nomad Expert Technician System; the world's only hands-free wearable computer with a head-worn, head-up display, enabling technicians and other mobile workers to overlay relevant information on their tasks, thereby reducing task time and guesswork by eliminating footsteps. The Nomad System was recognized as one of the "Top Twenty Tools" by Motor Magazine and won a 2004 Technology Innovation Award from The Wall Street Journal. Microvision will also exhibit the imagic® microdisplay, the award winning full-color, scanned-beam display intended for low cost, high-volume consumer electronics applications as well as the latest version of the Nomad Helmet-Mounted Display System slated for deployment to Iraq later this year.
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