4/10/2001
Spectrum(TM) Prototype Delivered to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for Evaluation in Surgical Applications
BOTHELL, Wash., April 10 /PRNewswire/ — Underscoring its market strategy as the world’s most advanced visualization company, Microvision Inc.
(Nasdaq: MVIS) today announced that it has delivered Spectrum — its prototype
full-color display system — to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The delivery
represents the first in a series of full-color, high-resolution,
daylight-readable, see-through display prototypes that Microvision will
strategically place with select customers this year.
As Microvision’s first development partner for Spectrum, the Cleveland
Clinic will focus on developing and evaluating clinical applications in the
operating room — a perfect trial to test Spectrum’s capabilities, said
Tom Sanko, Microvision vice president of marketing. Experiencing what
Microvision calls ‘augmented vision’ — electronic images that are
superimposed over the real world — surgeons will view full-color images as
well as patient data and vital signs via Spectrum’s head-mounted display.
Spectrum incorporates Microvision’s retinal scanning display (RSD) technology
— which ‘paints’ rows of pixels on the user’s eye — delivering image quality
far beyond any comparable display technology.
“The Spectrum color display rivals the quality of high definition
television; it is absolutely riveting,” noted Sanko. “It demonstrates our
ability to deliver full-color, high-resolution solutions using RSD technology.
While our monochrome Nomad display will be the cost-effective display solution
that meets the needs of the vast majority of our users, Spectrum will fill the
demand for specific full-color applications such as rendering medical images
in surgical applications.”
Other mission-critical applications that demand a high-end color display
may include advanced forms of augmented reality such as image-guided surgery
or flight simulation.
While Microvision previously produced and delivered a color see-through
prototype system to Wallace-Kettering Neuroscience Institute in 1999, the
Spectrum display reflects the innovative advances that Microvision has made in
full-color RSD technology, said Sanko. The Spectrum display system consists of
a full-color, high-resolution (SVGA), monocular head-mounted display that is
tethered to a stationary light source. Spectrum can be configured as a
biocular (two eyes) or binocular (stereoscopic) display as well. Spectrum also
features a smaller footprint — the light sources and electronic components
comprise a single box one-third the size of its predecessor.
The Spectrum system prototype availability complements the anticipated
release of the Nomad(TM) display system, which will be Microvision’s first
commercial product when it is launched this fall. Microvision plans to place
several additional Spectrum prototypes this year and the company is actively
seeking potential partners to help develop Spectrum applications.
About Microvision
Headquartered in Bothell, Wash., 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 application in a broad range of
military, medical, industrial, professional and consumer information products.
Additional information can be found at the company’s web site at
http://www.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-K and Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.