Microvision Ships Prototype of Next Generation Head-Up Display to Ford

    BOTHELL, Wash.--Oct. 11, 2001--Microvision, Inc., , the leader in light scanning technologies, announced today that it has shipped a laser-scanning projection display to Ford Research Laboratory as the result of a four month development effort.
    The delivery will be evaluated as a driver's head-up (HUD) display, similar to those used in military and commercial aircraft.
    The automobile industry is keen to equip cars with new features ranging from head-up maps, and instrumentation displays to traffic advisories and a variety of network-based information services. Microvision's unique head-up projection system creates a very high brightness monochromatic image that is designed to appear only when the driver looks in a particular location.
    The palm-sized projection display contains proprietary technology that creates an image by precisely scanning a single beam of laser light at very high speed. The beam is projected through a rectangular lens that causes the image to appear in space when the viewer focuses on the selected location.
    "Our technology is a perfect fit for the automobile industry," said Tom Sanko, Microvision's Vice President of Marketing. "Automotive displays need to deliver very bright images in small affordable packages, have a long lifetime and not generate heat. Current projection technologies aren't able to achieve most of these requirements. Compared to the expensive lamps in existing projection systems, Microvision's use of laser light sources make a key difference. Our light sources are very small, very bright and very power efficient.
    "While the automotive category is a relatively new market for Microvision," continued Sanko, "we are greatly encouraged by our ability to demonstrate some fundamental advantages of our technology. We were able to prototype this system very rapidly because it was based on pre-existing technology. We look forward to continuing development in this category and expect to build upon our early results very quickly."
    Mr. Sanko will be presenting a paper highlighting Microvision's work in scanned light displays for automobiles at the Society of Information Display's 8th Annual Symposium on Vehicle Displays, October 15-16, in Detroit, Michigan. He will also be demonstrating prototypes of Microvision's Nomad Personal Display System and microdisplay.