Unique head-worn display will improve workplace productivity and safety. Microvision, Inc. has announced that it has begun shipping the first Nomad Personal Display System.

The Nomad display system is a high-resolution headworn display that presents images and information to the user in a see-through or "head-up" mode. This unique personal display will enable head-up, hands-free access to information such as diagrams, instrumentation, maintenance records, moving maps and interactive training manuals. The Nomad display features full daylight-readability, allowing users to view high contrast images in even the most challenging ambient lighting conditions. High quality, Super VGA resolution makes the Nomad immediately compatible with a broad range of existing applications and content. By enabling users to merge selected electronic images into their natural field of vision, the Nomad Personal Display System can bring critical information to the point of task. From flight lines to factory floors, surgical suites, and more, systems utilizing the Nomad display can deliver major improvements in productivity, quality and safety for virtually any type of manual task. The company is targeting applications for workers in four vertical markets - industrial, aerospace, medical, and military - that enable customers to keep information in front of people engaged in manual tasks or on the move.

Stryker Leibinger (a division of Stryker Corporation) will couple the Nomad system with a surgical workstation. The display will provide surgeons with a see-through display so they can visualize the surgical field while viewing targeting and guidance information provided by the workstation. The system has the potential to improve accuracy and decrease operative time.

Telesensory, a leader in providing product solutions to assist people with low vision, will assess the Nomad system as a device intended to improve the ability of people with low vision to read printed material.

EUROCONTROL, the European Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation, will evaluate its first Nomad systems as tools to improve visualization for air traffic controllers, potentially reducing stress and workload, reducing delays, and improving airport safety.

ARVIKA - a consortium of German companies including Audi, Siemens, Volkswagen, and Airbus - is researching augmented reality technologies to support development, production and servicing of complex technical products in a user-oriented, application-driven manner. ARVIKA will adapt Nomad systems into its research projects. Consortium members will also evaluate the Nomad display for their own specific near-term applications.

"This year will be an exciting time for Microvision," noted Rutkowski. "We are now shipping a ground-breaking display product that enables a whole new paradigm for how electronic information is visualized in applications from maintenance and manufacturing to air-traffic control, surgery and security. As a result of our work, the U.S. military recently awarded us contracts to further develop and enhance the Nomad display technology for both combat and medical applications. With Nomad, Microvision has the opportunity to play a role in shaping and defining a very significant new market in information technology as it develops over the next several years."

Microvision set stringent performance expectations for the Nomad system, said Rutkowski. "Based on feedback from customer evaluations of prototypes and the field trials we've conducted in the last two years, we're confident that the Nomad display delivers a level of performance that is both essential to safe head-up visualization, and absolutely unique in the marketplace."

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 applications in a broad range of military, medical, industrial, professional and consumer information products.