Microvision Awarded $750,000 Contract to Develop High-Definition Prototype Display Engine for the U.S. Army

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq: MVIS), announced today that it has been awarded a $750,000 contract by Battelle Chapel Hill Operations as prime contractor for the U.S. Army, to develop and demonstrate a prototype of its PicoP projection display engine capable of delivering high-definition 720p resolution (1280 x 720 pixels). This new display would more than double the resolution of Microvision's current WVGA (848 x 480 pixels) PicoP display engine while still maintaining its ultra-miniature form factor. This contract represents the second customer in the last two months to enter into an agreement with the Company to develop a high definition PicoP based display application.

The Army is interested in developing high resolution capabilities from a tiny projection display engine to support future development of high-definition wearable displays for soldiers, as well as future mobile projectors for wireless hand-held devices, including mobile phones. Under the 12-month development contract, Microvision will deliver a demonstration prototype of the high-definition PicoP display engine to the Army.

According to Alexander Tokman, Microvision president and CEO, "It is not a secret that higher resolution devices yield richer viewing experience, and nowhere is this more relevant than in military applications where rapid processing of information-rich content could improve the situational awareness and safety of soldiers. The work performed under this contract is synergistic with our PicoP technology maturation roadmap. We are already able to deliver a WVGA PicoP display engine for consumer and military applications, and now with funding from the Army we have the opportunity to advance our proprietary PicoP platform to the next levels of performance without compromising its small footprint."

About Microvision http://www.microvision.com

Microvision provides the PicoP display technology platform designed to enable next-generation display and imaging products for Pico projectors, vehicle displays, and wearable displays that interface with mobile devices. The company also manufactures and sells its bar code scanner product line which features the company's proprietary MEMS technology.

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this release, including those relating to product development, potential product benefits, and statements using words such as "would," "expected" and "could" are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the company's forward-looking statements include the following: capital market risks, our ability to raise additional capital when needed; market acceptance of our technologies and products; our financial and technical resources relative to those of our competitors; our ability to keep up with rapid technological change; our dependence on the defense industry and a limited number of government development contracts; government regulation of our technologies; our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights and protect our proprietary technologies; the ability to obtain additional contract awards; the timing of commercial product launches and delays in product development; the ability to achieve key technical milestones in key products; dependence on third parties to develop, manufacture, sell and market our products; potential product liability claims, and other risk factors identified from time to time in the company's SEC reports and other filings, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in circumstances or any other reason.

    Source: Microvision, Inc.

Released January 14, 2009