"Vision" for Tomorrow

MicroVision CEO Richard Rutkowski believes that the VRD will be used successfully anywhere a large field of view is needed in a small space. Rutkowski expects to integrate technology into cell phones and pagers. The VRD would replace the existing small alphanumeric displays so that users could view e-mail, faxes, or even surf the net. Rutkowski envisions a lens that would pop-up, or attach to eye glasses and provide the user with the equivalent viewing space of a full-size monitor.

One possibility is for the VRD to be used by laparoscopic surgeons, who work within the recesses of the body. The tiny camera that guides a surgeon's movements could display the pictures directly in front of him as he worked, avoiding the errors that could occur while having to crane his neck to check a TV monitor. With the VRD it is also possible that a soldier in combat could receive map and terrain information without having to glance down at a screen.

MicroVision identifies these applications for the VRD in their investor literature:

• Augmented Vision: See-through images super-imposed on the real world will increase safety, precision, and speed of performance in manual tasks.
• Hand-Held Devices: Presenting a large image with a small device will explode the market for such things as PDA's, cellular telephones, pagers etc.
• Simulation: Creating high-resolution, immersive displays that can simulate any situation, or immersive gaming applications with two or three dimensional imagery.

Industry demands for smaller displays could include any of the following targets:

Communications Cellular communicator Communicator - hand-held, head-worn Fax Pager Personal communications Smart mobile phones Televirtuality Video phone
	Computing Consumer portable computer display Information assistant Multimedia PDA's Wearable PDA Web Crawlers
Education Training Simulation Virtual classrooms
	Entertainment Digital cameras Games Interactive computer / video games Location based entertainment Simulations Virtual reality
Manufacturing Process control monitor Virtual prototyping
	Medical Fluoroscopy Medical imaging Projected medical imaging Prostheses for the handicapped Prosthetic interface Radiology Ultrasound
Military & Space Exploration Portable command post Security Simulation
	Visual Vision enhancement Visual cueing
Scientific Visualization 3-D microscope Modeling
	Surgical Anesthesiology Endoscopy

Research is proactively ensuring that the base technologies can be quickly translated into marketable products. It is worth mentioning that MicroVision believes that each application will not require a unique VRD configuration. They are developing generic design platforms which will each serve a range of products.