MicroVision | End of the Road or End of the Tunnel

The last post I wrote about MicroVision was over a year ago; and the title was the most revealing and depressing…

MicroVision: Major Cost Cutting Measures or Death Spiral?  

A year later─ after blowing another $40 million or so down the hole, and 1 for 8 reverse split─ we seem to be at another juncture in the MicroVision saga.  This time; it’s either the end of the road or end of the tunnel for MicroVision.

Over the last year, we have seen some major cost cutting measures… but still burning $20 million dollars or so per year.  On surface it seems like a good effort… but not good enough to save the company while still waiting for Diode Green Lasers.

At the rate MVIS stock prices is going [down]; it looks like the end of the road… but there is, at the same time, hope that it could be the end of the tunnel and some green light of hope setting into the picture.

There we go again, the good old pesky Diode Green Lasers─ the Holy Grail to the MicroVision salvation.

Before we get into details and start talking about pesky Diode Green Lasers and Holy Grail and such… lets re-visit the issues once more…

Lately, there has been very little visible activity or news at MicroVision─ other than more stock issues and dilution.  And that makes me wonder: “What's up with no SHOW at the Displayland of laser based Pico Projectors?”

Here's the latest scoop and thinking based on some consumer feedback...

1. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, regardless of the brand name or the underlying technology, are a toy as a standalone device... but the market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range. However, anything better than 15 lumen is definitely a differentiating improvement and worthy of $149 to $199 price tag.
2. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, using panel or DLP/LED technology, use too much battery power and need constant focusing... and they will also have other gating [like size and heat] issues making into the mobile devices. If panel/DLP/LED technology gets past the mobile platform gating issues; but at fifteen lumens they will still be considered a toy.  However, the market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range... especially when someone else [like AT&T or Verizon] is paying for it. 
3. Fifteen lumen bright Pico projectors, using MEMS/DGL technology, present a more favorable solution to the battery power issues and do not need constant focusing... and they will have far fewer mobile platform gating issues.  However, at fifteen lumen such laser based devices will still be considered toy... but market is quite receptive to such devices in the $99 to $149 range... especially when someone else is paying for it.

Bottom line is...

“... Can MicroVision make 25 or 30 lumen bright DGL based HD IPMs [High Definition Integrated Photonic Modules] for embedded Pico projectors in millions; and make them cheap enough to be able to sell them in the $149 to $199 range; and manage to stave-off the financial death spiral by showing some net profit on each sale?”

A few dollars profit on each unit sold could easily translate into millions of dollars in profit when adoption rates in handheld devices accelerate into hundreds of million units in the next 3-5 years.

In my opinion, the answer, with some qualifications, is an astounding yes.

Here’s why…

Sony, Sumitomo push laser projectors forward with a new, more powerful green laser diode

By Richard Lawler

Posted June 21st, 2012 7:47AM

Sumitomo Electric and Sony Announce the Joint-Development of the World's First True Green Semiconductor Laser Diode with over 100 mW Output Power at 530nm

Achieves Twice the Luminosity of Conventional Gallium Nitride Green Laser Diodes

Here’s the link to the Press Release from Sony…

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/21/sony-sumitomo-green-laser-diode/

This is the best news in the history of MicroVision. Because Diode Green Laser at over 100 mW in the true green region wavelength of 530 nm and at 8% wall efficiency…

“… Will allow MicroVision to produce 25 to 30 lumen bright HD IPMs that will take less energy and can be scaled to millions at much reduced cost.”

Now here’s the question for the CEO and BODs of MicroVision...

“After five years of financial orgy─ that produced insignificant amount of sales [of anything] but involved dozens of highly paid managers [and support staff] in the PR, IR, Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Administration, Global Product Management, etc─ can you deliver, now that you have efficient DGLs that you always wanted?”

Or you have another excuse, like…

“… We have cut the fat so deep; it may be “slicing the bone” and caused structural damage to the integrity of the company.”

Investors of MicroVision want to know?

Better still…

“Why not all of you re-sign with some dignity and let competent management team takeover from here?

The last hand is in play... and over the next 6 months it’s the do or quit time for MicroVision brass.

Anant B. Goel 

Producer CEO - RKNet Studios

Producer - Movie 'Pyar Mein Kyun'

 

Microvision: What’s New in Laser Land?

The Red-Green-Blue (RGB) laser light sourcing has, for a long time, been one of the blocking factors for MEMS-based pico-projector development.

Technical challenges have been overcome by some laser manufacturers [like Osram for one example] that are now providing the three basic colors. It is expected that these lasers will be mass-produced in a single bar─ that is a platform integrating the three laser sources in one instead of three individual lasers, by early 2011.

Single bar RGB laser light source for MEMS pico projectors is expected to be much more cost effective and scalable to mass production. Not only that, there are other benefits of reduced physical size, lower energy consumption and faster modulation rates.

Laser pico projector pricing is then strongly related not only to the cost of RGB laser light source and production volumes but also to initial technology choices, the business model and product strategy.

Anant Goel

Microvision: What Does 15 Lumens Mean to SHOWwx+ Projected Image Brightness?

Here's the news...

MicroVision Unveils Second-Generation Laser Pico Projector, SHOWWX+

Press Release
Source: MicroVision, Inc.
Monday November 22, 2010, 1:00 pm EST

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), the leader in innovative ultra-miniature laser display technology, today unveiled SHOWWX+®, the second-generation of its award-winning laser pico projector. With a 50 percent brighter display within the same slim size, SHOWWX+ enables mobile device users to break free from the small screen and project large, clear 16:9 widescreen content wherever they are, on any surface.

“We’re on a mission to eliminate the squinting and huddling that occurs when mobile device users share content,” said Alexander Tokman, president and CEO of MicroVision. “SHOWWX+ is designed to simply and quickly connect to today’s hottest new portable devices so users can display and share large vibrant images and video with ease.”

Taking the Mobile Experience Beyond the Small Screen
SHOWWX+ is the first laser pico projector to offer a big-screen, movie-length experience that easily slips into a shirt pocket. Boasting two hours of battery life, 15 laser lumens, a contrast ratio up to five times higher than competing products, and the shortest throw ratio of any pico projector on the market, the SHOWWX+ is the perfect accessory for expanding viewing experiences beyond a palm or pad-sized screen. Its category-leading 5,000:1 native contrast ratio ensures the SHOWWX+ produces the deepest blacks and most brilliant whites.

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link to the news…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/MicroVision-Unveils-bw-4077703968.html?x=0&.v=2

In all fairness, this is excellent news as it shows progress in the right direction to achieving a brighter and improved quality image from the tiny laser based PicoP Display Engine at the core of MicroVision’s second generation product SHOWwx+.

We have seen the first generation pico projector SHOWwx… and are really impressed by the 10-lumen brightness and the quality of projected image.

However, with the second generation SHOWwx+ there are lots of speculations and misinformation about what does it really mean to have 15-lumen brightness from the new PDEs?

Consider this in its utmost simplicity…

Lumen:
A lamp [LED or a laser diode] produces a certain amount of light that is measured in lumens. The lumen is the globally standardized SI unit of "luminous flux"--meaning that it measures just how much visible light is produced by an object such as, for example, a light bulb.

Typical indoor lamps have light outputs ranging from 50 to 10,000 lumens. You use lumens to order most types of lamps, to compare lamp outputs, and to calculate lamp energy efficiencies.

The luminous flux is a weighted sum of the power at all wavelengths in the visible band. Light outside the visible band does not contribute. Luminous flux is the total perceived power emitted in all directions. However, luminous intensity is the perceived power per unit solid angle… like as directed and projected on a screen and seen by the eye.

[Note that lumen output is not related to the light distribution pattern of the lamp. A large fraction of a lamp’s lumen output may be useless if it goes in the wrong directions… like as in diffused light from a lamp or LED source]

Luminous intensity:
It is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source in a particular direction per unit solid angle, based on the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye. The SI unit of luminous intensity is the candela (cd).

We are interested in the measurement of visible light as perceived by human eye; the human eye can only see light in the visible spectrum and has different sensitivities to light of different wavelengths within the spectrum. When adapted for bright conditions (photopic vision), the eye is most sensitive to greenish-yellow light at 555 nm. Light with the same radiant intensity at other wavelengths has a lower luminous intensity. For instance, the measured responses of the eye to violet light varied by a factor of ten.

Luminous intensity should not be confused with another photometric unit, luminous flux, which is the total perceived power emitted in all directions. Luminous intensity is the perceived power per unit solid angle.

Lux:
Lux is the unit that indicates the density of light that falls on a surface. This is what light meters measure. For example, average indoor lighting ranges from 100 to 1,000 lux, and average outdoor sunlight is about 50,000 lux.

One Lux, for example, is measured as one lumen per square meter. The general term for lux is “luminance”.

Lux versus lumen:
The difference between the lux and the lumen is that the lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 100 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square meter, lights up that square meter with a luminance of 100 lux. However, the same 100 lumens, spread out over ten square meters, produce a dimmer luminance of only 1 lux.

Now consider this…
A person looking at the screen sees different areas of his visual field in terms of levels of brightness, or luminance, measured in candelas [the measure of luminous intensity] per square meter.

With that clarity on the difference between lumen and lux; conversion between the two is simple.

Lux is a measure of how many lumens are present in a given area. It's essentially a measure of "photon density" or "light concentration." A "denser" cloud of photons [like a 10 lumen laser light pixel] means there are more lumens present in a pixel space… producing more brightness and higher lux as perceived by the eye.

A "lighter" cloud of photons [like a 10 lumen LED lighting the one square meter of the screen] means fewer lumens are present in a pixel space… leading to dimmer conditions and lower lux as perceived by the eye.

To achieve a desired lux level in a given space it may be necessary to use brighter bulbs with higher lumen rating or use many light bulbs, each producing a given number of lumens.

Do the Conversion…
Measure the dimensions of the space that you wish to illuminate, and write down how many square meters of surface area it has. In case of SHOWwx with 10 lumens, it is 10 lumens over the size of a pixel. In case of 10 lumen LED based pico projectors, it is 10 lumens over the one square meter of the screen.

The fundamental ratio of conversion from desired lux level to required lumens is:

1 lux = 1 lumen per square meter.

Since perceived brightness corresponds to a logarithmic function, depending on the shape of the function's graph, close to the x axis (where pico projector brightness is now), you would tend to see more difference from smaller amounts of change. That's because close to the axis, the curve is relatively steep. The technical projector literature, the ANSI definitions and viewers personal experience says…

“… In case of pico projectors, as you double the ANSI lumens you double the brightness."

However, as the lumen numbers get bigger─ like 2,000 to 4,000 lumens for lamp based projectors, the curve flattens out, so you need relatively more change in lumens to get the same perceived change in brightness.

"For pico projectors, depending on where you are on that curve, it might even be possible to get a “more” than double brightness increase from a smaller than double lumen increase."

In summary…
Lumen for lumen, the laser pico projectors have higher perceived brightness as compared to those using other light sources… and as you increase the ANSI lumens by 50% [going from 10 lumens to 15 lumens] you more or less increase the brightness by 50%.

Anant Goel

Microvision: What Business Growth Strategy?

Every business has to plan for growth and executives should make sure their growth plans are consistent with their dynamic business plan. A dynamic business plan is an updated version that is kept current to reflect the ever-changing business-operating environment. Especially in the technology and DOT.com businesses, where the product cycles are so short and consumer preferences are mostly dependent on the next hot product or service.

When it comes to growth plans, the two ends of the spectrum are, for example, should a company grow quickly and unprofitably, like Amazon and Hotmail─ before it got acquired by Microsoft for $480 million, or slowly with a careful eye on the bottom line, like Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlors? It all depends on how much venture capital you have access to and what the competition is doing!

The worst thing you can do is fail to decide whether you're going to be a Ben & Jerry's company, or a Hotmail company, or an Amazon company.

There are three possible scenarios when focusing on the challenges of growing a business and picking the right growth model that is consistent with your business plan and positions you for whatever your ultimate goal is…

Number one: you want to be the gorilla of your industry in a hurry like Amazon.
Number two: you want to ramp-up your business fast and position for an acquisition like Hotmail.
Number three: you want to be a brick and mortar company producing steady profits like Ben & Jerry’s.

Regardless of what your business model is, the CEO and the CFO of the company need to formalize their business growth strategy and evangelize to the man in-charge of running the day-to-day operation of the business. Building a company is no small task? You've got one very important decision to make, because it affects everything else you do. No matter what else you do, you absolutely must figure out which camp you're in, and gear everything you do accordingly, or you're going to have a disaster on your hands.

THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS:

Whether to grow slowly, organically, and profitably, or whether to have a big bang with very fast growth with lots of capital spent in a hurry, that is the question?

The first model, popularly called "Get Big Fast" (a.k.a. "Land Grab"), requires you to raise a lot of capital, and work as quickly as possible to get big fast without concern for profitability. I'm going to call this the “Amazon”, because Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has practically become the celebrity spokes-model for Get Big Fast.

The second model is called "Hotmail for Sale or Fail". As for the name of our model “Hotmail for Sale or Fail”, I just made it up to make the point. This model requires you to raise only a small amount of capital, position for acquisition, and work as quickly as possible to build momentum to show there is promise of getting big fast… without concern for profitability. I'm going to call this “Hotmail” model, because Hotmail fits this model very well.

The third model, organic growth model, is to start small, with limited goals, and slowly build a business over a long period of time. I'm going to call this “Ben & Jerry’s” model, because Ben & Jerry’s fit this model pretty well.

Now the question is: “where on earth does the Microvision business model fit-in?"

The short answer is...

 "Nowhere"

Microvision’s current business growth strategy is either non-existent or is severely flawed after the green laser debacle of late… that still continues to haunt Microvision even after 4 years.

Here’s one clue to the non-existent, or flawed, business growth strategy…

In early 2007, Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision, was quite aware of the following facts…

*  Embedded pico projector was to be the holly grail for Microvision.
*  Without diode RGB lasers; the power, size, and cost of the laser light source based on SHG green lasers would be prohibitive for embedded applications.
*  In 2007, diode green lasers were 4 to 5 years away… as like in 2011/2012 time frame.

If you were to assume correctly, and AT was aware of these facts as early as in 2007, then why in hell his management team carried-on with an army of personnel in SG&A [and R&D] to continually spend over $12 million dollars every Qtr for the last four years. If AT had used this readily available information and some gumption to control costs to say $6 million per Qtr… today there would be lot less pressure to raise money to continue with operations─ while still waiting for diode/SHG green lasers, because Microvision would have saved over $96 million dollars in costs without sacrificing much.

Microvision management should have either changed their business growth strategy to “hunker down” and coast on a low cost/low profile basis until the green laser technology was mature enough with more plausible cost and performance metrics… or let someone else run the company, instead of pushing the company hard on the downward spiral of financial gloom and doom while waiting for diode/SHG green lasers.

Microvision’s current business growth strategy assures that they will continue to lose money-- as they are now… and continue to do so all of the next year and five years from now. The cost and availability of green lasers today, or a year or two from now, plays a role but its financial impact on the bottom-line profitability is very small when you consider the vicious [large volume/lower cost/lower absolute dollar margin] cycle associated with commodity products such as PDEs and IPMs that are sold to consumer product OEMs.

As long as Microvision corporate management is fixated on just selling their laser light based PDEs and IPMs in an OEM market that has all the makings of a commodity market… they will be at the mercy of the OEMs; for consumer product introduction time-lines, consumer product pricing, product marketing, and commodity component pricing with no pricing power.

Just look around and tell me if you see any embedded mobile phone camera makers or the touch screen makers [for things like iPad or iPhone] making any money worth crowing about. On the other hand, consumer product OEMs like Apple, with vision and gumption, come to market with one consumer product at a time─ on their terms, and rake-in billions in revenue and profits.

The current Microvision business model calls for hundreds of millions in sales of PDEs and IPMs to make a few millions dollars in net profit in a commodity type pricing environment … and that too, if and when the OEM customers let that happen.

Microvision still has time to re-configure its business growth model and seriously consider launching its own branded consumer products ─ possibly in partnership with large OEMs; and be the shaker, baker, and maker of its own destiny.

Just take the current situation of Microvision patiently waiting on its hands and feet─ and spending $12 million dollars per Qtr; while the OEM for the High End Media Player (HEMP) procrastinates on product configuration, product introduction time-lines, and product marketing and pricing issues.

In the best case scenario, the current Microvision business model can, in a year or two, only produce modest earnings growth of perhaps 12% per years for many years to come… and may never come even close to the hyper growth in revenue and earnings that we once believed was possible.

Anant Goel

Microvision: Color Eyewear Development Program

Now that Microvision has commercially launched its laser PicoP projector SHOWwx in the US market; and that the initial shipments have begun in earnest, the inquiring minds want to know: “Now what?”

From what I hear, the focus has now increased in scope to embrace additional five areas with varying levels of priority and resource allocation…

• PicoP Display Engine modules for embedded applications,

• High Definition and brighter pico image initiative,

• Color Eyewear product development,

• 3D projector and light weight passive polarized 3D glasses development,

• New PEK modules and development support for multitude of third party applications.

I promise to pass on the information, on each of the above subjects, as it becomes available to me… or when it has gathered some critical mass to become worthy of further discussion.

So, here we go with our first subject that seems to be coming back to life after sitting on the back burner for almost six months…

First, here’s the link to Microvision Eyewear Development Program that I found on the Internet…
http://www.microvision.com/pdfs/program_brief.pdf

Note the key statement…

“Microvision and its business partners are developing see-through personal Color Eyewear for mobility applications that will extend the usability of mobile devices transforming the user experience.”

Microvision Color Eyewear Product alone is worth billions in [high margin] revenue for the company.

This is why…

Paradigm Shift: Another Microvision product that will change the way we view our world.

Ultimate Mobility: Allows you to engage with the world and your personal mobile content at the same time.

Extend the Usability of Mobile Devices: to further enhance and transform user experience.

Ultimate Social Networking Tool: Allows you to keep in constant contact with social networks… without having to pull your mobile phone out of your pocket.

Next Generation of Color Eyewear: that is not only fashionable but also elevates the user experience.

Ultimate in Private Viewing: of information for business [like teleprompter], networking and entertainment.

Ultimate in High Definition Image Quality: High Definition images in 1080i or beyond… limited only by the pixel size of laser light source.

Immersive Virtual Experiences: in 2D or 3D using Microvision’s Color Eyewear equipped with Augmented Reality

Market Size: Multi-billion dollar worldwide market… no doubt.

Competition: None to speak of at this time.

Timing: Coming soon… in 2011 or there about. Timing of commercial product release to the global market is the only wild card in the deck.

Program Funding: by Lockheed Martin sub-contract…

Here’s this statement from Press Release of July 13th, 2009…

“Microvision is very pleased to work with Lockheed Martin to advance the development of see-through eyewear displays in support of the DARPA ULTRA-Vis program…”

“… By designing Microvision’s ultra-miniature PicoP Display Engine and our thin Substrate Guided Relay (SGR) Optics into a wearable display, we have the potential to bring battery operable, low-profile, see-through, full-color eyewear displays to users.”

“DARPA has created the ULTRA-Vis program to bring tactical see-through heads-up information to ground soldiers in order to increase their safety and situational awareness in urban environments, the company said. When integrated to an information management system, Microvision said its eyewear display could enable users to receive visual commands, view geo-registered iconic representations, and receive other full-color image content overlaid on their view.

Here’s the link…
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2418318/

When you add the billions of dollars revenue potential from the PicoP Display Engine and PicoP Projector market to the “Color Eyewear” market… there is no better conclusion than: “Microvision has the potential of becoming a multi-billion dollar enterprise no doubt”.

Will Microvision stock [Nasdaq: MVIS] be a $500 stock in year 2014 remains to be seen… however all the signs are pointing that we are heading in the right direction and smart money is taking position as we speak?

We, as investors, can be part of this paradigm shift that has the potential of extraordinary financial gains during the “change” process that may spread over a few years… and is underway already.

Anant Goel
(This blog entry represents only the author’s opinion of Microvision as an investment vehicle)

http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Stock at the End of its Transition Phase

Every growth stock falls into 1 of 3 categories…

1. The Romance Phase

2. The Transition Phase

3. The Reality Phase

Most growth stocks tend to pass through three phases of growth… romance, transition and reality. By knowing which phase a stock is in, you can quickly determine whether the profits are just beginning… or the well is drying up fast. Needless to say, this can make the decision to buy, sell or hold significantly easier. And its decisions like these that will make or break your success in investing.

You may say that in case of Microvision, the romance is gone and the transition is at an end, and the reality of situation [green laser issue] has become clear. And in your opinion in this phase, the company’s entire financial future depends on the availability and the cost of green lasers. Since the company has made no effort to incorporate any other type of light source to power its PicoP Display Engine, the core of its entire product line, it is fair to say that Microvision will thrive or perish by the green laser sword.

Some of you have lived through the romance phase, which peaked in year 2000 with the MVIS stock trading well over $63… at a time when there were no real products, and just a few patents on a very promising laser based MEMS image scanning technology. Those that did not cash out after the romance phase, the most profitable phase, and are still holding the MVIS stock and they have battle scars to prove their passage through the three phases of growth in the life of a company. Now we are at the tail end of the transition phase, when blemishes appear and public’s perception of the company starts to diminish.

If you feel that we all have made a mistake in believing and staying too long in MVIS stock and are in the same boat at this point in time? We all have, for whatever the reason, stayed little too long in this stock and are now paying the price of dealing with uncertain future and muted enthusiasm of a product launch… that revolves around a core component from green laser supply chain! If that’s what you believe, and can think with a cool head and not point fingers, then continue reading, as I would like to share some facts, figures and analysis?

Microvision story is not over yet. It is, however, certainly the end of the romance phase and we are now successfully transitioning to the reality phase. If you dig deeper, you will find that it is just the beginning that is based on reality of Microvision’s financial and cost structure and will resume its momentum to renewed success based on improving availability and cheaper cost of green lasers… the Achilles heel to Microvision’s financial success. This may sound like a wish full conclusion to Microvision saga… but fortunately that happens to be the conclusion of my analysis based on findings of facts and figures.

So stay tuned and let’s continue with our analysis…

The Romance Phase: is the most profitable phase by far and is the one that you’ll want to focus on… that is, if you were lucky enough to be around during the early life stages of Microvision in year 2000. It’s in this phase that a fortune can be amassed very quickly, long before most investors are even aware that the company exists. Yet at some point, the stock’s price and its Relative Performance (RP) line will reach all-time highs. This tells you the Romance in the stock has peaked. This is when most analysts, if there are any following the stock, would recommend selling it. In case of MVIS stock, the first Romance peak took place in March of year 2000 when the stock traded in the $63 plus range.

The second Romance peak took place in June of 2007 when the management announced “Agreement with Motorola”. At the height of this Romance peak, the MVIS stock traded in the $6 range. It happened too quick [in less than two months] and the RP line indicated that it had not peaked and there was lot more momentum left for the stock to go still higher... to over $10 or so we believed. Also, the pico projector sector was just in initial stages of taking-off... as we know is happening right now. It took us a few months to realize the issues with SHG green laser technology and the resulting cost and supply constraints.

In hindsight, we may call it our greed that made us stay in this stock too long or may be it was our collective belief that there was more good news to come. How could it all start, take-off and crash in less than three months? Well, it did and the reasons are too well known to all of us so I won’t repeat them here.

The Transition Phase: can last from few months to several years. In case of Microvision, the Transition Phase started in September of 2007 when I first wrote about the technical issues that Corning was having with their SHG green lasers. This is when the blemishes appeared and the public’s perception of the stock started to diminish. It’s at this stage in the life of a company, like Microvision, that the company’s technology may fumble, the earnings may stumble [if there were any], the cash flow may turn negative [or cash burn may accelerate], the financing may disappear, the flaws in business growth strategy start showing-up in negative revenue growth [or as loss of revenue] and other issues start popping-up such as legal, financial, and key employee departures, etc.

Sooner or later the issues will get resolved and the company’s earnings will grow again… but only after the stock has bottomed and then, after an excruciating period, has started its next major advance.

Now we are at the tail end of the “Transition Phase”. During the Transition Phase, the blemishes [like technical problems with green lasers] appeared and public’s perception of the company diminished to such low levels as to bring the MVIS stock down to $0.80 in March 2009.

Many of the red-hot lovers who romanced MVIS on the way up have left the stock, and it's their selling pressures, driven by reduced perceptions, that have been pushing the MVIS stock down… and the bear market of 2008 hasn't helped, either. Every time a diehard long who had sworn to hold the stock forever gives up in disgust, the stock is pushed a little lower.

It's not the company's fault that Corning had repeatedly failed to deliver on the SHG green laser, a core component for making laser PicoP projectors. If the delay was reasonable, and not the 30 months, the MVIS stock would have traded rationally, based on earnings from a potentially gigantic global market. This stock would have been nowhere near as low as the 80 cents last March, and it would be certainly traded higher now than it currently is… at $2.69 and excruciating to hold it at this level.

But stock prices are determined by investors. And investors are people. People who fall-in and fall-out of love! People who buy with visions of profits and sell in disgust when their dreams are dashed! People who drive stocks to irrational heights and then sell them to irrational depths! That's what makes investing a challenge ... and very profitable, if you know what you're doing.

The Reality Phase: With Romance gone and the transition at end, the reality of the situation has become clear. In this final phase, the Reality Phase, the company could have taken one of the two roads… the road to renewed success… or the road to oblivion.

Microvision has struggled for over the last 30 months to deal with the core component─ green laser─ supply issue during the Transition Phase. All through this phase, Microvision managed to stay funded and fully staffed to aggressively pursue product development and continue with research to enlarge its intellectual property rights.

Finally, Corning has resolved its green laser yield issues and is now ramping production. Osram is coming on-line rapidly to become the second source of SHG green lasers… with a better, cheaper and higher yielding product. During the Transition Phase, Microvision management made some hard decisions to control cost, proactively raise funding─ even though it was considered unpopular with the investors, and aggressively pursued R&D to enlarge its IP portfolio and took measures to protect its intellectual property.

Over this last cycle, in my opinion, the MVIS stock price has bottomed at $1.96. The Transition Phase is over and the Reality Phase has kicked-in, or it will on March 8th after the earnings conference call.

It’s then; when analysis of the stock should become a little easier for investors who base their decisions on fundamentals. If the company's sales and earnings are growing, as I expect them to do very rapidly, the stock will rise, too. But it will do it in a far more rational manner, reflecting the reality of the company's sales and earnings growth potential over the next few years.

Before I leave you, consider this…

We are truly at the turning point in the history of Microvision, that some may call the “Validation Phase”. Because, that’s what the commercial release and the three purchase orders─ from global consumer electronic OEMs and the World leading mobile phone operator, represent …

• Validation of Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine technology, its quality, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.

• Validation of performance and quality of PicoP display engine at the core of the world’s first laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx.

• Validation of Corning green laser technology, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.

• Validation of technical and performance superiority of laser based PicoP projector as compared to other two technologies on the market… like DLP from Texas Instruments and LcoS for 3M.

• Validation of consumer preference for Microvision’s PicoP projector: wide screen, high definition, longer battery life, 2D video with fast refresh without motion blur, small physical size, always in focus images for all of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications, and no waste heat generation.

• Validation of acceptable safety standard for laser based PicoP projectors in consumer use and adoption.

• Validation of speckle as a non-issue and as virtually non-existent with Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine.

• Validation of fundamental design flaws of Microvision competitors: low resolution images, faded colors, short battery runs, longer throw distance, and requiring constant manual focus adjustments… and the waste heat, hot enough to cook eggs sunny-side-up.

• Validation of Microvision as a product company rather than just a R&D house with 200 issued and filed patents and with many more to come.

• Validation of global consumer electronic OEMs recognizing laser as a viable and superior alternative to DLP, LcoS and FLOCS technology.

• Validation of growing demand for Pico projectors from carriers and content providers on a global basis.

• Validation of consumer demand for quality Pico projectors.

• Validation of growing demand for green lasers and the ensuing competition in green laser product arena.

Microvision is ready as a supplier of laser Pico projectors to consumers and Pico display engines to its OEM partners… and offers the best of breed Pico display technology.

Is Microvision ready for prime time SHOWwx time and worthy of your investment dollars, consider this…

Consider the RISK vs. REWARD:

First, read the transcript of the Report “The Next Big Thing”. There are 40 pages to this very well written report and will take you an hour or so to read… but it is well worth it. Here's the link...

http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/21Century/TheNextBigThing.pdf

After reading this report on Microvision stock opportunity, you will understand why the Risk vs. Reward is compelling and the stock remains a strong buy for over 100 fold increase in price per share (PPS) in the next 4 to 5 years… by the end of 2014.

Five years from now in 2014, the stock could easily trade in the $300 to $500 range. Here’s an educated projection…

• Worldwide Market Size: 2 billion units [cell phones, laptops, smartphones, iPods, iPhones, iPads, camcorders, digital cameras, gaming devices, and mobile TV/Projectors etc.]

• Worldwide Market Size: 1 billion units [wearable see thru displays]

• Market Adoption Rate: 10%... 300 million units

• Microvision Market share: 15% of 300 million units… 45 million units

• OEM price: $90 per PicoP display engine

• Revenue: $4 billion

• Net Profit Margin: 40%

• Net Profit: $1.6 billion

• EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization: $1.5 billion [with operating expenses at $100 million]

• Interest Expense: $0 million

• Interest Income: $20 million

• Tax: $220million

• Depreciation: non cash and very small

• Amortization: non cash and very small

• Net Operating Income: $1.3 billion

• Earning Per Share: $13 on a fully diluted basis [100 million shares]

• Price Earning Ratio: 30 for a hyper growth company

• Price Per Share: $390 per share

In my book, the “Risk” is insignificant [may be 2% per year interest in treasury bills as the lost opportunity] as compared to the potential of making over 100 times your money in the next year 4 to 5 years… and that is on top of 4 times the money you have already made if you aggressively bought MVIS stock [at 80 cents] when recommended in March 2009.

Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision, said in his March 6th earnings conference call: "the market demand for PicoP Display Engines will be larger than the supply."

This projection for 2014 could actually be low compared to the reality of the market place [like selling SHOWwx and its derivatives directly to US consumers] that will start to un-fold in the months ahead.

It’s ironic how we as investors act sometimes…

We chased MVIS stock to $63 during the “Romance Phase”; which peaked in year 2000… at a time when there were no real products, and just a few patents on a very promising laser based MEMS image scanning technology.

Today, with all the technology and production issues behind us─ with validation at hand, huge patent portfolio, OEM and Mobile phone carrier customer purchase orders, and recognition by industry like CES and MacWorld awards… we are now debating to buy or wait to buy the MVIS stock at $2.69.

What, am I missing something here?

Don't tell me it has something to do with hot milk!

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Partners with Intel to Showcase Advances in PC Gaming Technology (Part 4)

Looks like Ben Averch is back in Seattle after spending the last week in Edmonton, the second coldest city on Earth (Siberia being the first).

This is what he had to say...

“It was a thrill to be able to demonstrate our new gaming technology for the very first time to hundreds of gamers as well as many just plain curious folks. Two MVIS reps (myself and weapon master Andrew Rosen) + about 800 demos over 3 days = exhaustion! But, I’m happy to say that the response we got was tremendous, the Intel folks were terrific, and a lot of fun was had by all (as you can see from the picture!).”

Here’s the link to the picture in question...
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?p=1291#respond

What’s more ineresting are the reviews...

Microvision’s Super Gun
December 15, 2009 by Adam R.

This past Friday it was my job to play press monkey for the Intel sponsored ESL North American Championship, and ironically, the most exciting story didn’t seem to be the gaming itself, but the tech demo from Microvision which just so happened to be making it’s worldwide debut to the public.

What Microvision specializes in, firstly, is portable video projectors. What separates Microvision’s own SHOW WX against other models, is that it uses laser lights, allowing for the most vivid colour and contrast available thus far in the pico projector market. The SHOW WX projects in a widescreen format with a resolution of 848×480 with a 60Hz refresh rate. While it isn’t a perfect solution for replacing your home HD TV, it very well could be in the years to come.

A pico projector is exciting, especially if you happen to be a gadget nut, but the reason Microvision is causing a buzz in the tech market right now is because of their recent teamwork with Intel.

This is a gaming website, and as such, your first instinct should have been “How well does this play games?” Well, I can honestly tell you that it is nothing like you imagined. Because of the money and technology afforded to them by their partnership with Intel, Microvision is attempting to take PC gaming to the next level by possibly creating a platform to rival Microsoft’s own interactive gaming environment, with Project Natal.

Running on a superpowered Intel i7 PC, was Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, developed and published by Codemasters. The interesting thing though, was that the demonstrator was not playing with a keyboard, nor a joypad. He was using a big, heavy gun, outfitted internally with accelerometers and other various do-dad’s one would expect to find in an iPod Touch or iPhone, plus one of their SHOW WX devices mounted where the targeting reticule would normally be positioned.

What the demo showed us was future-tech that Microvision and Intel are trying frantically to bring home to the consumer: the ultimate in gaming interactivity.

If you moved the gun left, your character could move his head left in the same fashion he would if controlled by a mouse or analog stick; the key difference being that the screen you were facing would also move, of course, because of the projector strapped on to it. So as your gun moves, so does the projection, as well as the camera angle/field of view in-game. While difficult to describe positively in written word, it isn’t as annoying as it sounds, and if anything, if several tweaks are made to the service, could easily be the most realistic way to play games from here on out.

What Microvision is trying to accomplish, is an entirely immersive experience. Through the use of, and the PR person stressed, superior software to what is available in Nintendo Wii and in the iPhone, gamers will be able to command total control via a highly precise natural evolution in hardware. While the iPhone’s accelerometer software suffers from a slow processor and a cramped living compartment, Microvision’s prototype hardware is concealed in a large, life-sized assault rifle powered by what you would find in your average high-end gaming computer. That is a large boost of power compared to what either of the nearest competitors are able to do so far.

You’ll want to play games standing up. Crouching and jumping were, as of this demo, mapped to buttons, but ideally, you’d assume Microvision would want to map them to motions involved with the accelerometers. You duck in real life, the character you’re playing as does the same thing.

For walking back and fourth there were two highly responsive buttons placed below the rifle’s barrel. While this placement seemed satisfactory, the rep admitted that they were trying to improve this attribute somehow.

Official Microvision Video [Link]

The device was currently wired to the PC running the game, but it was suggested that wireless was going to be a feature added later.

For all intents and purposes, I think the PC gaming world has every right to be excited about this device and the future capabilities it may bring to the fold. While obviously marketed to a hardcore and niche market, let’s face it; that is exactly what PC gaming is all about these days. I am excited about what Project Natal might end up bringing to the table for first person shooters, but honestly, this tech demo left me drooling.

*****

Here’s the link to Critical Gamer’s review...
http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2009/12/15/microvisions-super-gun/

What got me excited was the refrence to Microsoft “Project Natel” in the comments made by the Critical Gamer’s Review...

“…Microvision is attempting to take PC gaming to the next level by possibly creating a platform to rival Microsoft’s own interactive gaming environment, with Project Natal.”

My first reaction was: “Why create a platform to rival Microsoft... join them to make Project Natal a true hands free control and interactivity reality by incorporating the laser scanner/projection features of the Microvision’s PicoP display engine.”

Here’s some information on Project Natel...

Project Natal is the code name for a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on periheral for the Xbox 360 console, Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typically harcore base. Project Natal was first announced on June 1, 2009. Microsoft said that over a thousand software development kits began shipping to game developers that same day.

Though Microsoft has not officially announced any price or release date projections for Project Natal, it is expected to be released in late 2010. Project Natal will reportedly also serve as the basis for a "new" Xbox 360.

In closing I must re-state the comments from Critical Gamer’s review...

“For all intents and purposes, I think the PC gaming world has every right to be excited about this device and the future capabilities it may bring to the fold. While obviously marketed to a hardcore and niche market, let’s face it; that is exactly what PC gaming is all about these days. I am excited about what Project Natal might end up bringing to the table for first person shooters, but honestly, this tech demo left me drooling.”

Here’s the napkin bud... drooling not allowed while reading this post!

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Partners with Intel to Showcase Advances in PC Gaming Technology (Part 3)

This is what Ben Averch of Microvision said in his post at Microvision blog The Displayland....

“As you can see from the video above, Microvision has designed a unique handheld first-person shooter projection game controller prototype that uses the PicoP display engine to project images on any surface. Using the infinite focus capability of the PicoP display engine, combined with a motion sensing module, it’s now possible to play video games on multiple surfaces, all while tracking your character’s point of view in 3D space.”

Here’s the link...
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?p=1277#more-1277

First of all, it is important to note that the worldwide market for video games exceeds $50 billion and Microvision is addressing, to start with, the first-person shooter game sub-genre.

There are several video game genres (vague categories) based on their gameplay interaction rather than visual or narrative differences. A video game genre is defined by a set of gameplay challenges. They are classified independent of their setting or game-world content. For example, an action game is still an action game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or outer space.

Here’s a list of video game genres...
1. Action Games
2. Action-adventure Games
3. Aventure Games
4. Role-playing Games
5. Simulation Games
6. Sports Games
7. Strategy Games
8. 3D Interactive Projection Games?????

A shooter game [an Action Game genre] focuses primarily on combat involving projectile weapons, such as guns and missiles. They can be divided into first-person and third-person shooters, depending on the camera perspective.

First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre which centers the gameplay around gun - and projectile weapon- based combat through the first person persoective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist [the player]. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn fall under the heading Action Games.

From the Action Game genre's inception, advanced 3D or pseudo-3D graphics elements have challenged hardware development. But that may change soon, with the arrival of always-in-focus pico “projection game controller” from Microvision.

Ben goes-on further to say...

“At Intel Extreme Masters, we’ll be putting this prototype projection game controller into the hands of some of the world’s best gamers, playing the ultra-realistic combat simulation PC game “Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising”. We think the PicoP gaming application is an exciting new way to take first-person shooter games to the next level of interactivity and immersion, and it will be great to hear first hand what championship-level gamers think about it.”

Like most shooter games, first person shooters involve an avatar [alter ego], one or more ranged weapon, and a varying number of enemies. Because they take place in a 3D environment, these games tend to be somewhat more realistic than 2D shooter games, and have more accurate representations of gravity, lighting, sound and collisions. First person shooters played on personal computers are most often controlled with a combination of a keyboard and mouse. This system is often considered superior to that found in console games, which frequently use two analog sticks, one used for running and sidestepping, the other for looking and aiming. It is common to display the character's hands and weaponry in the main view, with a head up disply showing health, ammunition and location details. Often, it is possible to overlay a map of the surrounding area.

But all that is about to change; with the introduction of Microvision’s projection game controller...

Here’s the news...

Microvision Demo’s Projection Game Controller

http://www.techgadgets.in/gaming/2009/12/microvision-demos-projection-game-controller/
[Link may not work]

At the end of the article, it says...

“The projector game controller may unleash a new genre of gaming”

Keep an eye on the history books; Microvision is on its way to write the next few pages of the future. Here’s the link to The History of Computer Games...

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/History-of-computer-games#The_2000s

In closing, I must re-state...

“Microvision’s weapon-styled projection game controller will offer gamers an insight of a new technology that projects a follow-you-anywhere video image upto 200-inch via a handheld game controller.”

Interestingly, you don’t need green lasers to produce the first generation of “projection game controllers”.

Ready, set, go... let the games begin!

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Embedded Pico Projector Holy Grail (Part 2)

I just want to make it very clear that...

“I did not say that the embedded pico projector was not the big money play... because it is.”

However, the stand alone PicoP as an accessory is even bigger market. Anyone who ignores the accessory PicoP market is ignorant or just plain arrogant in my book. Intel did not differentiate between CPUs when they went after the market with their "Intel Inside" slogan.

What would "Image by PicoP" mean, if a large population of stand alone accessory pico projectors had someone else's display engine inside? It will be more show than substance, don't you think? Besides, you don’t concede a large segment of the market to the competition without a fight. It’s all in the mindset that oozes with resolve, a sense of ruthlessness and urgency… something missing, so it seems, at Microvision. I call Microvision management’s mindset as: “babes with muted enthusiasm”.

Here’s a comment from Warren at the Google group for Microvision...

“I, for one, would not buy an embedded smart phone and embedded dig camera and embedded laptop and embedded video camera. I would buy an embedded phone, but not all things embedded – at least not until the prices for embedded devices come down. In the short term, I would buy an SA PicoP for all those devices and, like I said, the embedded phone. But I am not everyone.”

Well said Warren... because many others have expressed the same very sentiment.

At times, I get over 1,000 hits a day at the blog followed by many e-mails... and the survey says exactly what you just said. From a year ago report that I published, I have access to hundreds that subscribed and they say [more or less] what you just said.

I play cricket in a New Jersey Cricket League, in a community of over 30,000 IT professionals. And over the years, and through my writings, they have been made quite aware of PicoP display technology and Microvision as the potential investment opportunity... they said [more or less] the same thing in essence.

So, there you have it... more or less that the sentiment of a large population survey, done for free over an 18 month period. Just because the survey did not cost Microvision a million or two... does not mean it holds no value or does not represent the sentiment of a significant number of potential customers of pico projectors.

I would not have written such a strong worded post unless I had some substantial basis... because I do.

Someone hiding behind their anonymous Yahoo ID said this at the message board for Microvision...

“Anant Goel, how is the SA market bigger than embedded? Let's see: Laptops, cameras, camcorders, cell phones and anything with a TV or VGA out will have embedded PicoP so tell me how the SA will be a bigger market than embedded.”

Here’s the short answer…

The competition will not let Microvision monopolize or corner the embedded market… period.

The competition will come-up with dozens of explanations as to why the embedded in every thing digital is not such a good idea… like total cost of ownership, compromised functionality of the host, complexity of the host device, lack of flexibility, limited resource sharing opportunities, higher probability of common mode failure that kicks the host out of operation and so on.

Also, the competition [especially DLP based PicoP] will push the stand alone accessory as a piggy back device that gives the best of both words… as a PicoP with all the benefits of ownership as a stand alone unit, but also with piggy back capability approaching almost embedded functionality. In other words, the competition will try hard to sell the masses with all benefits of PicoP as an accessory unit and in the process hope to overcome the shortcomings of their embedded display engine by offering a piggy back solution.

It could just work for the competition... considering the sheer number and size of some of the players competing for pico projection market share... and possible dominance.

Competition is larger not only in numbers but also in dollars that they can spend to make a plausible case for stand alone PicoP as a compelling alternative to an embedded one from Microvision... for a long time. And time is of essence... because more time it takes for embedded PicoP adoption.... the more time the competition has to find alternate technology to get around Microvision advantage.

For the sake of our investment in MVIS stock, I hope the Microvision management has the vision and foresight to embrace the stand alone PicoP as an accessory unit with the same passion as they have for embedded version.

Here’s little story about IBM that has made the history books…

I was among the first batch of authorized IBM PC Dealers in the US... in early 1979.

IBM never thought that PC would amount to much in their wildest dreams... until it was too late. There was total lack of vision [about the PC] among the pin stripped suit/white shirt stiffs. The top management did not have much interest in the PC business from the beginning to almost the end... and it showed at every middle management level.

Worldwide adoption of the PC shocked many at IBM and destroyed hundreds of promising careers. Lack of vision or arrogance to not admit a mistake in judgment, can be detrimental to the financial health of a small company... but not IBM because they are big and at the time they had other bigger fish [the services business] to fry.

I can write pages on this subject... but I'll not burden you with that now and here. However, I must say that Microvision brass better have vision to see the stand alone pico projector as a viable, durable and profitable product line that will be around, in one form or the other, for a long time.

A few more months delay to market may not hurt Microvision... but lack of vision, ignorance, arrogance or stubbornness would certainly do them in.

[PicoP is the registered trademark of Microvision for their pico projection display module/engine]

Anant Goel

http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Protect Your Intellectual Property Part 2

Recently, IEEE Spectrum has refreshed its annual assessment of IP portfolios in different technology sectors for the year 2007… including Electronics where Microvision is cited.

Here’s the link to IEEE Spectrum Patents Scorecard…

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/static/patentsurvey2008

[Make sure to click on “Electronics" category to get the data and read the bottom foot notes for explanation of the terms used]

In this evaluation, the Adjusted Pipeline Impact (API) score indicates how frequently a company’s patents from the previous five years were cited by other patents... after adjusting for self-citation. Microvision scored 2nd in API [at 1.71] out of the Top 20 electronics companies… in the year 2007.

What does that really mean in terms of value of these patent citations by other patents to the overall market valuation of Microvision?

Let’s check with the experts in the business…

Scholars have learned that a powerful proxy for innovative expertise is how frequently a company’s existing patents are cited in patent applications. Indeed, one-quarter of all patents receive no citations, and a mere 0.01% earn more than 100 citations, according to Bronwyn Hall, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1593752

In a study by four economists covering seven industries that generate a large number of patents, researchers found that a patent mentioned 14 times by other patents is worth, on average, 100 times as much as a patent cited only 8 times. Another estimated that “companies with widely cited patents and a track record of turning them into products outperformed the market by 1,000% over a 10-year period.”

Let me re-state…

“…companies with widely cited patents and a track record of turning them into products outperformed the market by 1,000% over a 10-year period”.

In addition to this peek through the window to Microvision future …

There is a wealth of information there [ in the IEEE Spectrum Patents Scorecard] and a further in-depth study [and some research] by an experienced professional will quickly reveal where the future infringers, challengers, claimers and “patent trolls’ of Microvision IP portfolio are at work.

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Creative Imagination at Work In Product and Applications Development

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination…is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world."

Some folks are born with vision and have a higher degree of imagination. Others can learn to be visionary and imaginative. Here are two examples to demonstrate how creative imagination can work in coming-up with great ideas on what you can do with a laser based PicoP projector.

Here’s our imagination at work…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?p=566

However, in order to fully appreciate this creative work, it is important to first understand…

“Imagination is an experimental partition of the mind used to create theories and ideas based on functions. Taking objects from real perceptions, the imagination uses complex “IF - functions” to create new or revised ideas. This part of the mind is vital to developing better and easier ways to accomplish old and new tasks. These experimented ideas can be safely conducted inside a virtual world and then, if the idea is probable, and the function is true, the idea can be actualized in reality.”

So what is it that allowed this Intel engineer, for one example, to be visionary or imaginative in creating a PicoP display engine based application? Here’s your answer…

It’s the availability of the four enabling [and true] what IF-functions that only laser based PicoP display engine could provide:

1. Always-in-focus on any projected surface
2. Short throw ratio… meaning large projected image from short distance
3. Vivid and uniform color images from laser PicoP projector… not like the DLP or LcoS images that are brighter in the center like a flashlight.
4. And high contrast ratio… like 5000:1 with laser PicoP projector.

That’s what stoked the imagination.  Now it only stands to reason that as the list of laser PicoP display engine functions─ fast refresh rate, user adjustable throw ratio, or brighter HD images─ grows, creativity will be stoked again and brand new applications that never existed before will come to the market.

Do I hear “Image by PicoP ubiquitous, woven seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life”?

It seems that there is no shortage of great ideas on what you can do with a laser based PicoP display engine. And just when we think we’ve heard them all, blammo - out of left field, or sometimes from the right, there comes another innovative use for laser PicoP projection display technology. The innovative use of laser PicoP projector, as depicted here, is sure to un-stick your imagination… and maybe even set it on fire.

Can you imagine...

• Shopping isle infomercial projectors… in every supermarket and shopping mall.

• Infomercial projectors in office building hallways, airports, museums, art galleries, fancy restaurants and other commercial and public places.

• Safety, security and emergency guidelines, instructions and procedures video-on-demand at the airport, industrial, commercial, construction and other sites.

• Emergency kits with video-on-demand instructions for life [or a limb] saving procedures.

• Advertising outdoor displays for drive-by passenger cars… with quickly changing slides per ad, for example, or 10 ads per display, for example… as compared to one fixed ad [or may be two] per display.

• Color video projection for large classrooms, seminars, meetings and conventions.

• And the list goes on.

Now imagine that Microvision’s laser PicoP display engine is the [only] technology that makes all these wonderful [and high margin] applications possible… with no competition in sight!

Here’s why I said: “laser PicoP display engine is the [only] technology”…

“To make the above mentioned applications possible, you must have at least two differentiating and enabling functionalities: 1) always-in-focus projected images on any surface and 2) short throw ratios.”

As of this day, there is no competition from any of the DLP or LcoS based Pico projectors… because they lack always-in-focus and short throw ratio features.

Only Microvision’s laser PicoP display engine technology has the always-in-focus and short throw ratio functionality… and as such, owns this market for the foreseeable future. Not only that, there is a tremendous ad value for the laser PicoP brand name, and Image by PicoP slogan, in being seen at these high traffic places… day in and day out.

Do I hear “Image by PicoP as ubiquitous, woven seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life?

Just for the record, PicoP is the registered trade mark of Microvision… like in PicoP®

Anant Goel