New Company, HMD/MD, Led by the Team That Commercialized First
FDA-Cleared Head Mounted Display for Surgeons
Kopin Corporation, a leading developer of innovative wearable computing
technologies and solutions, announced today that it has entered into an
agreement to support the development and commercialization of the next
generation of head mounted displays (HMD) designed for advanced medical
and surgical applications. Kopin, and its partner Endopodium Inc.,
expect to market the product under a new company, HMD/MD, which will
create this next generation of wearable display systems. Endopodium was
founded by the team which developed and commercialized the Vista Medical
HMD, the first medical grade HMD cleared for marketing by the FDA.
Kopin brings to the agreement its high-resolution OLED display
technology, along with the expertise gained from developing and
supplying micro displays, optics and complete HMD systems to military,
enterprise and consumer markets. Kopin’s knowledge of augmented reality
(AR) will be invaluable in creating visualization systems for surgical
and medical use, where the ability to overlay information during surgery
is an ideal use of AR. The founders of Endopodium, John Lyon and Allen
Newman, will seek to leverage their experience gained in working with
leading physicians and surgeons utilizing the previous generation of
surgical HMDs. These earlier displays provided invaluable insight into
surgical performance with true 3D visualization and concurrent data
presented in real time.
“Kopin has built its reputation by providing the highest performance
displays to the military, enterprise and consumer markets, helping to
drive the adoption of AR in applications across multiple industries,”
said Paul Baker, Kopin Corporation’s Senior Vice President of Business
Development. “We are excited to partner with the pioneers in using
advanced visualization technology for medical applications, as we
believe our combined expertise creates an unmatched team to develop and
commercialize products that will enhance critical performance in complex
surgical situations. We continue to see new opportunities for AR systems
in the enterprise and safety markets, and those opportunities are now
expanding to include the medical field.”
In commenting on the agreement, John Lyon, co-founder of Endopodium,
said, “Our earlier work was limited by the size and performance level of
the displays available. Now, with Kopin’s leading OLED technology, we
can create wearable systems which are ergonomic, lightweight and high
resolution to meet the critical demands of today’s medical and surgical
applications.”
Allen Newman, co-founder of Endopodium added, “From our previous work we
have developed extensive relationships with leading clinicians in the
application of high-performance wearable displays in advanced
procedures, and we look to leverage the knowledge of this group as we
create the next generation of advanced eyewear for medical applications.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Kopin will provide both intellectual
property and OLED displays, as well as technical expertise in
configuring state-of-the-art wearable systems for mission-critical
applications. HMD/MD plans to establish strategic distribution
partnerships with medical technology companies that wish to include high
resolution wearable displays in their proprietary systems.
About Kopin
Kopin Corporation is a leading developer and provider of innovative
wearable technologies and critical components for integration into
wearable computing systems for military, industrial and consumer
products. Kopin’s technology portfolio includes ultra-small displays,
optics, speech enhancement technology, voice-interface and hands-free
control software, low-power ASICs, and ergonomically designed smart
headset reference systems. Kopin’s proprietary components and technology
are protected by more than 300 global patents and patents pending. For
more information, please visit Kopin’s website at www.kopin.com.
About Endopodium
Endopodium Inc. is a development stage company working on advanced
visualization systems for minimally invasive surgery. Endopodium systems
will include the HMD/MD wearable display, which will incorporate the
latest Kopin high resolution microdisplays, high bandwidth wireless
communication and voice control capability in a lightweight, ergonomic
“safety glasses” form factor. For more information on Endopodium please
visit www.endopodium.com.
Forward-Looking Statementsin this press release may be
considered “forward-looking” statements under the “Safe Harbor”
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These include, without limitation, statements relating our expectation
thatKopin and Endopodium will development and commercialization
of the next generation of head mounted displays (HMD) designed for
advanced medical and surgical; our expectation that a new company,
HMD/MD will be formed and will market the product; ourbelief
that we are continuing to see new opportunities for AR systems in the
enterprise and safety markets, and those opportunities are now expanding
to include the medical field; and our belief that HMD/MD will
establish strategic distribution partnerships with medical technology
companies that wish to include high resolution wearable displays in
their proprietary systems. These statements involve a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Kopin and
Endopodium may not be able to development and commercialization of the
next generation of head mounted displays (HMD) designed for advanced
medical and surgical; a new company, HMD/MD may not be formed and may
not market the product; there may not be new opportunities for AR
systems in the enterprise and safety markets, and they may not be
expanding to include the medical field; HMD/MD may not establish
strategic distribution partnerships with medical technology companies
that wish to include high resolution wearable displays in their
proprietary systems;there may not be demand for our products;
there may have issues which prevent the development or commercialization
ofproducts; customers may choose our competitor products and
other risk factors and cautionary statements listed in Kopin’s periodic
reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 12
months ended December 31, 2017, and Kopin’s subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance
on any forward-looking statements, which are based only on information
currently available to Kopin and only as of the date on which they are
made. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date
of this release.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181024005909/en/
Endopodium
John R. Lyon, 760-745-0855
CEO
John.lyon@endopodium.com
or
Kopin
Corporation
Business Development
Paul Baker,
508-870-5959
Senior VP Business Development
pbaker@kopin.com
or
For
Investor Relations
Market Street Partners
Joann
Horne, 415-445-3233
JHorne@marketstreetpartners.com