PhotoSense licenses technology to Novametrix
Novametrix Medical Systems Inc. (Wallingford, CT), a manufacturer of noninvasive critical-care monitors and sensors, has signed a licensing agreement for optical-sensor technology with PhotoSense LLC (Boulder, CO). The agreement gives Novametrix access to technology developed by PhotoSense, with an exclusive license for the medical noninvasive respiratory market, and anticipates joint research and development between the two companies. "We were able to use the SBIR program to develop core photonic technology with applications in noninvasive medical, environmental, and industrial markets," said PhotoSense president Alan Baron.
Cree and Microvision see eye to eye
Cree Research (Durham, NC) and Microvision (Bothell, WA) have joined in a strategic alliance that will apply Cree's blue light-emitting-diode (LED) and laser technology to Microvision's high-resolution, full-color personal displays. Cree's LEDs and lasers consist of an indium gallium nitride active element on a silicon carbide substrate. Microvision makes microdisplays in which raster-scanned light is projected directly onto the eye's retina. The displays are intended for use in hand-held or head-mounted devices.
CyberOptics acquires HAMA Laboratories
CyberOptics Corp. (Minneapolis, MN), a maker of noncontact inspection systems and laser-based pos ition sensors, has acquired HAMA Laboratories Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) for $6.75 million, plus additional consideration if HAMA meets certain performance criteria. HAMA designs and manufactures photoelectric sensors and laser position-array micrometers for use in robotic and automation applications. CyberOptics will incur an unspecified but "relatively small" one-time acquisition charge in the second quarter of 1999. Excluding this charge, the company expects the acquisition to have a neutral to somewhat positive impact on its earnings for 1999.
Foresight Imaging takes over Lumisys Imagraph
Lumisys Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) has signed a definitive technology-transfer agreement with Foresight Imaging LLC (Chelmsford, MA) under which the frame-grabber boards and associated software of the Lumisys Imagraphs subsidiary will be sold to Foresight Imaging. At closing, Lumisys will be paid about $300,000, with additional royalties on hardware and software sales to be paid over a three-year period. Based upon historical order rates and projected customer needs, Lumisys anticipates receiving about $1 million in royalty payments during the three-year licensing period. The transaction received unanimous approval of the Lumisys board of directors. Foresight Imaging, a newly created business entity, will be primarily engaged in carrying on Imagraph's circuit-board business under its general manager Mark Mariotti, who is also president of Foresight Imaging.
Digital projection goes to the movies
Starting June 18, 1999, commercial theaters will for the first time screen a feature movie via digital projection. The movie, StarWars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, will be played on two screens in Los Angeles, CA, and two in New York, NY. The projectors are based on the digital-micromirror technology developed at Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX) and digital-projector technology developed at CineComm Digital Camera (Beverly Hills, CA). Along with eliminating film flaws, digital projection will greatly increase flexibility in the distribution of movies.
Also in the news...
Burleigh Instruments Inc. (Fishers, NY) has received a contract from the NASA Langley Research Center (Langley, VA) to develop nanopositioning motors for NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope. . . . Sony Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) has consolidated its 10 research units into four and transferred responsibility for their management from the head office to in-house companies. . . . Silicon Light Machines (Sunnyvale, CA) has received $8.75 million in financing from numerous venture-capital companies and other investors to further develop its grating-light-valve display technology.
John Wallace