NEW YORK, May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Vuzix Corporation (TSX-V: VZX, OTC:BB: VUZI, FMB: V7X), the leading developer and supplier of smart glasses, today announced its support for the advancement of the Augmented Reality (AR) marketplace through participation in three key AR events in New York City on May 28^th through 30^th.

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Showcase at Eyebeam Arts & Technology Center

On May 29^th from 7pm to 9pm, Vuzix executives including President and CEO Paul J. Travers, will display the Company's collection of video eyewear and smart glasses with Augmented Reality capabilities at the Eyebeam Arts & Technology Center in Manhattan. The exhibition and showcase titled, "Over Twenty Years of Head-Worn Displays: A Special Retrospective," will feature the largest collection of personal display devices ever assembled in one location with over 40 unique head-mounted personal displays spanning over 20 years. The showcase event poses the question, "Is Google really the first company to introduce personal displays you wear on you head?"

The collection will include Vuzix' legacy products which were developed for the consumer market, as well as its award-winning M100 Smart Glasses slated for release this summer. At the exhibition, the devices can be viewed and examined from a design, function and engineering viewpoint. The event is open to the public and members of the media. For more information please visit: http://www.perey.com/ARStandards/hands-free-display-showcase/.

Christine Perey, chair of the AR Standards Community and co-organizer of the showcase commented, "We are approaching the era in human history when technology will change how we perceive and experience the physical world. Through the collections of head–worn displays combined for this showcase, we will witness how the functionality, industrial design and usability of electronically-assisted vision have evolved to their current states.  Vuzix is an early innovator and leader in the category and their collection of smart glasses is inspirational to designers and innovators in all segments of the AR community."

Vuzix President and CEO Paul J. Travers added, "Smart glasses and wearable devices have reached an important milestone with industry analysts now projecting the market for these devices to exceed 450 million units annually by 2018. At this junction, society and the designers of these systems are examining the many generations of precursors to today's AR technologies in order to prepare for and participate in the burgeoning and expansion of this market. Vuzix is very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in these events and to support the AR community."

Augmented Reality New York (ARNY) 
Vuzix will also sponsor Augmented Reality New York (ARNY) on May 28^th. ARNY includes over 1,300 designers, investors, entrepreneurs, journalists and people with a passion for AR across New York who share programming and application development. During the event Vuzix will share details of its M100 Smart Glasses, the developer program and its software developer kits (SDKs). Driven by stronger than expected demand from software developers, Vuzix has already sold out of its initial allotment of Gold SDK packages for the M100.

Ninth AR Standards Community Meeting 
The Company is also sponsoring the Ninth AR Standards Community Meeting from May 29^th to May 30^th. This event features working sessions during which people seeking open and interoperable AR report on recent advancements, current opportunities and obstacles to AR adoption that can be addressed through development of international standards or community-based, member-driven initiatives. During the Session entitled "Designing for Hands-Free AR Displays" Vuzix will provide the first hands-on developer tutorial on how to use the SDK for developing experiences on the M100 platform and representatives of Augmate and APX Labs will share the challenges they encounter and the solutions on which they are working.

In addition to the sessions focusing on hands-free AR displays, the AR Standards Community meeting will feature reports from international standards development organizations including Open GeoSpatial Consortium (OGC), International Electronic Engineers (IEEE), National Information Standards Organization (NISO), MIPI Alliance, Khronos Group, Web 3D Consortium, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and International Standards Organization (ISO) Subcommittee 29 (MPEG). These standards bodies provide standards and work towards open interfaces for digital components that will permit the emergence of open and interoperable AR.

The AR Standards Community also serves as a convenient ground for development of new resources needed for AR development. The AR Glossary Task Force and AR Use Cases Task Force reports will be issued and participants in the initiative to develop a universal 3D compression standard will provide a status update. Held at Columbia University on May 29 and 30, 2013 the upcoming meeting of community members welcomes all those interested in reducing obstacles to open and interoperable AR through dialog and consensus processes.

Attendees of the ARNY and the Ninth AR Standards Community Meeting will be eligible for a 20% discount on Vuzix' recently announced M100 Smart Glasses and Software Developer Kit (SDK) and one lucky participant at each event will win an M100 SDK, which includes a pre-production M100 unit.

Developers interested in knowing more about the Vuzix M100, please sign up to join Vuzix growing community of application developers at developer.vuzix.com. Be one of the first to develop on the next frontier of mobile information technology.

About The Vuzix M100
The Vuzix M100, a hands free display peripheral for your smartphone, has a built in color display driven by a powerful processing engine running the Android OS, an integrated head tracker and GPS for spatial and positional awareness. An integrated camera enables video recording, still image capture and the potential for powerful augmented reality applications. Interactive tracking and an integrated camera, combined with newly developed applications on the M100 and a wireless link to the Cloud, enable the merging of virtual information with the real world.

About Vuzix Corporation
Vuzix is a leading supplier of video and cloud connected video eyewear products in the consumer, industrial, media and entertainment markets. The company's personal display products offer users a portable high quality viewing experience for industrial wearable displays, consumer digital content viewing as well as 3D, virtual and augmented reality experiences.  Vuzix also provides developer software and support to enable the growth and development of AR applications for its mobile devices.  With its origins in defense research and development for next generation display solutions, Vuzix holds over 44 patents and patents pending in the video eyewear field.  The company has won 14 Consumer Electronics Show Innovations Awards, the RetailVision Best New Product and several wireless technology innovation awards, among others.  Founded in 1997, Vuzix is a public company (TSX-V:VZX - News, OTC:BB: VUZI, FMB: V7X) with offices in Rochester, NY, Oxford, UK and Tokyo, Japan. For more information visit www.vuzix.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
Certain statements contained in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking statements contained in this release relate to, among other things, future product releases, including the M100 and its capabilities, new opportunities, the Company's ability to capitalize on new opportunities with developers, the Company's ability and costs to further develop, produce and manufacture the M100, and the Company's leadership in the Video Eyewear industry. They are generally identified by words such as "believes," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "should'" and similar expressions. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based upon the Company's beliefs and assumptions as of the date of this release. The Company's actual results could differ materially due to risk factors and other items described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Reports and MD&A filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian securities regulators (copies of which may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Vuzix Corporation