SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Virage, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRGE), a leading provider of video and rich media communication software, today announced that it has received a contract from Rosettex Technology & Ventures Group (Rosettex) on behalf of the National Technology Alliance (NTA) to develop solutions for surveillance video content management for the U.S. Government. The development entails integrating specialized motion mining products with the Virage video content management platform. Rosettex, a joint venture between Sarnoff Corporation and SRI International, collaborates with best-of-breed partner organizations to build technology prototypes and encourage the development of commercial, off-the-shelf solutions for government user's needs.
Under the agreement, Sarnoff, SRI and Virage will carry out applied research, demonstrations, validations and development of technology solutions. The efforts of the three companies will support the mission of the NTA to influence commercial and dual-use technology development with an emphasis on meeting national security and defense needs.
"We're all working towards one goal, which is to develop sophisticated surveillance technology that will aid in national security and defense," said Mark Lister, managing director of the Rosettex Technology & Ventures Group. "Additionally, if we are successful, we expect the technology to be sold commercially for a wide variety of applications."
"We're pleased to participate in this project and to continue to develop our technology for the intelligence community and the Department of Defense," said Dave Girouard, senior vice president of Marketing and Business Development at Virage. "We have years of experience with a variety of government agencies and we continue to prove the value of our software for specialized applications like video surveillance and monitoring."
"This program is combining the state-of-the-art video-based motion detection and event detection technologies from Sarnoff and SRI with Virage's video platform product," said Michael Hansen, technical manager, Advanced Video Processing at Sarnoff. "This combination will create a new capability greatly enhancing physical security applications through detecting and alerting based on complex events."
"We have a great relationship with Virage and Sarnoff," said Dr. Robert Bolles, program director at SRI International. "We began working with Virage more than three years ago, and like Sarnoff have participated actively in the Virage Developer's Program. Virage has been at the forefront of building products for national security and defense and this latest project will be another significant addition. We are happy to continue our work with them."
Rosettex was awarded a procurement agreement by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in early 2002 to advance three technology areas of critical interest to the Intelligence Community, Military Services, and Department of Defense: (1) Geographic Intelligence (2) Information Processing, Analysis, and Management; and (3) Digital Technology Infrastructure. NIMA manages the NTA program as the Executive Agent for the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
About the National Imagery and Mapping Agency
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is a member of the National Intelligence Community and a DoD Combat Support Agency. It provides timely, relevant, and accurate Geospatial Intelligence in support of national security. Geospatial Intelligence is the analysis and visual representation of security-related activities on the Earth. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NIMA operates major facilities in the northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo. areas. In addition, NIMA Support Teams serve customers around the nation and the world. For more information, visit the Web site at www.nima.mil.
About Rosettex
Rosettex Technology & Ventures Group, based in Rosslyn, Virginia, translates research and developmental technology into solutions using a unique business model. Rosettex has assembled a team of 64 partners representing major technology consulting firms, established and new companies, independent research institutes, premier academic institutes and government contractors. Rosettex includes the Rosettex Venture Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in technologies, products, and companies that address broad national security needs. For more information, visit the Web site at www.rosettex.com.
About Sarnoff
Sarnoff Corporation (http://www.sarnoff.com) creates and commercializes electronic, biomedical and information technology for clients worldwide. Founded in 1942 as RCA Laboratories, it produces innovations in such areas as integrated circuits, lasers, and imagers; computational drug discovery and drug manufacture and delivery; digital TV and video; vision processing software and hardware; high-performance networking; and wireless communications. Its history includes the development of color TV, the liquid-crystal display, the disposable hearing aid, and a leadership role in creating the new U.S. digital and HDTV standard. Sarnoff also founds new companies to bring its technologies to market. Twenty such companies are in various stages of development.
About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (http://www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI, a nonprofit research institute, performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and nonprofit foundations. SRI is well known for its innovations in information technology, telecommunications, engineering, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, physics, and the public policy areas of education, health, and economic development. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.
About Virage
Established in 1995, Virage is a leading provider of video and rich media communication software. Virage builds integrated rich media business solutions for corporations, media & entertainment companies, universities and government agencies worldwide. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Virage (www.virage.com) has offices throughout the United States and Europe.
Virage received early funding from the U.S. Government Defense Advanced Research Projects Association (DARPA). With this funding, the Company developed market-leading technologies for video surveillance, news monitoring and other security related applications. Virage leveraged its core technologies to create leading commercial software applications for webcasting, training and e-learning, video production and publishing. The Company has more than 350 customers worldwide. For a list of Virage customers, please visit http://www.virage.com/customers/.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements about the products and services of Virage, as that term is used in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are denoted by such words as "will carry," "will support," "will aid," "will create," " will be," and similar terms and phrases. These types of statements address matters that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. In addition, our forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of other risk factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our annual report on Form 10-K and 10-Q filings, available online at http://www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company on the date hereof, and the company assumes no obligation to update such statements.
Virage and VideoLogger are registered trademarks of Virage, Inc. The Virage logo, SmartEncode, VS Webcasting, VS Publishing, VS Production, MediaSync, Virage ControlCenter and Virage Solution Server are trademarks of Virage, Inc. Other company product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others, and are hereby acknowledged.