CONCORD, CA (August 9, 2005) - HumanWare announced today, with deep
sadness, the death of the company's founder and Chief Executive Officer,
Dr Russell Smith, and his wife Marian who were killed on Sunday, August
7th in the crash of their Cessna 182.  Russell and Marian, as they are
known to most of the blindness industry, were avid fliers who had built
their own private airstrip at their home in Aylesford, New Zealand.  On
Sunday while returning home together from Nelson, their aircraft crashed
into the sea north of Christchurch.

"Russell devoted his entire working life to developing innovative
technology for people who are blind or visually impaired," stated Philip
Rance, President of HumanWare USA.  "In his 30 years of service, he
became an icon and was recognized, honored and admired throughout the
world."  Rance added, "His death, at age 60, is a huge loss to the
blindness industry as a whole.  Both he and Marian will be greatly
missed by family, friends, and colleagues all over the world."

Dr. Smith graduated from University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New
Zealand, with B.E.(Hons) in Electrical Engineering and went on to
complete a Ph.D. degree in 1972.  His doctoral research concerned new
techniques for designing transducers and information displays for
under-water sonar systems.  He joined the Wormald International Group in
1975 to head a new division which would develop the SonicGuide sonar
mobility aid for the blind.  The benefit of Russell's earlier research
in sonar techniques was instrumental in ensuring the successful launch
of this innovative product on to the world blindness market. In 1976
Russell was appointed the first Manager of Wormald International Sensory
Aids Ltd, which became Pulse Data International Ltd in January 1988
after a management buyout.  In January 2005 Russell finalized a merger
of the company with Canadian-based VisuAide, and the new combined
company was renamed HumanWare Ltd.

"Russell Smith was one of the fathers of our industry," notes Jim
Halliday, President Emeritus of HumanWare USA.  "In the 30 years since
we first meet, he has inspired and driven the development of an amazing
list of technological firsts that have and will continue to create
opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired."  He
emphasizes, "Russell's legacy will live long after the rest of us are
gone!"

Some of the "firsts" Smith's company have developed include:

Sonic Guide (1976) - the world's first sonar-based electronic travel
aid.
Mowat Sensor (1978) - the world's first hand-held electronic travel aid.

Viewscan (1980) - the world's first portable, high contrast, large print
reading system employing a hand-scan camera and a flat-panel display
using 7,000 light pixels.
Viewscan Text System (1983) - the world's first portable, large print,
word processing system.
Keynote (1986) - the world's first portable, talking word processor.
The Viewpoint VGA (1989) - the first video magnifier to support a split
screen computer connection with an industry standard computer display.
SmartView (1995) - the world's first video magnifier to introduce
built-in date, time, and calculator functions.
SmartView Xtra (1999) - the first video magnifiers to achieve "plug and
play" capability with a wide range of PC display formats.
BrailleNote (2000) - the world's first true Braille PDA
myReader (2004) - the world's first low vision auto-reader

As well as being Chief Executive of the HumanWare Group, Russell was
Chairman of the Board of the group's Europe, Australia, USA, and Canada
subsidiary companies. Rance acknowledged, "Although we are a very solid
company with teams in place to manage effectively well into the future,
we will all miss Russell's inspiration and guidance, his tenacity, and
his kind humanity.  He and Marian will leave a huge void in all of our
lives."


A memorial service will be held in the US to honor of Dr. Russell Smith
- Date and location to be advised.

About HumanWare

HumanWare designs and manufactures innovative technology for people who
are blind or visually impaired. The company's products include
integrated speech and Braille technology, a range of video magnifier
solutions, screen reading software and speech synthesizers. For more
information about HumanWare, visit www.humanware.com