NEWS RELEASE
                                                        Media Inquiries Contact:
                                                          Odetics: Anne M. Warde
                                                                  (714) 780-7813
                                              For Financial Information Contact:
                                                          Odetics: Gregory Miner
                                                              Vice President/COO
                                                                    714-774-5000
                                              Home Page: http://www.odetics.com/


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                 ODETICS INC. ACQUIRES VIDEO BROWSING COMPANY


ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA--SEPTEMBER 25, 1998--Odetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ODETA & ODETB) 
announced today the acquisition of International Media Integration Services 
Limited (IMIS), a UK-based developer of video browsers for the broadcast 
television and media industry. The stock-for-stock acquisition significantly 
increases the capability of the Odetics Broadcast division by adding a critical 
piece to their facility management strategy. 

     Odetics Broadcast and IMIS have a long standing relationship and have 
previously collaborated on developing numerous products for the broadcast 
market. The companies most recent collaboration, the Bowser(TM) Visual Asset 
Manager, was launched in April of this year and represents a major breakthrough 
in desktop PC-based video browsing for asset management. This revolutionary 
system allows users to find, track and view video material over a standard 
TCP/IP based corporate intranet or the Internet.

     "Video browsing is essential for efficient and effective media management 
both now and most certainly in the total digital media environment of the 
future", said Timothy Crabtree, vice president and general manager of Odetics 
Broadcast. "With the acquisition of IMIS, Odetics


 
Broadcast strengthens its market position in broadcast automation and
demonstrates its commitment to provide complete facility management solutions
for broadcast applications," Crabtree continued.

                                    -more-


2/2/2 Odetics Acquires IMIS

     With systems installed in over 35 countries around the world, Odetics 
Broadcast is one of the industry's leading suppliers of multichannel video 
management systems, including hierarchical storage systems and innovative 
client/server-software-based facility management solutions. The acquisition of 
IMIS adds unique expertise in the development and support of integrated 
solutions for broadcasters. This expertise has been established through the 
development of a number of interfaces between systems from Odetics Broadcast and
third-parties, such as traffic and scheduling, automation and market research 
systems vendors.

     Odetics Broadcast, a division of Odetics, Inc., has a world-wide installed 
base of more than 400 video management systems and has provided industry 
leadership for more than a decade by delivering reliable, on-air presentation 
and facility management solutions for the broadcast market. Odetics Broadcast is
credited with introducing the concept of hierarchical video management combining
the advantages of tape libraries with the speed and immediacy of video servers. 
Odetics Broadcast developed the first large robotics management system for the 
television industry in 1985 and received an Emmy Award in 1990 for this 
contribution to the industry.

     Odetics, Inc. is a leading supplier of communications equipment for the 
television broadcast, video security, telecommunications and intelligent 
transportation systems markets. Odetics' headquarters are located in Anaheim, 
Calif., with additional operations in Europe and Asia. For more information 
about Odetics, its subsidiaries and divisions, please refer to the Odetics web 
site at http://www.odetics.com



 
IMPORTANT NOTICE:

     This news release contains statements which may be deemed to be forward 
looking. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the 
forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors such as: company 
integration issues between Odetics Broadcast and IMIS, short product lives, 
technological shifts, current technical issues that cannot be resolved on a 
timely basis, component availability, competition (including new and directly 
competitive products from others), pricing pressures, incorrect assumptions 
regarding market demand, and the significant uncertainty of market acceptance of
new products by both distributors and end-user customers, and the inability of 
the Company to execute its incubator strategy including the completion of 
initial public offerings of its subsidiaries.
     Investors are strongly encouraged to review the risk factors set forth in
the company's last filed Forms 10-K and 10-Q.

                                     -30-