Nearablis in the Augmented Reality Industry

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Imagine we're stepping into a sci-fi movie, but it's real life. That's the vibe at SXSW sessions, where tomorrow's ideas feel like they're unfolding today. In one of the first talks I caught at SXSW this year, , the big boss at MIT Technology Review, laid out a list of ten tech breakthroughs. She's betting these will seriously shake up our daily lives and how we work. Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau Here's the scoop on what made her list: It's like AI's about to be in everything we touch. AI for Everything: Think sun power on steroids. Super Efficient Solar Panels: This one got everyone buzzing. ( or advertising..) Apple Vision Pro: No gym? No problem, maybe. Weight Loss Medicines: It's about getting cozy with Earth's heat. Advanced Geothermal Systems: But not the snack kind. Chips: Sounds like sci-fi, but it's real. First Gene Editing Therapy: Big word, even bigger deal. Exascale Computers: They're hot, literally. Heat Pumps: After Elon Musk stirred the pot with X, new social networks are popping up trying to take the throne. Twitter Killers: What Are Exascale Computers? These beasts can do a quintillion operations per second. Yes, that's a lot of zeros. Elizabeth thinks these computers will change the game for everyone, not just the science folks. Imagine cracking problems or discovering stuff that seemed out of reach before. She believes we'll see how these computers can be more accessible to regular folks soon. The Brave New Future of the Recent Past from the kicked off a and a chat about how our stories, especially . It's all about the power of storytelling and finding new ways to talk about artificial intelligence that matters to us as people. Brent Reidy New York Public Library session with a throwback to Plato around AI, need a fresh, human-centered twist The next day, I caught a keynote with , aka and These guys are the brains behind which won seven Oscars. They discussed why they make films and how storytelling is core to being human. The Daniels Daniel Scheinert Daniel Kwan. "Everything Everywhere All at Once," Kwan shared his unease about AI in filmmaking, hinting at excitement and worry about what's to come. The Brave New Future of the Recent Past 's dive into Plato's cave allegory at SXSW wasn't just a trip back to Philosophy 101. It turned out to be a sneak peek into a theme I'd bump into repeatedly at the event: the sheer power of storytelling. Especially the kind we need right now about AI—stories about us, the humans, at the heart of it all. Brent Reidy This moment was like a heads-up that at SXSW, amidst all the tech talk, there's this big conversation about how we tell stories in the age of artificial intelligence. And it's not just any stories, but those that zoom in on the human experience, making sure we're not just talking tech for tech's sake but connecting it to what it means for us, living in this world, right here, right now. The Rise of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) Even though the idea of a wearable device that processes the electrical signals in your brain and spits out real-time data might still feel like a page ripped from a sci-fi novel, we're seeing this tech grow leaps and bounds every single day. And now, it's inching closer to becoming something we might see in the market, not just in movies. During a session at SXSW, Adam Molnar from Neurable shared how they're crafting headsets equipped with BCI tech. These aren't your average headsets, though. They're designed to track how focused you are on a task. The cool part? They might even help you improve at focusing, theoretically teaching us how to tune into what we're doing with laser precision. "Your Brain in Artificial Intelligence: Neurotech's New Horizons" Adam dished out details about these demo headsets that haven't hit the shelves yet, expressing his strong belief that BCI gadgets will be part of our everyday lives pretty soon. This is a hint that the future of how we interact with our devices, and maybe even how we understand our own brains, is about to shift in a big way. AI Isn't a Usurper of Human Creativity; it's a Compliment That Enriches it. In an invigorating exploration of the intersection between artificial intelligence and marketing, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel titled in Austin. The session was with marketers Justin Day and Anne Ahola Ward. "Marketing to Humans in an AI World" at SXSW 2024 Our discussion explored AI's transformative impact on marketing, unwrapping layers of how this technology reshapes strategies, content creation, customer engagement, and more. The panelists shared insights, shedding light on how AI tools, like the , demonstrated, are revolutionizing the way marketing agencies craft presentations, proposals, websites, or visuals. Companies, in turn, are encouraged to foster an environment of learning and experimentation, allowing their teams to engage with these 'new tools’ and unlock their full potential. Gamma app SXSW’24 Startup Pitching Competition Watching the SXSW Pitch 2024, presented by KPMG, was a real treat. The place was packed. This year, the big themes among the showcased innovations were artificial intelligence integration, industry-specific solutions, and projects focused on sustainability and environmental impact. The competition was international, with startups from Belgium, Britain, Estonia, France, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Category Winners: AI, Robotics, and Voice: Gan.ai (San Francisco, CA)
Enterprise and Smart Data: Swif.ai (Santa Clara, CA)
Entertainment, Media, and Content: OpusClip (Redwood City, CA)
Extended Reality and Web3: Applix (Austin, TX)
Food, Nutrition, and Health: STMPatch (Storrs, CT)
Future of Work: Folio.works (Oakland, CA)
Innovative World Technologies: Cephable (Boston, MA)
Smart Cities, Transportation, and Logistics: Lotus (San Jose, CA)
Student Startup: Paradigm Robotics (Austin, TX) "Best in Show" at the SXSW Pitch 2024, went to OpusClip. Winners bagged a cash prize and earned two badges for next year's SXSW conference. However, perhaps the biggest win was the chance to present to a massive audience of SXSW attendees and potential investors. From 2009 to 2023, over 93% of the 647 companies participating in the SXSW Pitch have secured around $23.2 billion (excluding undisclosed grants, angel, and seed funding). SXSW 2024 once again proved it's more than just a tech and innovation event; it's a preview of tomorrow that already has us all buzzing about next year. And for those already looking forward to the next chapter, mark your calendars: SXSW 2025 is set for March 7-15, 2025. It's never too early to start planning for another round of inspiring discussions and groundbreaking ideas! Also published here

Step Towards Sci-Fi: AI and BCI Insights From SXSW

What happens when you spend most of Friday night down a rabbit hole? This blog post is what happens. We haven’t even gotten started and I’m already thinking of end-goal scenarios for the metaverse but why not, after all, I a recovering futurist. am There are two potential and inevitable conclusions of the metaverse - We are given the choice to either die or live on within the metaverse The world’s first artificial general intelligence is born from the metaverse Heaven is a place on Earth I think about San Junipero . It was the fourth episode in the third series of , the Netflix series which dealt with a lot of sci-fi topics with more than enough dystopia to choke a hippy. But there was one standout episode that stays with you. a lot Black Mirror And it stays. San Junipero dealt with a simulated reality where the deceased can live and the elderly can visit, all inhabiting their younger selves’ bodies in a time of their choice. In the physical world, an elderly Kelly (Denise Burse) visits Yorkie (Annabel Davis). She learns from Yorkie’s nurse, Greg (Raymond McAnally), that Yorkie was paralysed at age 21 after crashing her car when her parents reacted negatively to her coming out. Yorkie wishes to be euthanised to live in San Junipero permanently, but her family objects; she intends to marry Greg so that he can consent for her. Kelly offers to marry Yorkie instead, and after she enthusiastically accepts, Kelly authorises Yorkie’s euthanasia. During Kelly’s next visit to San Junipero, Yorkie asks her to stay full-time. Kelly says she plans to die without being uploaded to the simulation; her husband chose the same fate because their daughter died before San Junipero existed. Yorkie and Kelly argue, and Kelly leaves in her car, which she intentionally crashes. Yorkie catches up to her just as Kelly disappears, her visiting time over for the week. Time passes, and Kelly decides she is ready to enter San Junipero permanently. She is euthanised and buried alongside her family, and she happily reunites with Yorkie in San Junipero. There are a number of things to note here — the reference to a simulated reality (the ), metaverse the fact that it is a choice to live there, people can come and go to visit, and right at the end, we’re shown TCKR — the cloud-based company that runs the metaverse and also the servers that store everyone who lives there. It is in fact a true in all senses of the term. Second Life How could you realistically achieve this given the technology we have today? Well, you can’t. But in the next 50 years potentially you could. Quantum computing, DNA-based storage, lifelong data streaming, engram mapping, Neuralink v5.0, a simulated reality far beyond what any engine could achieve today, a collaborative, multiplayer, and shared conscious environment…it’s pretty much the end goal of a type of metaverse we’re not even thinking about yet. In effect, to recreate a duplicate of yourself would require information from both the physical and virtual environments you have ever interacted with from birth. Scary? Perhaps. This is the kind of vision that Herman Narula, CEO at , has recently been speaking about in connection with his new book, Virtual Society. Narula has been talking about BCI (brain-computing interfaces) a lot to the point he’s already thinking of writing a second book on the topic. Improbable In an interview with he stated that “ Gizmodo I’d bet that the next stage will be brain-computer interfaces that allow us to directly connect to and thus inhabit worlds that exist only inside computers. Sort of like jacking directly into the Matrix, but without the dystopian connotations. We already know that brain-computer interfaces are theoretically possible; we know that scientists are already performing intriguing experiments with “neural laces” and other technologies that could facilitate direct connections between the brain and a machine. In the book, I argue that if these technologies continue to improve and evolve, then we will eventually get to the point where we’ll be able to hopscotch between real and virtual worlds, with the only difference between “real” and “virtual” being a semantic one. We’ll create our own multiverses, basically, and we’ll toggle between worlds with ease.” Neurable has entered the chat… And so the rabbit hole brought me to check out and Dr. Ramses Alcaid after reading about their latest funding round from Felix Hartmann’s post on LinkedIn. Neurable claim that they’re After years of research, they’ve reduced the typical BCI doohickies from goofy, electrode-filled hats to everyday items like the headband on a pair of headphones. Neurable translating brain activity into simple, actionable insights you can use in your everyday life. They’re intending to license this technology to OEMs to take forward at scale which is a genius move. And frankly, this is far more believable a technology and approach to achieving the types of technological singularity many futurists have been banging on about for decades than Neuralink, which requires you to butcher the patient with invasive probes. In fact, the approach seen in Black Mirror was not an intrusive device either. But this is not the singularity that Kurzweil and his cronies have imagined, we are not destined to merge with the machine — we’re destined to live in the machine. So let’s recap — (1) we have humanity choosing to live and easily switch between this world and alternate, virtual realities (2) we have BCI devices that are starting to emerge that will provide the constantly streaming data to understand how and why we think, and potentially record every life experience we have to build a collective store of digital memories like the brain does that isn’t an Instagram post. So what’s next? Well, I’ve already written about the need for a , one which is completely decentralized in nature. metaverse operating system A centralized architecture cannot lead to a truly self-scalable solution, even with the use of multiple servers. Indeed, client-server architectures lead to prohibitive deployment and maintenance costs when it comes to very large-scale applications with thousands of connected clients. On the other hand, thanks to their self-adaptation features, P2P network overlays have clearly proved to be an effective alternative to powerful servers. By building a distributed OS created specifically for the metaverse, web3 or even further like the ideas in this post you are also building completely decentralized applications and the engines to power it all. The idea of something like TCKR being under the control of only one corporation but in the hands of every human on the planet instead is far more attractive and also less likely to be switched off. I hope. If you want to burrow deeper into the hole then a distributed OS like from Bell Labs is precisely the type of thing I proposed in that blog post — and it’s the kind of foundational software fabric that’s needed to achieve the types of visions like Narula, Dr. Alcaid and Charlie Brooker see, they just aren’t joining the dots. Plan 9 Plan 9 from Bell Labs was actually named after the worst sci-fi movie of all time. The exciting part of this idea is that humans become part of the equation — they are in fact software nodes themselves through the BCI devices and part of the overall network and operating system. In fact, back in 2011, I wrote a about a different type of network protocol I dubbed the Human Network Protocol (lol) that humans became part of rather than the devices themselves, even to the notion that your “IP address” became your decentralized identity and replaced things like your SSN. nonsense blog post Your ‘social graph’ will become more valuable to the Government that your Social Security or NIS number and it’ll supercede these eventually. You’ll carry a single portal to your social graph in the form of a mobile device, and you’ll always be connected and accessible from that device. No more multiple email addresses, no more phone numbers, your HNP will be your single and unique identifier. So, let’s go for a second recap because this is brain-melting stuff. (1) the idea of a distributed operating system that connects humans and environments together (2) the idea that distributed engines and applications can be developed to power virtual and alternate realities we may want to live and transcend into before or after death (3) the brain-computer interfaces made specifically to capture that data that makes you throughout your lifetime that’s invisible and unintrusive. you I’m still not done yet. Friday night was a long one. That’s a lot of servers In San Junipero, the end sequence felt like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark — unending rows of servers processing the data of billions of humans and powering the alternate reality that many chose to transcend to. But this can’t be sustainable and certainly in the wake of so much attention to climate change, good for the planet either. So I fell a little further down the rabbit hole and discovered research papers on the carbon footprint of distributed computing vs cloud computing. One such paper, discusses this very idea. Distributed Computing for Carbon Footprint Reduction by Exploiting Low-Footprint Energy Availability Another focuses on supercomputing needs and their carbon emissions (which are huge) and also looks at the energy efficiency of developer languages themselves (Python for example) piece of research There’s not a lot of work done in these areas but it makes me wonder whether the energy efficiency of a completely decentralized operating system that was developed in a language built from the ground up to make it as carbon-neutral or negative as possible could be researched and proven to be the best model available instead of huge data centers and approaches like continually spinning up additional virtual machines to cope with scale and load, or just using greener power sources and cooling methods. Still here? Good. Now I want to tackle AI just for kicks. The dude was called Theo too, lol Data is only one part of what makes up artificial intelligence, understanding and studying intent and action and consequence all within contained, connected and simulated environments with real people interacting give insight and wisdom far beyond a chess-playing algorithm or GTP3 that can spit out a blog post like this (hang on…. ) who is writing this?? I wonder whether Narula and Alcaid have considered that both their ideas, combined, would give rise to the types of artificial intelligence we envisage in movies like and . Her Ex Machina I doubt this metaverse-type AI entity would knowing what we are like but the reality of it could be that the metaverse or this kind of transcended reality gives birth to the first form of artificial general intelligence purely from the amount of information, not just data, that forms part of it provided by all the constituent parts in this post. fight for the users Life after death? An alternate reality distributed across humanity for all? Artificial intelligence? Who’s to say we won’t see it if we don’t attempt to connect the dots? Also Published here

The Future of the Metaverse: Where Do We Go From Here?

Ready to become a Web3 rockstar? The Balkans region has long been rife with immense technical and entrepreneurial talent that has largely been unexplored due to a lack of educational programs that aim to foster their prowess in the Web3 realm. With that in mind, the NEAR team is dedicated to expanding its network and developing the blockchain community in the Balkans using numerous regional educational & grant programs through the newly launched NEAR Balkans Regional Hub. NEAR Balkans is a regional hub established to provide the local community with the needed tools to successfully build on the NEAR protocol, educate themselves about the technology, expand the NEAR ecosystem, and become eligible for grants to develop their ideas. In addition, the Hub also supports newcomers to enter the Web3 space, and with the latest program - to develop the needed skills to enter the Web3 job market! Presenting The NEAR Summership Program Aware of the immense potential and talent of the young community of the Balkans, NEAR Balkans Hub has established a paid summer internship program with the aim of creating Web3 skills that will enable the participants to actively participate in the creation of projects on the NEAR protocol. What is NEAR Balkans Summership? is created to provide blockchain enthusiasts from the Balkans Region with the opportunity to gain Web3 knowledge and experience that will guide their Web3 career while also providing the opportunity to grow with like-minded individuals from the region. The Program This year's Summership will be focused on Web3 ambassadors' development and will take place from June 1st to September 18th, 2022. The NEAR Balkans Summership 2022 will accept 7 Web3 Local Ambassador Interns who will receive a stipend. During 15 weeks of practice, students will have access to an arsenal of Web3 and NEAR protocol education programs, workshops, certifications, and mentorship spaces for specific fields of your interest, helping you hone your skills and gain relevant Web3 experience. Following this trial experience, fast learners ready to create value within the blockchain arena will receive job opportunities. Apply now: https://nearbalkans.org/summership-application/ Applications are now open and close on Monday, May 23rd. For FAQ or community discussion, join our Discord  or visit the official NEAR Balkans website for more info: https://nearbalkans.org

The NEAR Balkans Summership: Web3 Internship

Recently, I attended a virtual conference on the use of neuro technology and BCI (Brain Computer Interfaces or BMI, Brain Machine Interfaces) in gaming, put on by NeurotechX. I’ve been casually following the space for some time since BCI’s played an important role in my roadmap to the Simulation Point, which I described in my book, . At this theoretical point, we would be able to beam simulations directly into the brain and get responses from the brain, just like in the movie, The Matrix. The Simulation Hypothesis This discussion made me recall the first time I really thought semi-seriously about BCIs. It was while watching the 80s movie , starring Clint Eastwood as a spy/pilot who is tasked with stealing a super-secret jet from the Soviet Union. What made the jet special was that it could respond to the mental commands of the pilot; the idea was that if you could cut off even a second (or perhaps milliseconds) of response time, the fighter jet would have an advantage over NATO’s fighters,  which still used handheld controls. The one catch when Eastwood finally steals the jet is that it won’t respond to his commands — unless he thinks in Russian! Firefox While we’re not at either level or level BCI’s just yet, there were presentations from a number of interesting companies which helped shed light on the current state of the industry and methods. Matrix- Firefox- The first thing I noticed was that all of these companies were working on non-invasive neural interfaces. This is in contrast to Neuralink, company funded by Elon Musk which is creating a chip that can be implanted into the brain by drilling a small hole into the skull. This much vaunted chip promises magical properties — including stimulating the brain’s pleasure centers and increasing human intelligence with AI. The first versions, though will be targeted towards those with brain disorders. Personally, I don’t know of any gamers who are ready to drill holes into their heads at this time, but that may change in the near future! Figure 1: In the Matrix, humans could plug into simulations via a connecting port and wire More importantly, unlike in , which had a full two-way connection with the brain, these companies were mostly focused on getting input from the player through brain (or biofeedback or muscle)  interfaces, though one of them also was interested in having the user receive signals to the body for a more immersive  experience. the Matrix There were six companies doing interesting things in the field of Neuro-gaming  tech that presented at the virtual conference, in two sessions: — The first presentation was by Mike Abinder, an experimental psychologist associated with the University of Washington, who has been working at Valve on some mysterious thing related to BCI and gaming. He basically gave an overview of how BCI’s could help in developing and improving gameplay experiences. While Abinder was coy about what Valve was actually doing in this space, he did make some good arguments about real-time data that could be gathered on the player’s experience and emotions while playing, which could lead to a whole new level of adaptive gameplay. He also gave an overview of “what we can measure today” — which was mostly EEGs in different permutations — his technical terminology was that we can measure “EEG correlates of Task/Engagement and Mental Workload in Vigilance, Learning and Memory Tasks”. What I got out of it was that the basic idea is to measure the EEG signals coming from the brain while the player is doing different things — competitive play, strategy games, etc., measuring things such as “valence, arousal and dominance". Valve Figure 2: The new EEG device from Brainattach that is touted as Biotactical Gameware — The second presentation was from Maciej Rudzinski of Branattach, who delivered a talk on “Introducing Survival Instinct to the game play”, and we now moved to talking about hardware. Brainattach has created a personal EEG device that is specifically for gamers which they call “Biotactical Gameware”. It’s basically a biofeedback device that can be used to improve your performance by “syncing” your emotions and state of mind with your gameplay. Biofeedback has been around for a while in many forms — consider that if you are measuring your heart rate while you breathe to see how it changes, you are basically doing. Biofeedback . Brainattach does this with EEG signals from its clinical grade-device. His presentation wasn’t so much about his device, as much as it was similar to Valve’s, about the ways that EEG signals and other biofeedback can be used by gamers and game developers to maintain the “flow state” — that state in between “frustration” and “boredom” that makes playing a game fun. Their device has not yet been released but you can sign up here at Brainattach www.brainattach.com Figure 3: The fully immersive haptic Teslasuit provides a full immersion — The most fun presentation on the first day came from Dmitri Mikhalchuk of Teslasuit, company that is technically not a BCI at all — unless you replace the word “brain” with “body”. for a BBI. The Teslasuit is a fully immersive haptic suit that, when combined with a VR headset, is meant to not only immerse you in a world, but let you feel the gameplay through stimulating different parts of the body. The Teslasuit, which debuted and made waves at CES in 2018 and 2019, looks more like something straight out of Ready Player One. The way that it works is that it emits electric impulses to different parts of your body, and uses and advanced motion capture system and biometrics to see what you are doing as input. As far as I could tell, it wasn’t using EEGs or brain interfaces strictly, but the field seems to merge with biometric feedback. Teslasuit In addition to the full suit, they have introduced a high fidelity haptic glove, which let you feel objects you are seeing in virtual reality, and combined with the Luminas XR glasses, let you get a fully immersive experience. For example, with a racing car demonstration the company did, you could not just see the road as you moved, but feel the g-forces on different parts of your body. In 2019, to show off the potential, they demonstrated the “contactless tackle” or “haptic tackle” demo They had a rugby player with motion capture on simulating tackling another player. While motion capture has generally been used to make animations more realistic, they were really interested to know which parts of the body make contact with the opponent during the tackle. Now, anyone who puts on the Teslasuit can experience what it’s like being tackled by a professional Rugby player! While innovative, I think I’ll pass as those rugby players look pretty fit! But you can see the gaming applications that could be built. The suit, which was originally funded on Kickstarter, costs several thousand dollars — read more about it . here During the second session, there were presentations from three more companies, which shed even more light on the state of the industry and some of the challenges  to get wider adoption of BCI’s. Figure 4:  Getting input for gaming today (controller) vs the future, Brain and Biometrics, via Erin Reynolds of Flying Mollusk — Flying mollusk’s founder and CEO, Erin Reynolds, presented, giving a history of her company and the state of BCI and Biofeedback from a game developers perspective. She built a version of biofeedback based games as part of an academic project, and then started Flying Mollusk after graduating to build , which was released on steam a few years later. Originally she was measuring heart-rate and other biometric feedback and using this feedback to increase or decrease the rate of “stress” that the player experiences — just the kind of “dynamic adaptability" that Mike Abinder from Valve was talking about. She then also included the Affective Emotions SDK, which can help a game developer detect what emotions the player is feeling using AI techniques. It turns out there is a whole industry of companies that use facial recognition techniques to look at a user’s face and detect whether they are happy or sad or angry — called . It wasn’t clear how much actual Brain interfaces were being used in her games, but she definitely mentioned EEGs and brain input as a future area for development. Erin also pointed out some of the obstacles to BCI’s getting adopted in gaming — namely that there aren’t enough sensors out there and there needs to better tools for game developers. Find out more about Flying Mollusk and their game , . Flying Mollusk Nevermind Emotion API’s or affective computing Nevermind here Figure 5:  The evolution of Hardware for BCI’s according to Neurable’s Adam Molnar — next cam Adam Molnar from Neurable, a company which has had impressive demos of being able to move objects in VR through thought alone. Neurable, which grew out of research at the University of Michigan, is a Boston based company that is bringing neural interfaces to VR worlds with modified VR headsets that can detect EEG signals. That’s not all they use — they also use eye tracking information and other information, though the focus is on different EEG signal processing. Adam gave an overview of the history of BCI for gaming and the road left to travel. This included devices like the Star Wars Force Trainer from Mattel, which let you feel like you were actually using the Force. Neurable Figure 6: Adam Molnar talked about the history of BCI in games, including the Star Wars Force Trainer! Adam, like many of the other panelists, believes that mind interfaces are the next logical step in gaming interfaces which went from typed commands to joystick/mouse, to gesture and touch control. Adam also gave an overview of their history development, from wet sensors in the lab to dry sensors that could be attached to VR, to the future which will include integrated sensors. One of the dangers that Adam pointed out for BCI as an industry was the setting of expectations too high. When people saw the Neurable demo a few years ago, it’s easy to assume that BCI is really here — when there is a lot of work still to be done. This “lofty expectations” can actually be a problem because the reality rarely matches the hype that can come from these demos. In other words, it’s easy to think we are at Firefox like mind-reading, but we really aren’t there yet and the whole field of BCI could be labelled as “missing its potential” and/or a “dud”.  Neurable's goal is an "everday BCI" - see more . here Figure 7: The Brink Bionics Glove senses movements and gives gamers an edge! — the Final presentation was like taking the Firefox like usecase and making it very specific to gaming, given by Erik Lloyd of Brink Bionics. They assert that in games which require fast responses and spectacular hand-eye coordination, like in first person shooters and similar genre action games, the milliseconds that it takes for the signal to go from the brain to the hands to the mouse/keyboard/joystick/input device, can make a difference. Their technology, which fits into a fingerless glove, can detect small electrical impulses in the nerves ,resulting in muscle twitching which indicates what command the user has decided to implement in the game. Rather than using a mouse, though, their product can translate the muscular input directly into an existing command in existing games! This is perhaps the most practical of the products on display — although there is new hardware, you don’t have to reprogram existing games, since they convert the muscle signals to existing commands form the mouse or other controllers.  Find out more Brink Bionics here. Figure 8: Erik Lloyd talked about the state of BCI today vs. the future Erik also talked about the evolution of neural technology in gaming and made the point that today we are in phase I — where a stimulus is presented by the game to the user, and then we measure the result ( or the reaction of the user), and then map it to some known reactions. He calls this “dependent” BCI and that there will eventually be “independent” BCI which wont’ require presenting a scenario to the user (as in VR) but will allow machines to directly pick up on any of our thoughts and we can use those thoughts to control the machines. Conclusion Erik’s distinction between “dependent” and “independent” BCI was perhaps a good place to end the discussion of the state of the industry today. You’ll notice I watched the conference not in VR or AR or through a BCI, but simply on Youtube. Today’s BCIs use a combination of biofeedback (heart rate, skin/stress response), affective computing (emotions based on facial recognition), EEG signals detection (and there is a lot of research on different ways to interpret these signals), eye tracking (for intention inside VR), motion capture (for the teslasuit), and electrical impulses to simulate touch. While the state of the industry is no longer research lab only, it still has a long way to go to directly control any game from your mind. It may not be long that the impact of these technologies goes way beyond gaming — who knows there may be a Firefox like fighter jet on the way! . A graduate of MIT and Stanford, Rizwan Virk is a futurist, an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, video game pioneer, indie filmmaker and bestselling author. His books include The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics Agree We Are In A Video Game , and Startup Myths & Models What You Won’t Learn in Business School He is the founder of Play Labs @ MIT, and is a venture partner at several venture capital firms, including Griffin Gaming Partners. Visit his website at www.zenentrepreneur.com

Neural Tech and Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) in Video Games: An Overview

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Unsupervised Investments (I): A Guide to AI Investors

At the SuperAI Conference in Singapore, HyperCycle unveiled HyperRing, a new addition to its line of products aimed at decentralizing AI technology. HyperRing, described as a high-end wearable ring, is designed to protect financial assets generated in the AI economy, merging technology with fashion elements. The HyperRing features a minimalist, battery-less, and sensor-free design, which aims to offer enhanced security compared to existing smart wearables. It utilizes NFC and MFA (multi-factor authentication) to protect digital assets from cyber threats. Toufi Saliba, CEO of HyperCycle, notes that the product is geared towards the growing sector of AI-enhanced wealth, with a focus on combining style with privacy and security features. HyperCycle’s strategy includes the use of advanced protocols such as TODA/IP and Earth64, facilitating what it calls an "Internet of AI". This network is designed to allow AI agents to conduct transactions and learn from each other independently, which could shift the current dynamics in AI interactions. The company’s initiatives also extend to HyperPG and HyperBox, aimed at enhancing AI-to-AI communication with the goal of faster and more effective learning algorithms. HyperCycle's emphasis on a decentralized AI network suggests a move away from traditional cloud computing and AI services towards a more scalable and secure infrastructure, contingent on network performance and user adoption. The introduction of HyperRing at the SuperAI conference reflects HyperCycle’s broader objectives to shape the future of AI-enabled transactions. The integration of decentralized protocols is intended to reduce dependence on centralized computing resources, potentially leading to a more efficient framework for AI interactions. The design of HyperRing, free from batteries and sensors, targets a specific market segment concerned with privacy issues. In today's environment of heightened digital surveillance, this approach could appeal to those seeking secure yet fashionable methods to manage digital assets. Final Thoughts HyperCycle’s approach with HyperRing seems attuned to emerging trends in AI and wearable technology. The product’s security features, combined with its focus on privacy, may appeal to both technologically adept individuals and privacy advocates. As the digital environment evolves, products like HyperRing could influence consumer expectations and set new standards in wearable technology. Success for HyperCycle will likely hinge on its ability to integrate these innovations effectively into everyday user experiences, making the technology both advanced and user-friendly. Vested Interest Disclosure: This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR. At the SuperAI Conference in Singapore, HyperCycle unveiled HyperRing, a new addition to its line of products aimed at decentralizing AI technology. HyperRing, described as a high-end wearable ring, is designed to protect financial assets generated in the AI economy, merging technology with fashion elements. The HyperRing features a minimalist, battery-less, and sensor-free design, which aims to offer enhanced security compared to existing smart wearables. It utilizes NFC and MFA (multi-factor authentication) to protect digital assets from cyber threats. Toufi Saliba, CEO of HyperCycle, notes that the product is geared towards the growing sector of AI-enhanced wealth, with a focus on combining style with privacy and security features. HyperCycle’s strategy includes the use of advanced protocols such as TODA/IP and Earth64, facilitating what it calls an "Internet of AI". This network is designed to allow AI agents to conduct transactions and learn from each other independently, which could shift the current dynamics in AI interactions. The company’s initiatives also extend to HyperPG and HyperBox, aimed at enhancing AI-to-AI communication with the goal of faster and more effective learning algorithms. HyperCycle's emphasis on a decentralized AI network suggests a move away from traditional cloud computing and AI services towards a more scalable and secure infrastructure, contingent on network performance and user adoption. The introduction of HyperRing at the SuperAI conference reflects HyperCycle’s broader objectives to shape the future of AI-enabled transactions. The integration of decentralized protocols is intended to reduce dependence on centralized computing resources, potentially leading to a more efficient framework for AI interactions. The design of HyperRing, free from batteries and sensors, targets a specific market segment concerned with privacy issues. In today's environment of heightened digital surveillance, this approach could appeal to those seeking secure yet fashionable methods to manage digital assets. Final Thoughts Final Thoughts HyperCycle’s approach with HyperRing seems attuned to emerging trends in AI and wearable technology. The product’s security features, combined with its focus on privacy, may appeal to both technologically adept individuals and privacy advocates. As the digital environment evolves, products like HyperRing could influence consumer expectations and set new standards in wearable technology. Success for HyperCycle will likely hinge on its ability to integrate these innovations effectively into everyday user experiences, making the technology both advanced and user-friendly. Vested Interest Disclosure: This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR. Vested Interest Disclosure: This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program . HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR. Vested Interest Disclosure: business blogging program business blogging program

HyperCycle Launches New Security-First Smart Wearable at SuperAI Conference

সুপারএআই কনফারেন্সে হাইপারসাইকেল লঞ্চ করেছে নতুন নিরাপত্তা-প্রথম স্মার্ট পরিধানযোগ্য

HyperCycle stellt auf der SuperAI-Konferenz ein neues, sicherheitsorientiertes Smart Wearable vor

HyperCycle lanza un nuevo dispositivo portátil inteligente que prioriza la seguridad en la conferencia SuperAI

HyperCycle lance un nouveau portable intelligent axé sur la sécurité lors de la conférence SuperAI

हाइपरसाइकल ने सुपरएआई कॉन्फ्रेंस में नया सुरक्षा-प्रथम स्मार्ट वियरेबल लॉन्च किया

HyperCycle が SuperAI カンファレンスでセキュリティ重視の新型スマートウェアラブルを発表

HyperCycle, SuperAI 컨퍼런스에서 새로운 보안 우선 스마트 웨어러블 출시

HyperCycle lança novo wearable inteligente que prioriza a segurança na SuperAI Conference

HyperCycle представляет новое интеллектуальное носимое устройство, ориентированное на безопасность, на конференции SuperAI

HyperCycle, SuperAI Konferansında Güvenliği Ön Plana Çıkaran Yeni Akıllı Giyilebilir Cihazını Piyasaya Sürüyor

HyperCycle ra mắt thiết bị đeo thông minh đầu tiên về bảo mật mới tại Hội nghị SuperAI

HyperCycle 在 SuperAI 大会上推出全新安全第一智能可穿戴设备

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent approval of the loss drug Wegovy means it’ll soon sweep the nation. However, as its popularity and price have surged, it’s become less accessible to the average American. Can wearables provide a solution to this problem? The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The weight loss market is at an all-time high — and indicators suggest it’ll continue expanding. According to one estimate, its value will surpass $399.3 billion by 2032, achieving a CAGR of 10.3%. This growth has driven demand for drugs like Wegovy. Wegovy is a treatment for chronic weight management. Its recent FDA approval means it will likely become one of the leading weight loss drugs in the United States. That said, despite the country’s high obesity rate most — 41.9% of adults over 20 are obese — Americans won’t benefit from it. Most people don’t have an extra $1,300 to spend each month — that’s Wegovy’s list price. Although one report found its average net price was $700 monthly between 2022 to 2023, it’s still more than most can afford. What’s worse is that Wegovy isn’t just a weight loss drug — new evidence suggests it can also lower the risk of cardiovascular issues, prolonging people’s lives. A 17,000-patient study discovered those taking it had a 20% lower risk of experiencing a cardiac-related health event than those taking a placebo. Skyrocketing demand, high research and development costs, the limited availability of clinical trials, and technology gaps might make it almost impossible for Novo Nordisk — the drugmaker behind Wegovy — to improve the accessibility of its lifesaving, fat-burning drug. That’s where wearable tech comes in. Wearables could improve Wegovy’s treatment efficacy, increasing its ability to accomplish desired outcomes. Their unique data collection capabilities could also accelerate research, potentially lowering costs and increasing accessibility. How Wearables Can Track and Enhance Treatment Efficacy Wearable tech has emerged as the next horizon in health care. It has proven exceptionally valuable in clinical trials because it can gather patient data 24/7 regardless of participants’ location — specialized facilities and invasive observation technology can move aside. Medical professionals can track treatment efficacy by monitoring the real-time patient data internet-connected wearables constantly send. Being able to view data-driven results immediately instead of waiting for testing or in-person visits streamlines their processes. Eventually, clinical trial teams can gather enough information to segment participants by demographics, physical states, or preexisting conditions. This way, they can tailor factors like dosage or medication frequency to each group, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Unlike other sensor technologies, wearable tech often pairs with a supplementary app. Drugmakers and clinical trial leaders could use this unique functionality to send helpful push notifications or help people track their progress. Wearable Tech Tracks Patients’ Treatment Responses Wearable tech can monitor physiological responses like glucose levels and heart rate without invasive procedures like blood drawing. It can track metrics like blood pressure, blood oxygen level, or daily calories burned the same way. Non-invasive sensor tech — meaning no needles, swallowable capsules, or electrodes — could help people feel better about participating in clinical trials or taking new drugs. There’s no longer any need for repetitive, painful, or time-consuming testing. How Wearable Tech Can Promote Self-Efficacy One overlooked opportunity for wearables involves self-efficacy — a person’s belief in their ability to reach a specific goal. When people wear something that tracks their activity and health, they feel more inclined to improve their habits. While a medication can help people slim down, weight loss usually requires various efforts. In a 68-week clinical trial, Wegovy lowered participants’ mean body weight by 14.9% by targeting hormones responsible for appetite and food intake — a noticeable difference from the placebo’s 2.4% reduction. Notably, the loss is within the 5%–15% range recommended to improve obesity-related conditions. Although research shows Wegovy outperforms similar drugs, its long-term outcomes remain unproven — the 68-week clinical trial saw participants adopt healthy habits and take the drug to achieve clinically relevant body weight reduction. In other words, the self-efficacy wearables could prompt lifestyle changes, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Research suggests wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss trial participants by encouraging physical activity, motivating and enhancing awareness. While there’s no clear link between diet, exercise, and this technology, researchers have made some connections. Wearables could go a long way in making Wegovy more accessible to the average American seeking to shed a few pounds. Typically, people gain weight quickly after stopping these kinds of drugs, but most won’t be able to afford the $700 monthly bill. Pairing the medication with lifestyle changes could enhance its effectiveness, increasing long-term success. Integration Obstacles That Need Overcoming One of the largest obstacles drugmakers and clinical trial leaders must overcome is data accuracy. Although 24/7 at-home monitoring makes processes easier, it can also mess them up. Countless variables could affect results since participants aren’t inside a controlled environment. Wegovy isn’t supposed to be used with other semaglutide-containing products for safety reasons. This factor is simple enough to control in a lab. However, it’s easy for someone at home to pick up an over-the-counter prescription or use an herbal remedy without reading the label to check for semaglutide. Privacy concerns are another obstacle since wearable tech tracks excess information. While the abundance of measurements is excellent for researchers, patients might hesitate to share so much. There’s also the issue of data breaches and leaks. If the weight loss market plans to integrate wearables into health care — a sector notorious for its late adoption of technology due to several legal, moral, and regulatory hurdles — they’ll need to consider the upfront cost. Do clinical trial participants pay for the tech? Who pays when someone breaks theirs? Decision-makers should also consider long-term effectiveness. While this tech can inspire lifestyle changes, people might be unwilling to stick to their new fitness routines. Unless they ensure participants stay dedicated, it’ll look like their decreasing use correlates to diminishing efficacy. The Power of Wearable Tech for Treatment Efficacy If clinical trial leaders and medical professionals give people wearables when they hand out Wegovy, there’s a good chance they’ll enhance treatment success, leading to better long-term patient outcomes. Eventually, these improvements could lead to a more affordable drug and higher demand — a win-win for both the drugmaker and those looking to lose weight. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent approval of the loss drug Wegovy means it’ll soon sweep the nation. However, as its popularity and price have surged, it’s become less accessible to the average American. Can wearables provide a solution to this problem? The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The Problem With Wegovy and How Wearables Can Fix It The weight loss market is at an all-time high — and indicators suggest it’ll continue expanding. According to one estimate, its value will surpass $399.3 billion by 2032, achieving a CAGR of 10.3%. This growth has driven demand for drugs like Wegovy. will surpass $399.3 billion will surpass $399.3 billion Wegovy is a treatment for chronic weight management. Its recent FDA approval means it will likely become one of the leading weight loss drugs in the United States. That said, despite the country’s high obesity rate most — 41.9% of adults over 20 are obese — Americans won’t benefit from it. 41.9% of adults over 20 41.9% of adults over 20 Most people don’t have an extra $1,300 to spend each month — that’s Wegovy’s list price. Although one report found its average net price was $700 monthly between 2022 to 2023, it’s still more than most can afford. net price was $700 monthly net price was $700 monthly What’s worse is that Wegovy isn’t just a weight loss drug — new evidence suggests it can also lower the risk of cardiovascular issues, prolonging people’s lives. A 17,000-patient study discovered those taking it had a 20% lower risk of experiencing a cardiac-related health event than those taking a placebo. had a 20% lower risk had a 20% lower risk Skyrocketing demand, high research and development costs, the limited availability of clinical trials, and technology gaps might make it almost impossible for Novo Nordisk — the drugmaker behind Wegovy — to improve the accessibility of its lifesaving, fat-burning drug. That’s where wearable tech comes in. Wearables could improve Wegovy’s treatment efficacy, increasing its ability to accomplish desired outcomes. Their unique data collection capabilities could also accelerate research, potentially lowering costs and increasing accessibility. How Wearables Can Track and Enhance Treatment Efficacy Wearable tech has emerged as the next horizon in health care. It has proven exceptionally valuable in clinical trials because it can gather patient data 24/7 regardless of participants’ location — specialized facilities and invasive observation technology can move aside. has proven exceptionally valuable has proven exceptionally valuable Medical professionals can track treatment efficacy by monitoring the real-time patient data internet-connected wearables constantly send. Being able to view data-driven results immediately instead of waiting for testing or in-person visits streamlines their processes. Eventually, clinical trial teams can gather enough information to segment participants by demographics, physical states, or preexisting conditions. This way, they can tailor factors like dosage or medication frequency to each group, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Unlike other sensor technologies, wearable tech often pairs with a supplementary app. Drugmakers and clinical trial leaders could use this unique functionality to send helpful push notifications or help people track their progress. Wearable Tech Tracks Patients’ Treatment Responses Wearable tech can monitor physiological responses like glucose levels and heart rate without invasive procedures like blood drawing. It can track metrics like blood pressure, blood oxygen level, or daily calories burned the same way. Non-invasive sensor tech — meaning no needles, swallowable capsules, or electrodes — could help people feel better about participating in clinical trials or taking new drugs. There’s no longer any need for repetitive, painful, or time-consuming testing. How Wearable Tech Can Promote Self-Efficacy One overlooked opportunity for wearables involves self-efficacy — a person’s belief in their ability to reach a specific goal. When people wear something that tracks their activity and health, they feel more inclined to improve their habits. While a medication can help people slim down, weight loss usually requires various efforts. In a 68-week clinical trial, Wegovy lowered participants’ mean body weight by 14.9% by targeting hormones responsible for appetite and food intake — a noticeable difference from the placebo’s 2.4% reduction. Notably, the loss is within the 5%–15% range recommended to improve obesity-related conditions. mean body weight by 14.9% mean body weight by 14.9% Although research shows Wegovy outperforms similar drugs, its long-term outcomes remain unproven — the 68-week clinical trial saw participants adopt healthy habits and take the drug to achieve clinically relevant body weight reduction. In other words, the self-efficacy wearables could prompt lifestyle changes, increasing the drug’s effectiveness. Research suggests wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss trial participants by encouraging physical activity, motivating and enhancing awareness. While there’s no clear link between diet, exercise, and this technology, researchers have made some connections. wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss wearables increase self-efficacy in weight loss Wearables could go a long way in making Wegovy more accessible to the average American seeking to shed a few pounds. Typically, people gain weight quickly after stopping these kinds of drugs, but most won’t be able to afford the $700 monthly bill. Pairing the medication with lifestyle changes could enhance its effectiveness, increasing long-term success. Integration Obstacles That Need Overcoming One of the largest obstacles drugmakers and clinical trial leaders must overcome is data accuracy. Although 24/7 at-home monitoring makes processes easier, it can also mess them up. Countless variables could affect results since participants aren’t inside a controlled environment. Wegovy isn’t supposed to be used with other semaglutide-containing products for safety reasons. This factor is simple enough to control in a lab. However, it’s easy for someone at home to pick up an over-the-counter prescription or use an herbal remedy without reading the label to check for semaglutide. with other semaglutide-containing products with other semaglutide-containing products Privacy concerns are another obstacle since wearable tech tracks excess information. While the abundance of measurements is excellent for researchers, patients might hesitate to share so much. There’s also the issue of data breaches and leaks. If the weight loss market plans to integrate wearables into health care — a sector notorious for its late adoption of technology due to several legal, moral, and regulatory hurdles — they’ll need to consider the upfront cost. Do clinical trial participants pay for the tech? Who pays when someone breaks theirs? Decision-makers should also consider long-term effectiveness. While this tech can inspire lifestyle changes, people might be unwilling to stick to their new fitness routines. Unless they ensure participants stay dedicated, it’ll look like their decreasing use correlates to diminishing efficacy. The Power of Wearable Tech for Treatment Efficacy If clinical trial leaders and medical professionals give people wearables when they hand out Wegovy, there’s a good chance they’ll enhance treatment success, leading to better long-term patient outcomes. Eventually, these improvements could lead to a more affordable drug and higher demand — a win-win for both the drugmaker and those looking to lose weight.

Wearable Tech and Its Potential to Monitor Wegovy Treatment Efficacy

When I first saw on in 2018, I immediately fell in love with the technology. As I listened to the presentation, a scene from ' ' came to mind, where they spoke briefly about the technology. In the scene, precogs lie in a bathtub, dreaming up visions of the future, which are then read from their brains using light. How absurd, I thought. Light can't penetrate brain tissue. How could it possibly be used to read thoughts? Well, Jepsen's talk revealed that light can indeed go through not just the brain tissue, but even the skull. The problem is that it scatters so much that it becomes completely unusable. This is where the brilliant technology of OpenWater comes in… Mary Lou Jepsen's TED talk OpenWater Minority Report Jepsen and her team found a solution to focus light through living tissue using appropriately structured light. Essentially, they built a microscope whose lens system is made of flesh and bones. It sounds strange. But that's exactly what it is. They can see into the human body by treating the living tissue itself as part of the system. Jepsen beautifully demonstrates this in her TED talk, where she places a piece of tissue in the path of a laser, and yet, a focused point appears on the wall instead of scattered light. To understand how this is possible, let's look at Jepsen's patent. On the left side of the diagram, there's a "hologram projector" (110), consisting of a laser emitter (105/103) and a special display (113). This display appropriately adjusts the phase of the light beams passing through it. But why is it called a “hologram projector“? The essence of is that, instead of capturing the intensity of light beams on a photographic plate, it records their phase. While this process loses color information, in return, if we illuminate it with the same laser used to make the recording, the light beams emerge in the exact phase as they would from the real object. That's why we perceive the hologram as three-dimensional. In Jepsen's patent, the display plays the same role as the photographic plate in a hologram, but while the photographic plate is static, this display is dynamic. Unlike traditional holograms, these holograms are incomprehensible to the human eye. However, they offer the possibility to focus light through human tissue. It's akin to placing a lens in front of a blurry image to obtain a clear, focused picture, except here, the lens is made of human flesh and bones. hologram technology On the right side of the diagram, a "holographic camera" (160) is depicted, which differs from a traditional camera in that it captures a "hologram." This means that, like the projector, it records the phase of light instead of its intensity. The operation of the system is very similar to how a traditional hologram is recorded on a photographic plate using a reference laser, but here, instead of a photographic plate, there's an image pixel array (170). This setup enables the camera to capture the nuanced phase information of the light. In the center, marked as "diffuse medium" (130), is the human tissue that we want to observe. This is the medium onto which the hologram is projected, and it's calibrated until the tissues in the observed area focus the light. The light that exits the tissues is captured by the camera, from which the necessary information can be extracted. In a nutshell, this is how Jepsen's microscope (built from flesh and bones) works. For those who are interested in a deeper understanding of the system, I recommend reading the . (I also had a more detailed about the topic from 2019.) patents article With this ingenious device, we can create images of the human body with a resolution superior to that of an MRI, and there's no need for massive magnets and expensive equipment. Jepsen's tool is affordable, accessible to everyone, and can fit in a box the size of a mobile phone or even be integrated throughout the day into our clothing. But why would someone want to wear an MRI-like device all day? Do you know what the real treatment for cancer is? No, it's not a special drug, but rather early detection. Cancer starts its malicious life as one renegade cell. It grows quietly and is quite harmless for a long time. The problem is that it spreads stealthily and unnoticed throughout the human body, and often by the time it's detected, it's too late. If everyone could scan themselves daily with an MRI, we could detect cancer in time before it causes harm, eliminating the need for anyone to die from it. But this is not only true for cancer. Many serious diseases can be easily treated if detected early. Considering the leading causes of death, a system like this could offer almost everyone a longer and better quality of life. Therefore, OpenWater's development is not just a tool, but a complete reform of healthcare, which Jepsen and her team call the "Silicon Hospital." What OpenWater offers in healthcare is fascinating, yet my enthusiasm for this technology lies elsewhere. Those who regularly read my articles know . I believe that following the Internet and Mobile communication (and maybe the VR revolution), the next major technological revolution will be the BCI revolution. OpenWater presents a very promising solution for this, as its device allows for neuron-level observation of the brain, all in a non-invasive manner (no surgery required, unlike Neuralink, for example). Experiments are currently underway to , , or based on fMRI data. These experiments are very promising, but they require the patient to lie inside a large tube (the fMRI machine). Jepsen's technology would replace this with a simple cap. Imagine a net cap capable of recording our dreams while we sleep. I am a big fan of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) reconstruct dreams visual images human speech Another very exciting possibility is to focus on the spinal cord instead of the brain. Just think about it: all information from our brain to the entire body passes through a "bundle of wires" about 4 square centimeters in diameter (the spinal cord). The brain controls our limbs, our organs, and our entire body through this. If we can interpret this information, we might restore the ability to walk paralyzed people or build a virtual reality for them where they can live a full life. Since this is a smaller area than the entire brain, observing it might be much simpler than observing the entire brain, and the possibilities are fascinating. Even more exciting is the possibility that with focused light, we can not only peer into the human body but also induce changes within it. For instance, if cancer has already developed in our body, we can use light to destroy cancerous cells or deliver light-activated toxins that target only the cancer cells. Similarly, we can activate neurons with light, making not just thought reading possible, but also the projection of images directly into the brain. It sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? In 2008, DARPA launched its program. One of the projects supported within this program is the , which aims to achieve visual telepathy. The project received $18 million in funding from DARPA. The solution, similar to OpenWater's approach, would use light to read the brain's state and magnetic fields to activate neurons. However, this would involve using vector viruses and genetic engineering to modify brain cells so they can be activated by magnetic fields. This latter part might not sound so appealing, but perhaps it's not necessary. With OpenWater's technology, perhaps light alone could be sufficient for both writing to and reading from neurons. Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) Rice University MOANA project Whatever the winning technology turns out to be, it's clear that many are taking Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology very seriously, investing millions of dollars in its development. This is hardly surprising, as such technology could potentially cure blindness, directly integrate prostheses with the brain, or even enable fully immersive virtual reality experiences. Perhaps the very technologies that current researchers are developing for better VR headsets (such as higher resolution miniature displays, dedicated processors, etc.) could in the future be used to project images directly into our brains using lasers. This merging of advanced imaging and neurotechnology could revolutionize not just healthcare, but the way we interact with technology itself. One might think that if someone possesses such a significant technology, they would guard its details as closely guarded secrets, providing access only for substantial sums of money. However, chose a different path: in January 2024, they announced that they would make the technology open-source, including hardware blueprints, source codes, patents, measurement data, etc. It's difficult to determine what is more revolutionary: the technology itself or the philosophy and business model behind it. This approach not only accelerates innovation by allowing others to build upon and improve the technology but also democratizes access, potentially leading to widespread applications in various fields beyond just healthcare and computing. OpenWater If you're a researcher, developer, BCI expert, or simply someone interested in technology, you can access everything on and the . I would encourage everyone whose field is even slightly related to OpenWater to review the materials and contribute to the technology's development. This is genuinely a breakthrough that could bring about a change in the whole of humanity. GitHub company's website I realize that 2024 has only just begun, but if what OpenWater promises holds, then I'd venture to say that Jepsen has stolen the show. Making OpenWater open-source could very well be the most important tech announcement of 2024.

OpenWater: A Revolutionary Open-source Wearable MRI and BCI Device

ওপেনওয়াটার: একটি বিপ্লবী ওপেন সোর্স পরিধানযোগ্য এমআরআই এবং বিসিআই ডিভাইস

OpenWater: Ein revolutionäres tragbares Open-Source-MRT- und BCI-Gerät

OpenWater: un revolucionario dispositivo portátil de resonancia magnética y BCI de código abierto

OpenWater : un appareil d'IRM et BCI portable open source révolutionnaire

ओपनवाटर: एक क्रांतिकारी ओपन-सोर्स पहनने योग्य एमआरआई और बीसीआई डिवाइस

OpenWater: 革新的なオープンソースのウェアラブル MRI および BCI デバイス

OpenWater: 혁신적인 오픈 소스 웨어러블 MRI 및 BCI 장치

OpenWater: um dispositivo revolucionário de ressonância magnética e BCI vestível de código aberto

OpenWater: революционное носимое устройство МРТ и ИМК с открытым исходным кодом

OpenWater: Devrim Yaratan Açık Kaynaklı Giyilebilir MRI ve BCI Cihazı

OpenWater: Thiết bị MRI và BCI có thể đeo được nguồn mở mang tính cách mạng

OpenWater：革命性的开源可穿戴 MRI 和 BCI 设备

When you think of technology, many of the words that come to mind are current, trendy and modern. Yet, society finds that the older generation is at odds with technology. However, seniors are the generation that could benefit the most from wearables. Below are some of the top benefits that wearable technology can give to seniors. Promotes Exercise Promoting exercise is crucial for improving quality of life and longevity. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults over 65 years should have each week. Or, they must attain 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week. moderate activity of 150 minutes Wearable technology, like smartwatches and fitness trackers, is designed and engaged in regular exercise. These tiny devices that are worn on the wrist can help monitor activity levels, including: to keep people active The number of steps a senior takes. The number of calories they burn. Blood oxygen levels Furthermore, wearable technology offers gamification features, making daily exercise fun and even more encouraging for seniors. Keeps Track of Biomarkers Wearable devices aren’t only beneficial for promoting movement. They and biomarkers. The ability to track biomarkers is especially critical for adults needing advanced care. track and collect important health data Health care professionals can capture these metrics and improve diagnostic and treatment timelines. As such, these biomarkers include: Heart rate Blood pressure Minutes of activity Sleep patterns Health care providers can capture this data and improve their care — especially for those who don’t have anyone to advocate for them. Provides Medical Treatment Wearables can also provide medical treatment, such as injections. Though implanted medical devices aren’t anything new, these technologies are much more accessible, affordable and lightweight. Therefore, seniors have more access to treatment for conditions such as diabetes, improving their overall health care. Fosters Independence The biggest issue that seniors face is their loss of independence. These feelings can occur when parents become more dependent on their children. Or, it happens when they face unfamiliarity living in an assisted care facility. Living in a home associated with good memories allows seniors to maintain their sense of dependence. Otherwise, losing their independence can detriment their mental health, causing depression, anxiety, hopelessness and irritability. Wearables support feelings of independence for those who face risks of falling. Essentially, they can detect falls by tracking heart rhythm disruptions and sending an alert when needed. Should seniors need immediate assistance, they can communicate with emergency services through their wearable devices. Supports Mental Health Mental health problems are common among the elderly. The most prevalent among this age group is perhaps depression and anxiety. In fact, suffer from depression in the U.S. two million older adults Unfortunately, they are left without the proper ways to deal with their mental illnesses. Yet, wearable devices may help seniors return their brain activity to a state of calmness when experiencing anxiety and depression. These devices generate gentle vibrations, which alter the body’s response levels to stress and help the person feel at ease. Schedules Reminders Seniors constantly face numerous tasks, such as remembering when to take their medications. This can be confusing, especially if an older adult suffers from memory loss. Alarm clocks aren’t as effective as wearables. They might alert us when we need to do something, but remembering what that is can be overwhelming. With wearable technology, seniors can receive reminders with context and on schedule. These devices are excellent for ensuring older adults know what’s on their day's schedule and ease memory loss issues. Wearables Enrich Seniors’ Quality of Lives Smartwatches, fitness trackers, and wearable medical devices improve and save the lives of seniors. While they provide peace of mind for users, they also allow for more independence. They aren’t for only the younger generations in this day and age. Older adults can receive numerous benefits and keep themselves connected to those close to them.

How Wearables Benefit Seniors

Fitness trackers first surfaced in 1965 with the Manpo-Kei which translated to the ‘ invented by Dr. Yoshiro Hatano. Dr. Hatano built it at the Kyushu University of Health and Welfare whilst researching how to combat obesity and posited that 10,000 steps provide the proper balance of caloric intake and activity-based calorie expenditure to maintain a healthy body. 10,000 steps meter’ Since then, fitness trackers have entered mainstream markets with global spending on wearable devices exceeding 80 billion US dollars in 2021 and over 500 million units being shipped worldwide. Wearables today track a huge range of key indicators from your heart rate to your sleep, and even your blood oxygen levels. Each indicator can be extremely useful to a user when understood properly. There is a huge range of apps today built using the data tracked on these devices. Below is a list of the data that different providers give access to through their API today: Full list here Provider data accessible through APIs today: Heart rate Most wearables today use a method called photoplethysmography (PPG) to measure heart rate. PPG works by reflecting light onto skin and measuring the amount of light that is scattered by blood flow. When light enters the body, it scatters in a predictable manner as the blood flow dynamics change through changes in blood pulse rates (heart rate) or changes in blood volume. By analysing the way in which the light scatters, heart rate is calculated by the PPG sensors in your watch. The providers that give access to detailed heart rate data through their API today are: Fitbit, Oura, Trainingpeaks, Withings, Cronometer, Suunto, Zwift, Garmin, Eight Sleep, Wahoo, Google, Polar, Apple, Samsung Heart rate variability Heart rate variability is the variation of RR intervals (length of time between ‘peaks’ for each heartbeat). Some wearables using PPG to measure heart rate are also able to calculate RR intervals and deduce heart rate variability for a user by looking at the difference between each interval. HRV data available through following APIs: Oura, Withings, Garmin, Eight Sleep, Polar, Apple, Samsung Blood oxygen measurement (Pulse OX) Pulse OX is a measurement of how saturated the blood is with oxygen and is derived from the Sp02 or peripheral oxygen saturation. It’s measured using a form of PPG in which the wearables reflect infrared and red light onto the skin. The light is then reflected back to the smartwatch and the difference between the light emitted and reflected is used to determine blood oxygen level. Pulse OX data available through following APIs: Oura, Withings, Garmin, Google, Apple, Samsung Respiration rate Respiration rate describes how often you inhale and exhale in a minute. It is derived from HRV — when you inhale the length of time between heartbeats shortens slightly and when you exhale it lengthens (respiratory sinus arrhythmia). Respiration data available through following APIs: Withings, Garmin, Eight Sleep, Polar, Apple, Samsung Sleep Wearables measure a range of important data related to your sleep including sleep duration, sleep quality, time spent in each sleep stage (light, deep, REM, non-REM), and potential problems whilst sleeping. Older and cheaper wearable devices rely on accelerometers to auto-detect sleep whilst newer models detect your sleep from your heart rate and breathing, providing more accurate estimates. Sleep data available through following APIs: Fitbit, Oura, Trainingpeaks, Withings, Cronometer, Suunto, Zwift, Garmin, Eight, Wahoo, Google, Polar, Apple, Samsung Body temperature Some wearables today measure body temperature using outward-facing sensors to gauge your temperature based on the external environment or based on your heart rate. Some devices use other methods. For example, the Fitbit Sense uses an Electrodermal Activity (EDA) Sensor to detect temperature changes on your body based on the variation in electrical potential between various parts of the skin. The Oura ring measures temperature every minute taken directly from the underside of your finger to give users a continuous estimate. Body temperature data available through following APIs: Oura, Withings, Cronometer, Eight Sleep, Google, Apple, Samsung GPS Many wearables today also have built in GPS locational information. GPS data available through following APIs: Fitbit, Trainingpeaks, Suunto, Peloton, Zwift, Garmin, Wahoo, Google, Apple, Samsung Accelerometer Accelerometers are sensors which measure the accelerations of objects in motion along reference axes. Accelerometry data can be used to derive velocity and displacement information. In wearables, accelerometers are often used with a number of other sensors to determine many factors including step count, calories burned, etc. Accelerometer data available through following APIs: Fitbit, Withings, Garmin, Wahoo, Google, Polar, Apple, Samsung Glucose A continuous glucose monitor is a small device that you wear under your skin that measures your glucose (sugar) levels continuously throughout the day and night, letting you see trends in your levels and alerts you to highs and lows. Through the , we provide connections to all of these wearables and their APIs. Terra API As always, please let me know if I’m missing any important data fields in the comments. Also published here.

A Detailed List of Wearable Data Accessible Through APIs Today 

Louise Penny, “The more things change, the more they stay the same. While the technology had changed, the job had not.” A Better Man In the recent Medical Futurist article , the author raises an interesting point that the key to improving health literacy lies in the un-digital design thinking. It makes one wonder: if digital health professionals are the masterminds behind the current digital health reality, then who we can task with the un-digital design thinking. I believe that the un-digital design thinking should be done in collaboration with the patients. The Fight Against The Ever-Widening Health Gap Between Rich And Poor This is by no means a new idea, and there are established institutions that have been calling for patient input for years. For example, the encourages patients and healthcare professionals to collaborate for improved healthcare outcomes. Furthermore, in 2014, encouraged researchers to involve patients in the paper review process and to identify how the research paper was impacted by the input from the patients. Society for Participatory Medicine British Medical Journal To steer the digital health wagon, we need to establish the essence of digital health. Is it a health app, a self-check-in, a virtual doctor appointment Is it a digital pill or a glucose tracker? How do we involve patients in design thinking for a highly specialized area? Patients leading the way With new wearable devices, patients begin to take lead on their health journey and directly influence new features and updates. For example, Apple sent out a to Apple Watch users to learn more about the health features and third healthcare apps they use. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with other digital health solutions. survey For example, virtual visits with a doctor are becoming a norm, but the question is for whom? For your grandparents? Probably not. Did anyone ask them if the current digital health format is convenient for them or was it forced upon them? Maybe the process should have started with a question? Input on how to make the experience better? An instruction? A clarification and reassurance that the doctor will provide you with the best of care and advise on necessary next steps? “The technology you use impresses no one. The experience you create with it is everything.” — Sean Gerety The paradox that I find of the utmost interest is that digital health solutions work because of the underlying human connection. e-Prescribing, for example, allows a clinician to see whether the prescription has been picked up from a pharmacy. It gives a doctor an insight into medication adherence, but for a patient, it also means that the doctor would know if the prescription had not been picked up. With a paper prescription, a patient could have lied to the doctor and not worried about the clinician finding out the truth. Hence one can make an argument that improved medication adherence rates connected to e-Prescribing hinge on the human connection and unwillingness to disappoint an authoritative figure. Digital health will continue to change Digital health is here to remain and to develop even further. And this is an excellent thing. A virtual visit at 8 am? A watch that tells me to get up more? At-home ultrasound for expecting mothers? Yes, there is now a home ultrasound scanner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjuIDQI9Xrc Digital health has many advantages, and one downside: we get obsessed with new technology and enthralled with our dreams for a better future that we forget who we are doing this all for. Patients. Let’s not leave them stranded and give them a product dictated only by our dreams and assumptions. Collaboration, human connection - and the future will be yours, my friend.

Wearable Devices Let Patients Take the Lead on their Health Journey

Wearables & Services are the drivers of Apple's top-line growth When Apple recently, albeit briefly, , the 5th largest economy in the world. And whereas the UK is growing at around 1-2% at best (given the economic impact of the pandemic and the own goal that is Brexit), Apple grew 36% last year. By comparison, the S&P 500 (only) achieved growth of 26% across 2021. hit a market cap of $3 trillion, it made them the size of the UK Whilst it is the iPhone ( ) that makes up almost half of Apple's numbers, it is Apple's Services and Wearables businesses that are expected to drive top-line growth going forward and ring the $4 trillion bell. Increasingly, Apple's strategy is to (a) ( )  and (b) . with its billion users get you to pay regularly every month in ever-increasing amounts instead of the one-off transactions from buying a new iPhone, iPad or Mac computer grab more of your time and attention Apple Services Strong adoption of Apple Pay ( ) and the growing subscriber base for Apple One, Fitness+, Music, and TV are key growth indicators for Apple's Services revenues that now represent over a fifth of Apple's income. 92% market share in US mobile payments Apple Wearables Apple Wearables is a and bigger than Starbucks on its own. If it was a standalone company, it would be in the top 100 of the Fortune 500. When the numbers are released, it is expected that Apple will report sales of over 105 million Wearables units last year. That's about two-fifths of the number of iPhones shipped. Not bad considering that 2021 was a record year for iPhone sales! $30 billion business Apple's Wearables business includes the number 1 selling watch in the world and the number 1 selling wireless speakers. There are now and in 2020, the Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watchmaking industry that has been around since the late 1600s ( ). 100 million people wearing an Apple Watch the Apple Watch was launched in 2015! The Airpods business alone generates roughly $12 billion a year, more than Shopify, Snap, and Twitter combined. If all the AirPod users were counted as a population, they would be the 8th largest nation in the world. And it isn't going to stop there. The new AirPod3 focuses on spatial audio and technology to recreate a natural sound in the user's ear. Apple has already submitted a patent to in its AirPods case ( ). The Independent reported that Apple is working on various features for AirPods to " . install a camera so that users don't need to carry their phone with them when they're out running health monitoring read your body temperature, improve your hearing, and oversee your posture Apple dominates the market in Wearables When others were focused on voice products, Apple applied its people-centric design competency to build people-pleasing devices that could enhance a user’s appearance. The AirPod and Apple Watch are stylish fashion accessories that would compliment any Italian fashion show. They signal status and wealth whereas a MetaFacebook Oculus 2 VR headset in your Tinder profile pic is a surefire way to remain single for the rest of your life. So, what's next for Apple in the Wearables space? The good money is on two brand new products. One will be a VR/Mixed Reality Headset that will be a sleeker version of a conventional gaming headset. The other is a pair of AR Smart Glasses that project an overlay onto the lens of the glasses. These AR glasses will come later, probably by 2024 or 2025. Apple's Mixed Reality Headset Tim Cook has made no secret of the fact that he sees Apple's future in Augmented Reality, not Virtual. As far back as 2016, Tim Cook has been saying that he sees AR as being bigger and more important technology than VR. Apple CEO However, Apple will go first with a VR headset that is being described as Mixed Reality because it will also have AR features. Apple has long been rumored to be working on its very own mixed reality headset. If patent filings are anything go by, Apple's not-so-secret "secret" R&D team has been working on AR and VR projects for at least a decade. The details of the Apple headset are closely guarded but the word on the street suggests that it would start with an impressive 8K resolution per eye. It would also be loaded with sensors, with more than a dozen “ ” cameras to track movement. The headset is also anticipated to be lightweight, have 15 optical modules and two main processors, come equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity. The AR features will include eye-tracking, a see-through mode, object tracking, and hand gesture controls. And remember, it's an Apple, which means it'll be priced high. Nobody knows, but the going rate by the commentators lean towards a ballpark price of around $3k. inside out Apple Glasses As I said, Cook sees the future in AR. The ability to overlay useful information onto the lens of a normal-looking pair of glasses that are not the size of a house brick. Instead, Apple would use transparent lenses to allow the user to see the real world with their own eyes ( ). The display would be shown via a small projector or through transparent pixels on the lens itself. which is not the VR experience Theoretically, the user will see information like Apple Maps' directions or incoming iMessages. Apple's wearable is expected to utilize a slim design encased in plastic with . no cameras This last point is key. will remember the recent launch of the MetaFacebook Ray-Bans that included an in-built camera on the front of them. It wasn't long before MetaFacebook learned that ' ' and ' ' are joined at the hip. Readers of the Wiser! Newsletter inconspicuous cameras invasion of privacy Instead, Apple ( ) will use LiDAR sensors to enable environment and hand tracking. allegedly Interestingly, in a recent patent filing, Apple was given the go-ahead for smart glasses that could adjust its lenses to correct the wearer's vision. The company proposes to use a stack of lenses for each eye that can be precisely adjusted to control how much light passes through. An eye-tracking system could be used to provide more advanced adjustment to the user's vision. Whether Apple Glasses could replace prescription glasses is not clear, but it is entirely possible that they could adjust to become standard reading glasses, like those that are bought off the shelf. Accelerate your career by staying one step ahead of your competition. You only need to be 1% better informed to have an advantage over those around you. In a highly competitive and congested market, being better informed gives you leverage. Save yourself time and cut to the chase by Reading Wiser! the weekly newsletter at the intersection of the Tech Economy and Brand Strategy. Accelerate your career here.

Apple's Domination in Wearables is About to Get Bigger

Though the plotline of core mobile app development continues to expand, wearable technology continues to alter the way apps and technological devices may be utilised to create a safe and efficient wearable system to simplify a variety of activities. With the development of smart apps, user-friendly interfaces, customer service, and many other characteristics, the mobile phone has become the most valued property. Wearable app development has recently risen to prominence as these are increasingly being integrated into fitness apps and healthcare products. In reality, according to Statista, the overall number of wearable users linked to a 4G network in 2017 was 526 million, with the market predicted to expand by 89 million by 2022, connecting over 900 million people. Despite your industry, considering the accessibility of your wearable app is a must if you want to stay up with the ever-changing expectations and preferences of clients in today's competitive environment. In this post, you will find a list of top wearable tech trends to keep an eye on in 2021. So, have a look! How Can Wearable App Development Be Beneficial? Wearable tech applications allow users to control and monitor their connected devices from afar. A Wi-Fi connection or a mobile data network are usually required for such an application to run. Multiple devices can be combined into a mode and then operated at the same time. Now, let's check, Top wearable technology trends to watch in 2021-22! Here's the list of top wearable technology trends: #1. Medical Wearable devices For decades, wearables and wellness have been a hot issue at the prestigious electronics expo CES, and the desire for healthcare wearable devices has never slowed. Wearable applications can keep records of users' health and even provide health advice and recommendations by integrating sensor technology, cloud computing, and UI/UX design. In addition to standard measurements like heart rate and temperature, several businesses have pushed into developing devices that aren't just for tracking. #2. Smart glasses Notwithstanding the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), eyewear is becoming smarter (VR). The expansion of smart glasses is being fueled by continued investment from big tech companies to develop and use AR and VR outside their established areas of use, as well as increased demand from businesses. AR is propelling the penetration of smart glasses into numerous areas of the internet-connected society, from first-person imaging to enhanced turn-by-turn instructions, face recognition, and health-sensing. #3. Smart rings The smart ring will be another popular wearable device in 2021. The device is gaining popularity among businesspeople and individuals who spend significant amounts of time in meetings and wish to receive notifications without drawing attention to themselves by looking at their smartwatches or other mobile devices. Additionally, you may use this wearable to swipe for payment or gain access to your car as well as other smart home devices while purchasing. #4. Smart hearables Among the first wearable technologies to improve hearing was ear-worn devices. Over years, there has been a major increase in interest in merging hearing aids with entertainment features, resulting in the creation of smart ear-wear, or "hearables." While the market is still in its early stages of development, hearables have limitless applications in the fields of healthcare and fitness. #5. Smart clothings Smart clothing, like headsets, is expected to gain traction among mainstream customers in 2021. We'll also see more technical applications of the technology, such as the Nadi X Yoga pants, which measure and provide feedback on the wearer's position, and connected swimsuits that detect the intensity of ultraviolet rays and send warnings to the wearer's smartphone app when levels are elevated. #6. Biosensors Biosensors are by far the foremost breakthrough wearable technology that sets itself apart from the rest. They have a wide range of applications, from therapeutic to agricultural. Biosensors are gaining traction because they can measure biofluids like saliva, tears, sweat, and interstitial fluids in real time, providing real-time data. Wearable biosensor technologies that deliver precise and dependable real-time data will improve an individual's daily life. #7. Smart helmets Wearing smart helmets allows individuals to listen to music, use GPS, and make phone calls. The use of capacitive coupling in the design of these helmets ensures a fantastic experience. It converts sound into vibrations, which are then delivered to the cyclist's cheekbones, allowing them to listen to high-quality music while riding. These helmets may also keep track of your route, speed, stamina, calorie burn, and rhythm. Conclusion These were some of the most popular wearable app development trends. Wearable technology provides a variety of effective and appropriate devices. Handsfree business operations, on-demand action, and an immersive experience are all good reasons for wearable electronics to be accepted during a pandemic. Wearable technology is spanning a large range of industries with specialised requirements and client bases, from healthcare to travel, transportation, fitness, alarms, automation, and other sectors. As a result, it is critical to keep all expected trends in mind when developing an app in order to achieve the intended results.

Top Wearable Technology Trends to Watch in 2021-2022!

Avatars were the first step, now let's empower them! The Metaverse Travel Agency (M.T.A), a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) project specializing in first-of-their-kind NFT wearables, has officially partnered with crypto’s largest virtual worlds, Decentraland and The Sandbox, to announce a new initiative that will bridge the gap between NFTs and the Metaverse. Metahelmets On October 7, 2021, the M.T.A. will launch a collection of 10101 Metahelmets, which will be among the first programmatically generated wearable collections in the NFT space. Every helmet will be unique and programmatically generated from over 120 custom 3D traits - visors, holographic projectors, outer shells, screens, and more. MetaHelmets are also equipped with a screen that will allow users to display other NFTs they own directly on their MetaHelmet, through ‘The Quantum Machine’, a feature that will be available soon after launch. When users acquire a Metahelmet, they gain access to an exclusive community filled with events, challenges, and rewards. In the weeks leading up to the drop, the M.T.A has been hosting scavenger hunts and quests, as well as developing a deep storyline for NFT holders to explore in the future. To join the community and mint a helmet, users can visit . theMTA.io Following the launch, the M.T.A. will release unlockable content, bounties, and other exclusive activations for MetaHelmet owners. The M.T.A also has a partnership in the works with an augmented reality platform (TBA) that will allow owners to wear their helmets in the physical world. The M.T.A community will soon grow to include more partners, more lore, and more exclusive opportunities for token holders. The M.T.A, Decentraland and The Sandbox are excited to work together to allow users to wear their NFTs in the digital world. We envision the Metahelmet as an emblem of unity for metaverse projects, and a beacon of more collaborations to come. When asked about the launch, said: Decentraland’s director Agustin Ferreira “We are very pleased to welcome the Kollectif team and the M.T.A project to Decentraland. We anticipate that great experiences will be built in the Metaverse around the MetaHelmets NFTs, as well as much more in the future.” shared Agustin’s excitement, saying: Sebastien Borget, Co-Founder and COO of The Sandbox “The Kolectiff team has demonstrated a great creative vision on this project. We’re thrilled by the possibilities of interoperability and the many benefits that the launch of the MetaHelmet NFTs will provide access to“ Roberto Vivo, Founder of Kollectiff, said: “The M.T.A. is the first metaverse-agnostic community that helps bring together a multitude of rebels, dreamers, and architects that represent the future of the NFT space. Our goal is to support the growth of the Metaverse and all the amazing projects that are taking shape within it. I am so excited to take the first steps alongside Decentraland and The Sandbox, the pioneers of the Metaverse” ABOUT THE M.T.A. The M.T.A. is on a mission to bring together and support those who will build the future of the Metaverse. The project is actively growing and will soon unveil its own creative universe, featuring layered storylines, community events and challenges, partnership activations, and more. In the coming year, the M.T.A will become the bridge between metaverses that pushes the space into a new, interconnected stratosphere. The project is powered by Kollectiff, a creative tech studio dedicated to launching moonshots in the metaverse and beyond. This article is part of The hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest . The Sandbox Submit your today for your chance to win up to $2000. #gaming-metaverse story

M.T.A partners with Decentraland and The Sandbox to Launch Wearable NFT Metahelmets

Image via inventorspot.com As we become more and more dependent on technology we are seeing tech advancements occur in all industries and fashion is no exception. The global value of the wearable technology market is 32.63 billion USD and it is projected to grow 15.3% by 2027. Fitness bands are still the leading product, accounting for more than 45% percent of the market revenue in 2019. Other advancements can be seen in the medical field such as the first wearable blood pressure monitor launched in 2019 by Omron Healthcare. Although body wear only accounts for about 10% percent of the tech market, it is forecasted to steadily increase and products like wearable solar energy are the reason why. Solar Fashion Wearable solar energy is a breakthrough in the tech/fashion industry. Nottingham Trent University in the UK are the lead innovators and their project is the creation of miniature functioning solar cells (think mini solar panels). The cells are waterproof and the garment can be safely washed. The textile is visually the same but would be embedded with the tiny cells which are too small to be seen or felt by the wearer. The cells can generate enough power to charge something like a Fitbit or a smartphone and it is considered to be an environmentally friendly way to do so. Gif via @fashgif on giphy The Stepping Stones of Solar Fashion In 2014, Tommy Hilfiger launched a line of solar-paneled field jackets with the help of Pvilion a solar manufacturer. The jacket had waterproof solar panels lining the back of the coat which could be utilized through the built-in cable and USB port provided to charge devices. The design of the jacket is not without its flaws and we can see how much designs have improved in wearable solar tech in less than a decade. Solar accessories are more common, especially sunglasses (who would have thought?). The Self-Energy Converting Sunglasses designed by Hyun-Joong Kim and Kwang-Seok Jeong take advantage of the literal use of sunglasses and wearers can easily plug their devices straight into the glasses all while keeping their eyes protected. Image via inventorspot.com The Environmental Impact Of course, there needs to be consideration of the creation of the garment and how environmentally friendly this process would be. Manufacturing solar panels is an energy-intensive process and we have to question if the energy generated from the solar panels can offset the energy used in the creation process. Solar panels can produce emission-free energy for over twenty-five years following their installation but this may not be the case with the minicells. And additionally, the disposal of the garment needs to be considered. Right now, solar panels are recycled as e-waste but this may not be possible once there are textiles involved. Furthermore, with a rise in solar panels, we will need to adapt the recycling process to accommodate for the influx. The obvious benefit of solar energy is the reduced emissions in comparison to any other fossil fuel, primarily coal which produces “25x more carbon dioxide than solar energy to produce the same amount of energy” (Kuby Renewable Energy Ltd.). Image via COMME des GARÇON JUNYA WATANABE 2016 The Cost of tech When we think about it there really is no downfall to solar fashion. If we have these empty surfaces available to create energy then why wouldn’t we take advantage of it? Although the tech gadgets come off as trendy, they can often be costly for what seems like a small payoff. The Tommy jacket was selling for $599 and a fully charged jacket would be enough to charge your device four times. Beyond fashion, technology advancements are focused on extending the battery life of a device which could result in solar fashion being more appealing to the general public. Is Solar fashion the Future? We have only brushed the surface of solar fashion and mini solar cells are only the beginning. The advancements seen in the past ten years display the demand for wearable technology and its potential in the fashion industry. Follow us to cover more topics like this and see you soon on our Fashion Ecosystem.

Wearable Solar Energy: Providing Function in Fashion

You’ll agree with me that prioritizing your tasks and events helps you to stay productive. Right? Wearable tech gadgets are the new innovations making it easier for you to keep track of your events while staying productive — eliminating the distractions from your smartphone. A shows that wearable tech devices positively affects employee wellbeing, productivity and job satisfaction if used correctly. recent study The study also found that workers’ productivity increased by 8.5% while job satisfaction increased by 3.5%. “Wearable technologies are arguably the biggest trend since tablet computing so it’s natural that employees and businesses will look to use these devices in the workplace,” —- Dr Chris Brauer Companies in a range of work settings have begun trying to integrate wearable technology into their workplace with the hopes of creating a more efficient workforce. Some employees may be wary of wearables because of data monitoring by their employers and some employers may have some reservations because of the sizable initial investment required but let’s see why the potential for growth and benefits remain amazing. How Do Wearable Tech Gadgets Boost Productivity When used correctly, wearable tech gadgets improve productivity. Studies have proven this points but first let’s see a few cases were it might help. It Boosts Efficiency And Speed Wearable tech gadgets such as smart watches have some inbuilt features that  help users complete their daily tasks more quickly. The most notable of such features is voice command With voice command active on your wearable device, you can perform a myriad of tasks hands-free from taking notes on the go, to dictating emails, setting reminders and making lists —- which saves you a whole bunch of time. According to the Human Cloud at Work research, it was noticed that wearable devices inspires time management and efficiently. The participants who used wearable tech gadgets were more aware of their activity and productivity levels which inspired them to work harder. To start with, shopping for smart watches might be a good decision if you are looking to improve productivity in 2020. Reduces Distraction And Improves Communication For some people, technology can be a distraction and a killer of your productive time with everyone trying to grab your attention, but when tech is used properly it can help you get at your best. Imaging if at a glance you can look at your schedule or get needed information from your wearable gadget without having to dig out your phone from your pocket, you would be less likely to miss out on important events, and manage your time and communication properly. You can select the notifications you want to receive on your smart watch and block out non-work related messages and notifications. By minimizing alerts to clients and work related contacts, entrepreneurs  are less likely to be distracted during their busy hours. Smart glasses such as Google Glass also enable field workers to better record and use data. It Acts As A Health Tracker Wearable tech gadgets also helps you keep track of your health. To be honest, the very first productivity principle is being healthy. The first wearable gadgets were intended for health purposes before evolving into the devices we have today which serve other purposes, but still include fitness and health related features. Posture monitors encourage good posture which improves overall blood flow thereby enhancing focus and mental activity. Healthy workers are also more likely to be efficient and take less sick days thus increasing man-hours and productivity in the long run. And you tend to be more satisfied with your job and accomplishment if you are healthy and feel more productive at work. Google and Samsung seem to be leading in the wearable devices space and several other unbranded options you can look at depending on your budget. You don’t necessarily need to break the bank to buy one for yourself they are of different prices. There is definitely a smart wearable device for everyone. Conclusion As the telecom technology will change from 4G to 5G, the number of connected wearable devices will jump from 526 million in 2016 to a whopping 1.1 billion in 2022. As astounding as it may sound, wearable technology has also introduced Bitcoin wallets that facilitate the payment making process through exchanges like . xCoins With that being said, it makes sense to say wearable tech gadgets are becoming a standard in the business world to help improve workplace and personal productivity. It’s worth giving a shot and try to see if it works for you.

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