A new extension enters the ring to make Gemini even better than it already is.

Location: Engineering Library- TK7874.78.C38 2016

Location: Engineering Library- TK7874.84.R47 2016

Location: Engineering Library- R856.C55 2016

Windows 11 includes a full-disk encryption feature called Device encryption that protects the data on your system drive. Device encryption uses Microsoft BitLocker technologies, and it's enabled automatically the first time you sign in to Windows 11 using a Microsoft account (or Microsoft Work or school account).
Technically speaking, Device encryption does not encrypt your entire system disk, which is divided into different logical volumes or partitions. Instead, it encrypts the C: drive, which is the volume that contains Windows and other system files. (This drive is often referred to as the system disk.) Any other volumes on this disk will not be encrypted (nor visible normally while using Windows 11).
If you sign in to Windows 11 with a local account, Device encryption will be enabled automatically but not activated (or, fully enabled). If you are using Windows 11 Home, you can only activate Device encryption by signing in to Windows (at least once) with a Microsoft account.
With Windows 11 Pro, you can use the BitLocker control panel, described later in this chapter, to activate Device encryption.
For the most part, Device encryption is seamless and not something you will notice. But it is important to understand that any files that you copy or move to an encrypted disk are encrypted during the copy/move process. Likewise, any files that you copy or move from an encrypted disk are decrypted during that process as well. Decrypted files can be read or used by anyone, on any PC.
When enabled, Device encryption also provides some additional functionality to the system disk on which Windows is installed. For example, when the PC boots, it will examine the integrity of the system to ensure that nothing suspicious has happened to the PC's firmware or startup files. If an issue is found, you'll be prompted to provide the recovery key, which was saved to your Microsoft account (or Work and school account) in the form of a very lengthy text-based password. (This is discussed below.)
Manage device encryption
Device encryption doesn't offer much in the way of management: This feature is enabled for you automatically when you sign in to Windows 11 using a Microsoft account. However, you can ensure that device encryption is enabled and even disable this feature--which we do not recommend--using the Settings app.

To do so, open Settings (WINKEY + I) and navigate to Privacy & security > Device encryption.

If you just signed in to Windows 11 for the first time, you may see an "Encryption is in progress" message at the top of this Settings page. That message will disappear when Windows 11 finishes encrypting the system disk.
Here, you will find a toggle for device encryption and links to "BitLocker drive encryption" and "Find your BitLocker recovery key," the latter of which launches your default web browser and displays an informational website.
If you are using Windows 11 Pro, the "BitLocker drive encryption" link will open the Bi...

The post Device Encryption (24H2) appeared first on Thurrott.com.

Apple leaker Mark Gurman reported today that Apple's next new device is a 6-inch "AI wall tablet" that will spotlight Apple Intelligence.

The post Mark Gurman Reveals Apple’s Next Device appeared first on Thurrott.com.

In this episode, Thomas Domville introduces us to Aiko, a free, high-quality on-device transcription app that can easily convert speech to text from meetings, lectures, and more. The app is powered by OpenAI's Whisper running locally on your device, which ensures that the audio never leaves your device. Whether you need to import an existing audio or video file or record directly within the app, Aiko offers flexibility and convenience. Aiko prioritizes accuracy over speed. Transcriptions can be exported the to various file formats and the app supports over 100 different languages.

In addition to the iOS app demonstrated by Thomas, Aiko will also work on a Mac where it is recommended that you have at least 16GB of RAM.

In this episode, Thomas Domville demonstrates the new Stolen Device Protection feature introduced in iOS 17.3. This feature is designed to protect against the rare instance when someone has stolen your iPhone and knows your passcode.

Thomas begins by explaining the purpose of the Stolen Device Protection feature. It prevents unauthorized individuals from performing critical device and Apple ID account operations, like changing your device passcode or Apple ID password. This is achieved by requiring biometric authentication with Face ID or Touch ID, with no passcode fallback.

He then moves on to the step-by-step guide on how to enable the Stolen Device Protection feature:

Go to Settings.
Depending on your iPhone model, do one of the following:
On an iPhone with Face ID: double Tap Face ID & Passcode, then enter your passcode.
On an iPhone with a Home button: double Tap Touch ID & Passcode, then enter your passcode.
Scroll down to the Stolen Device Protection section, then double tap Turn On Protection.

Note: If you don't see the Stolen Device Protection section, you may need to set up Face ID or Touch ID first.

The episode also covers the Security Delay feature, which requires a successful Face ID or Touch ID authentication, an hour wait, then an additional successful biometric authentication. This feature helps prevent someone from making changes to settings that can lock you out of your iPhone or Apple ID account.

For further details about the Stolen Device Protection feature, you can refer to the following resource:

Use Stolen Device Protection on iPhone
https://support.apple.com/is-is/guide/iphone/iph17105538b/ios

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello and welcome.

My name is Thomas Donville, also known as AnonyMouse.

I'm going to talk to you today about a feature called Stolen Device Protection.

Now this will be ultimately up to you if you want to turn this feature on.

This is a feature that will just kind of enhance your security protection for your iPhone and other settings.

I'll explain a little more here.

When this item is set to on, this will give you an additional protection when it comes to anytime that your phone is stolen or gets lost.

In theory, the feature came about, unfortunately, because there have been some incidents where people will be watching other people gain access to their iPhone, whether that's using the passcode or using their biometric authentication to get into the phone and thus forth then gets stolen from that person.

Or maybe perhaps you lost your phone and somebody somehow, someway gets onto your phone one form or another.

Well this protection will defeat from that person being able to make changes to some critical areas on your device.

So the first layer of protection when this is turned on, this will protect you from them being able to access to certain settings that will now require a biometric authentication.

So it kind of bypass if there weren't any passcode to that area before, you will now have to be able to use authentication by a biometric…

In this episode, Ida Grace introduces eSpeak-NG, a compact open-source software text-to-speech synthesizer available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Developed by Yury Popov, eSpeak-NG supports over 100 languages and accents. It is built upon the original eSpeak engine created by Jonathan Duddington. The app acts as a compatibility layer between the eSpeak NG library and Apple VoiceOver, enhancing accessibility for users with visual impairments.

eSpeak-NG on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/espeak-ng/id6444089174

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello AppleVis.

This is Ida again and I'm back with another demonstration.

This one is somewhat by request, so thank you for the person who requested this podcast.

They said that they really wanted a demonstration of this app, so I hope that this is satisfactory.

I am doing a demonstration today of the eSpeak NG app.

This app will add the eSpeak synthesizer to VoiceOver for anybody who wants it.

There are settings that you have to change within the app, or that you can change within the app if you want to, and then you can go into the actual VoiceOver settings to start using eSpeak.

Right now I'm using Daniel, which is not an eSpeak voice, but I will select an eSpeak voice throughout this demonstration.

So I am in the app right now, and the first thing you get...

It says eSpeak NG.

It's eSpeak NG, Daniel.

Learn how to pronounce words, please.

Anyway, so this is the name of the app.

So the first button you come to, if I swipe to the right here, that button allows you to set up what languages you want VoiceOver to have available to you in the eSpeak app.

So if I go in here...

First thing you see is back, of course.

You can search in that field for a specific voice and language.

Okay, I deselected that one because that is not my user-preferred language.

As you can tell by Daniel, he is English UK, not English US, so I deselected that.

But in order to do that, I had to keep going to the right.

Let me show you.

So under user-preferred, the only thing that seems to be there is English United States.

Whether it's selected or not, you can double-tap to select and deselect it.

Under this system heading, it gives you all the languages.

And the only one in here for English right now is English UK because I deselected the English United States.

So that means that when we go into the VoiceOver settings, the eSpeak United States English voices will not be available because I deselected that one.

Because I personally think that United States English eSpeak sounds very bad, which I will demonstrate in a moment.

But you have all of these languages that you can, of course, choose what language is your preferred language in this languages listed below may be poorly supported by VoiceOver and might be broken at all.

They are available in spoken content.

Okay, so that's a little disclaimer about the eSpeak app and the VoiceOver languages that it supports.

Okay, so then it's just going…

In this episode, Thomas Domville demonstrates how to connect to a Windows computer using the Files app on iOS and iPadOS, in order to transfer files over your local network.

To do this, you'll first need to make sure file and printer sharing is enabled on your computer by going to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Advanced sharing settings, and making sure "File and printer sharing" is on for your current connection type, either public or private. To view your computer's internal or "Private" IPV4 address, which you'll need to enter on your iPhone or iPad, either use the ipconfig command line tool as demonstrated in the episode, or locate it via the GUI by going to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Hardware and connection properties.

To connect to the computer from your iPhone or iPad, open the Files app, double-tap the "More" button near the top right of the screen, and choose "Connect to server" from the resulting menu. Enter your computer's IP address in the "Server address" field, and double-tap Connect. You'll then be prompted to authenticate with the username and password you use to log into the computer, after which it should appear in the brows view of the Files app, under the "Shared" heading.

Once connected, you can brows and modify the file and folder structure of the C Drive from the Files app, as well as transfer files from other apps on your device to this location. To disconnect your iPhone or iPad from your computer, focus on it in the brows view of the Files app and choose "eject" from the Actions rotor.

Note: This feature was demonstrated on a computer running Windows 11. While it is available on prior versions of Windows, the process for configuring it may be slightly different.

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello and welcome.

My name is Thomas Domville , also known as AnonyMouse.

Now this podcast is going to be for my advanced users out there.

Now I've been in this position for quite a while and I have been thinking about how could I streamline this process.

So are you one of those people that tend to transfer files a lot back and forth from your iPhone or your iOS device to your computer?

If you are, raise your hand.

This might be something for you to think about.

Yes, you do have the option to kind of transfer from your phone to your computer by using a third party service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or maybe Microsoft OneDrive.

But the problem with that, it can be slow, right?

Or I just don't want to store it up in those surfaces for whatever reason that is.

In my case, I tend to have some very large files and can take some time, especially if you have a slow internet access.

So in other words, anytime I need to transfer something, so I'm essentially sending it up through the internet, through the cloud, store it up there.

So it takes that time to do it and then go on my phone, go through Microsoft OneDrive and go to the drive and pull it back down.

And it's kind of tedious.

I wish it would be more…

In her latest podcast episode, Ida Grace takes listeners on a guided tour of the Disney+ app for iOS devices. Disney+ stands out as a premier streaming platform, boasting an extensive collection of films, television series, and unique content from iconic brands such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. It caters to a diverse audience by offering everything from the newest hits to beloved classics. The service is enhanced with high-definition features like 4K UHD and HDR, comprehensive parental controls, and the convenience of multi-screen viewing. Available across multiple devices, Disney+ provides subscribers with a subscription model that includes access to exclusive original content and the latest releases.

Disney+ on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/disney/id1446075923

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello AppleVis and Happy Pride Month!

Today I'm going to be demonstrating the Disney Plus app and how to use the Disney Plus app.

So we are going to talk about how to navigate the Disney Plus app, how to find things that you want to watch, how to browse through the different categories on the website, or I mean the app, sorry, and I am also going to show you where you can go to turn audio description on or off, and I'm showing you this because it's not the easiest thing in the world to find, unfortunately, so I am going to show you where to go to find that.

So the first step, the first thing we need to do if we're going to use an app is open it.

So, there's the Disney Plus app.

We're going to open it.

Now I will not be able to show you how to add an account.

I'll show you where to go to add one a little bit later, but I will not be able to show you how to actually add an account because our account is already on here.

Now our account has several profiles, so anybody who's logged into a specific account can access any profile on this account.

So one of the options, add profile button, is you can add a profile to this account, and to do that you can add avatars, you put your name, the typical profile info, except it doesn't ask you for personal info for this app, but I am going to swipe until I find my profile and double tap on that one.

Like I said, you can actually access any profile on any given account because I've accessed my sister's profile before, but today we're gonna access mine.

So, access Ida Grace's profile.

Ida Grace, who is that?

Anyway, we're gonna double tap here.

Select Disney Plus heading.

Okay, now the first thing that you get of course is the Disney Plus heading.

Featured carousel, adjustable.

Okay, this thing, swipe up or down with one finger to adjust the value.

This is like the Acolyte, Disney, Big City Greens, the movie, Doctor Who, Disney, for the first time in forever, the Jim Henson idea man, Disney Junior, Ariel, Mermaid Tales, Inside Out, prepare for Inside Out 2, only in theaters June 14th.

Select for details on this title.

Yeah, so this little featured carousel, swipe up or down slider thingy…

For reasons, it's important for me to track my beats-per-minute and sleep. To date, I've done that by using an Oura Ring to monitor sleep and a Fitbit for BPM. The Oura ring just bit the dust and rather than replace it, I'd rather buy one device- ring or watch- that does both well. Any suggestions?

Things I value or need include:

- Fast and accurate BPM tracking. Doesn't need to be perfect. The fitbit's level of accuracy and speed was fine. But with the Oura ring I needed to stay still and wait several minutes to get a value and those values felt hinky.

- Sleep data that is fairly accurate around night wakings, fall-asleep time, deep sleep/REM/Light sleep, and resting heart rate overnight. The Oura Ring is amazing at this.

-I don't care if I have to use an app for the sleep info but the BPM needs to be visually available.

-I don't care about steps or other fitness indicators but they aren't a problem.

- I'm happy with a ring, watch, or something else as long as it can do both. Does such a thing exist?

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of a well-known Android malware family dubbed FakeCall that employs voice phishing (aka vishing) techniques to trick users into parting with their personal information. "FakeCall is an extremely sophisticated Vishing attack that leverages malware to take almost complete control of the mobile device, including the interception of incoming

Taiwanese network-attached storage (NAS) appliance maker Synology has addressed a critical security flaw impacting DiskStation and BeePhotos that could lead to remote code execution. Tracked as CVE-2024-10443 and dubbed RISK:STATION by Midnight Blue, the zero-day flaw was demonstrated at the Pwn2Own Ireland 2024 hacking contest by security researcher Rick de Jager. RISK:STATION is an "

Apple's smart home device, featuring AI and FaceTime, could enter the market by March, Bloomberg reported, and could compete with Google and Amazon.

Nov. 8, 2024 — Barcelona Supercomputing Center‘s Innostroke project aims to transform the prevention and monitoring of stroke, one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, through artificial […]

The post BSC Develops AI Model to Predict Stroke Risk Using Mobile Devices appeared first on HPCwire.

School districts are competing against each other for purchases of digital devices as remote learning expands to schools across the country.

Some districts are scrambling to account for thousands of devices—a task made more urgent by the uncertainty over when students will be able to return to school buildings full-time.

'EFAB Access' fuels development of miniaturized mechanical structures

Monarch250 to bring affordable cancer treatment option to more cancer centers

SOLIDWORKS Helps Companies Automate Documentation, Analysis, and Data Management for Compliance

Android 15 was released globally in August and since then, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as OnePlus, Oppo and Realme have introduced their iterations of the new operating system (OS) for their smartphones and other devices. The update is said to bring support for true adaptive refresh rate (ARR) which leverages discrete VSync steps to adapt to the frame rate of the on-screen content without changing the current display mode.

Google has announced the silent rollout of its Quick Share app for ARM-powered devices running Windows 11 or later. Users can now easily send and receive photos, documents, and more data between nearby Android devices and ARM-based Windows PCs including the new Snapdragon X Elite laptops.

Xiaomi announced the the latest operating system (OS) for its devices dubbed HyperOS 2.0 last month. A company official has now previewed another new feature which improves compatibility of Xiaomi smartphones with Apple devices such as the iPhone, enabling the user to share files easily across ecosystems.

For Immediate Release – Tuesday, May 11, 2021 Contact: Nick Martin Launch of Telehealth Kiosk and Device Loaning Initiative Pilot at Delaware Libraries (Seaford, DE) Delaware Libraries announced the launch of the Telehealth Kiosk and Device Loaning Initiative at the Seaford District Library on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. In this pilot, kiosks have been set […]

Over the last 20+ years, global society has adopted digital devices at scale, and consumer interaction behaviors continually evolve and mature. As analysts, we're uniquely positioned to notice worldwide trends, country-specific nuances and localized market behaviors that can have significant impact on our brand's business goals. This global scope is [...]

SAS Customer Intelligence 360: Enriching analysis with device usage data was published on Customer Intelligence Blog.

If you're an iPhone user, then you might want to check the Chrome app for new updates.

The post Google Adds Some Nifty Features for Chrome on iOS Devices appeared first on Phandroid.

Have you ever encountered ERROR(SPMHNI-67) while importing logic? If yes, you might already know that you had to export libraries of the design and make sure that paths (devpath, padpath, and psmpath) include the location of exported files.  

Starting in SPB23.1, if you go to File > Import > Logic/Netlist and click on the Other tab, you will see an option, Reuse device files for existing components. 

After selecting this option, ERROR(SPMHNI-67) will no longer be there in the log file, because the tool will automatically extract device files and seamlessly use them for newly imported data. In other words, SPB_23.1 lets you reuse the device / component definitions already in the design without first having to dump libraries manually. An excellent improvement, don’t you think?  

Hi,

In our design team, we're looking for a strategy to make all cell views self-contained. We are struggling to do so when nport devices are involved.

The nport file requires a full path, whereas what we need is a relative path to the current path of the cell in which we're using the nport.

I have browsed through the forums & cadence support pages, but could not find a solution.

1) There is a proposal from Andrew to add the file directory in ADE option "Simulation Files." :https://community.cadence.com/cadence_technology_forums/f/rf-design/27167/s-parameter-datafile-path-in-nport . This, however, is not suitable, because the cell is not self contained.

2) The new cadence version off DataSource "cellView" in nport options:

This however is not suitable for us due to two reasons:

i- Somehow we don't get this option in the nport cell (perhaps some custom modification from our PDK team)

ii- Even if we had this option, it requires to select the library, which again makes it unsuitable: We often copy design libraries for derivative products using "Hierarchical Copy" feature. And when the library is copied, the nport will still be pointing to the old library. Thus, it is still not self-contained.

In principle, it should not be difficult (technically) to point to a text file relative to the cell directory (f.ex we can make a folder under the same cell with name "sparFiles" & place all spar files under this folder), however it does not seem to be possible.

Could you perhaps recommend us a work-around to achieve our goal: making the cells which contain nport devices self-contained so that when we copy a cell, we do not have to update all the nport file destinations ?

Thanks in advance.

My Cadence Version: IC23.1-64b.ISR4.51

My Spectre version: 23.1.0.362.isr5

The very weak forces of attraction caused by the Casimir effect can now be used to manipulate microscopic gold flakes and turn them into a light-trapping tool

A solar energy absorber that uses quartz to trap heat reached 1050°C in tests and could offer a way to decarbonise the production of steel and cement

Quantum light is key to futuristic quantum technologies, but researchers have been creating it in the same way for 60 years – now liquid crystals offer an easier way to produce it

Commercially available quantum technology could let stock traders coordinate decisions to buy or sell nearly instantaneously using a technique called “quantum telepathy”

Title: Health Tip: Keep Battery-Powered Devices Away From Kids
Category: Health News
Created: 8/29/2013 7:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/29/2013 12:00:00 AM

Title: Use of Cancer-Linked Fibroid Device Declines After FDA Warning
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM

Title: Security Scanners Safe for Patients With Heart Devices: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM
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The analysis of extractables and leachables and subsequent risk assessment is an important aspect of the determination of biocompatibility for many medical devices. Leachable chemicals have the potential to pose a toxicological risk to patients, and therefore it is required that they be adequately characterized and assessed for potential safety concerns. One important consideration in the assessment of leachables is the choice of a suitable simulating solvent intended to replicate the use condition for the device and its biological environment. This aspect of study design is especially difficult for blood-contacting medical devices due to the complexity of simulating the biological matrix. This publication reports a comparison of the extracting power of different binary solvent mixtures and saline in comparison with whole blood for a bloodline tubing set connected to a hemodialyzer. Ten different known extractables, spanning a range of physicochemical properties and molecular weights, were quantified. The results indicated that for low-molecular-weight analytes, a suitable exaggeration for whole blood can be obtained using a low-concentration ethanol/water mixture (20%), and in general, extracted quantity increases with the concentration of alcohol cosolvent. For polyvinylpyrrolidone, the opposite trend was observed, as solubility of the polymer was found to decrease with increasing alcohol concentration, resulting in lower extracted quantities at high alcohol concentrations. Analysis of ethanol/water concentrations in the extract solutions post extraction indicated no change in solvent composition.

Background

The real-world consequences of a Philips Respironics recall for positive airway pressure (PAP) devices distributed between 2009 and 2021 are unknown.

The aim of this work is to test whether the use of a transparent capsule affects the residual capsule weight after inhalation as a surrogate of the inhaled delivered dose for patients with non-reversible chronic airway disease. Researchers conducted an observational cross-sectional study with patients using a single-dose dry powder inhaler. The weight of the capsule was measured with a precision microbalance before and after inhalation. Ninety-one patients were included, of whom 63 (69.2%) used a transparent capsule. Inhalation with a transparent capsule achieved a weight decrease of 30.1% vs 8.6% for devices with an opaque capsule (P <0.001). These data reinforce the need to provide patients with mechanisms that verify the correct inhalation technique.

Motion sensors in smartphones can be turned into makeshift microphones to eavesdrop on conversations, outsmarting security features designed to stop such attacks

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries

Getting outside – without your phone – is one way to disconnect.

A dome-shaped device floating in Halifax’s Northwest Arm could easily be confused with a buoy, but it is actually a contraption meant to turn ocean water into fresh water. Two Dalhousie University researchers hope it can help with water scarcity in the real world.

In an effort to strengthen the regulatory activities for medical devices in the country, the Union health ministry has framed and finalised rules regulating the method of recruitment to various posts under the Central

The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has released the operational guidelines for the newly announced central sector scheme for Strengthening of Medical Device Industry (SMDI), aiming at providing

The centrally sponsored scheme for strengthening of medical devices industry (SMDI), launched by the Central government last week, was widely welcomed by the medical devices industry in the country.

Dr Euan McBrearty, head of commerical & innovation, Wideblue shares five steps to successful medical device development.

Blood pressure is one of the critical vital signs for health, but standard practice can only capture a snapshot, using a pressure cuff to squeeze arteries. Continuous readings are available, but only by inserting a transducer directly into an artery via a needle and catheter. Thanks to researchers at Caltech, however, it may soon be possible to measure blood pressure continuously at just about any part of the body.

In a paper published in July in PNAS Nexus, the researchers describe their resonance sonomanometry (RSM) approach to reading blood pressure. This new technology uses ultrasound to measure the dimensions of artery walls. It also uses sound waves to find resonant frequencies that can reveal the pressure within those walls via arterial wall tension. This information is sufficient to calculate the absolute pressure within the artery at any moment, without the need for calibration.

This last factor is important, as other non-invasive approaches only provide relative changes in blood pressure. They require periodic calibration using readings from a traditional pressure cuff. The RSM technology eliminates the need for calibration, making continuous readings more reliable.

How resonance sonomanometry works

The researchers’ RSM system uses an ultrasound transducer to measure the dimensions of the artery. It also transmits sound waves at different frequencies. The vibrations cause the arterial walls to move in and out in response, creating a distinct pattern of motion. When the resonant frequency is transmitted, the top and bottom of the artery will move in and out in unison.

This resonant frequency can be used to determine the tension of the artery walls. The tension in the walls is directly correlated with the fluid pressure of the blood within the artery. As a result, the blood pressure can be calculated at any instant based on the dimensions of the artery and its resonant frequency.

The researchers have validated this approach with both mockups and human subjects. They first tested the technology on an arterial model that used a thin-walled rubber tubing and a syringe to vary the pressure. They tested this mockup using multiple pressures and tubing of different diameters.

The researchers then took measurements with human subjects at their carotid arteries (located in the neck), using a standard pressure cuff to take intermittent measurements. The RSM technology was successful, and subsequently was also demonstrated on axillary (shoulder), brachial (arm), and femoral (leg) arteries. The readings were so clear that the researchers mention that they might even be able to detect blood pressure changes related to respiration and its impact on thoracic pressure.

Unlike traditional pressure cuff approaches, RSM provides data during the entire heartbeat cycle, and not just the systolic and diastolic extremes (In other words, the two numbers you receive during a traditional blood pressure measurement). And the fact that RSM works with different-sized arteries means that it should be applicable across different body sizes and types. Using ultrasound also eliminates possible complications such as skin coloration that can affect light-based devices.

The researchers tested their ultrasound-based blood pressure approach on subjects’ carotid arteries.Esperto Medical

“I’m a big fan of continuous monitoring; a yearly blood pressure reading in the doctor’s office is insufficient for decision making,” says Nick van Terheyden, M.D., the digital health leader with Iodine Software, a company providing machine learning technologies to improve healthcare insights. “A new approach based on good old rules of math and physics is an exciting development.”

The Caltech researchers have created a spinoff company, Esperto Medical, to develop a commercial product using RSM technology. The company has created a transducer module that is smaller than a deck of cards, making it practical to incorporate into a wearable armband. They hope to miniaturize the hardware to the point that it could be incorporated into a wrist-worn device. According to Raymond Jimenez, Esperto Medical’s chief technology officer, “this technology poses the potential to unlock accurate, calibration-free [blood pressure measurements] everywhere—in the clinic, at the gym, and even at home.”

It appears that there’s a significant market for such a product. “92 percent of consumers who intend to buy a wearable device are willing to pay extra for a health-related feature, and blood pressure ranks first among such features,” says Elizabeth Parks, the president of Internet of Things consulting firm Parks Associates.

In the future, rather than relying on arm-squeezing blood pressure cuffs, smart watches may be able to directly monitor blood pressure throughout the day, just as they already do for heart rate and other vital signs.

Neuralink’s visual prosthesis Blindsight has been designated a breakthrough device by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which potentially sets the technology on a fast track to approval.

In confirming the news, an FDA spokesperson emphasized that the designation does not mean that Blindsight is yet considered safe or effective. Technologies in the program have potential to improve the current standard of care and are novel compared to what’s available on the market, but the devices still have to go through full clinical trials before seeking FDA approval.

Still, the announcement is a sign that Neuralink is moving closer to testing Blindsight in human patients. The company is recruiting people with vision loss for studies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Visual prostheses work by capturing visual information with a video camera, typically attached to glasses or a headset. Then a processor converts the data to an electrical signal that can be relayed to the nervous system. Retinal implants have been a common approach, with electrodes feeding the signal to nerves in the retina, at the back of the eye, from where it travels on to the brain. But Blindsight uses a brain implant to send the signal directly to neurons in the visual cortex.

In recent years, other companies developing artificial vision prosthetics have reached clinical research trials or beyond, only to struggle financially, leaving patients without support. Some of these technologies live on with new backing: Second Sight’s Orion cortical implant project is now in a clinical trial with Cortigent, and Pixium Vision’s Prima system is now owned by Science, with ex-Neuralink founder Max Hodak at the helm. No company has yet commercialized a visual prosthetic that uses a brain implant.

Elon Musk’s Claims About Blindsight

Very little information about Blindsight is publicly available. As of this writing, there is no official Blindsight page on the Neuralink website, and Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment. It’s also unclear how exactly Blindsight relates to a brain-computer interface that Neuralink has already implanted in two people with paralysis, who use their devices to control computer cursors.

Experts who spoke with IEEE Spectrum felt that, if judged against the strong claims made by Neuralink’s billionaire co-founder Elon Musk, Blindsight will almost certainly disappoint. However, some were still open to the possibility that Neuralink could successfully bring a device to market that can help people with vision loss, albeit with less dramatic effects on their sense of sight. While Musk’s personal fortune could help Blindsight weather difficulties that would end other projects, experts did not feel it was a guarantee of success.

After Neuralink announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Blindsight had received the breakthrough device designation, Musk wrote:

The Blindsight device from Neuralink will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see.

Provided the visual cortex is intact, it will even enable those who have been blind from birth to see for the first time.

To set expectations correctly, the vision will be at first be [sic] low resolution, like Atari graphics, but eventually it has the potential be [sic] better than natural vision and enable you to see in infrared, ultraviolet or even radar wavelengths, like Geordi La Forge.

Musk included a picture of La Forge, a character from the science-fiction franchise Star Trek who wears a vision-enhancing visor.

Experts Puncture the Blindsight Hype

“[Musk] will build the best cortical implant we can build with current technology. It will not produce anything like normal vision. [Yet] it might produce vision that can transform the lives of blind people,” said Ione Fine, a computational neuroscientist at the University of Washington, who has written about the potential limitations of cortical implants, given the complexity of the human visual system. Fine previously worked for the company Second Sight.

A successful visual prosthetic might more realistically be thought of as assistive technology than a cure for blindness. “At best, we’re talking about something that’s augmentative to a cane and a guide dog; not something that replaces a cane and a guide dog,” said Philip Troyk, a biomedical engineer at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Restoring natural vision is beyond the reach of today’s technology. But among Musks recent claims, Troyk says that a form of infrared sensing is plausible and has already been tested with one of his patients, who used it for help locating people within a room. That patient has a 400-electrode device implanted in the visual cortex as part of a collaborative research effort called the Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Project (ICVP). By comparison, Blindsight may have more than 1,000 electrodes, if it’s a similar device to Neuralink’s brain-computer interface.

Experts say they’d like more information about Neuralink’s visual prosthetic. “I’m leery about the fact that they are very superficial in their description of the devices,” said Gislin Dagnelie, a vision scientist at Johns Hopkins University who has been involved in multiple clinical trials for vision prosthetics, including a Second Sight retinal implant, and who is currently collaborating on the ICVP. “There’s no clear evaluation or pre-clinical work that has been published,” says Dagnelie. “It’s all based on: ‘Trust us, we’re Neuralink.’”

In the short term, too much hype could mislead clinical trial participants. It could also degrade interest in small but meaningful advancements in visual prosthetics. “Some of the [Neuralink] technology is exciting, and has potential,” said Troyk. “The way the messaging is being done detracts from that, potentially.”