Finnish medical device company Sooma Medical has received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its portable, patient-administered neuromodulation device to treat depression.

This revolutionary treatment utilizes a mild electrical current to stimulate targeted brain areas, significantly improving depressive symptoms. The FDA's breakthrough designation is reserved for novel therapies that show significant potential to provide a substantial improvement over existing options for severe or life-threatening conditions, according to a press release.

"We are thrilled to receive this breakthrough designation from the FDA," said Tuomas Neuvonen, CEO of Sooma. "This is a huge step forward for our company and, more importantly, for the millions of people suffering from depression. We are committed to making this innovative treatment accessible to patients in the U.S. as quickly as possible."

Depression is a serious mental health condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Current treatment options, such as antidepressants and psychotherapy, can be effective but also have limitations. Sooma Depression Therapy offers a new, non-invasive alternative that has the potential to significantly improve the lives of those suffering from depression.

Read more: DyAnsys Neurostimulation Device Receives FDA Clearance

Sooma Medical is dedicated to developing innovative and accessible solutions to improve the lives of people affected by mental health conditions. The company continues to work closely with the FDA to bring this treatment to the market and to make it available to more patients as soon as possible.

About Sooma Depression Therapy

Sooma Depression Therapy, already approved in the EU, is an effective first-hand treatment option for depression used by hundreds of patients annually in more than 30 countries. The therapy, which is painless and involves no medication, is always prescribed by a medical professional. The treatment consists of daily 30-minute sessions for a minimum of three weeks. It can also be used as a stand-alone treatment or as an add-on therapy along with other types of treatment, such as pharmaceuticals, without the risk of dangerous drug interactions.

Most patients can feel relief from their depressive symptoms around the third week of treatment. According to Sooma's post-market data, more than half of patients achieve a complete clinical response, meaning a 50% or greater improvement in their depressive symptoms after the treatment.

About Sooma

Sooma Medical is a Finnish medical device company established in 2013, which works closely with leading experts in psychiatry and clinical neurophysiology to develop effective treatment solutions for health conditions in these areas. Sooma medical devices are engineered and manufactured in Finland following the international ISO 13485 quality management system for medical devices. Devices developed by Sooma have received approvals from international health authorities such as Health Canada, MDA, HSA, TGA, and COFEPRIS. To date, more than 10,000 patients have found relief with these treatments. Sooma Depression Therapy is available in more than 30 countries worldwide.

Ultrahigh-resolution displays are an essential element for developing next-generation electronic products such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and smartwatches, and can be applied not only to head-mounted displays but also to smart glasses and smart lenses. The technology developed through this research is expected to be used to make such next-generation ultrahigh-resolution displays and other various sub-micro optoelectronic devices.

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 22nd that Professor Yong-Hoon Cho's research team of KAIST Department of Physics developed the core technology for an ultrahigh resolution light-emitting diode (LED) display that can realize 0.5 micron-scale pixels smaller than 1/100 of the average hair thickness (about 100 microns) using focused ion beams, reports KAIST.

Commonly, pixelation of ultrahigh-resolution LED displays usually relies on the etching method that physically cuts the area around the pixel, but as the pixel becomes smaller due to the occurrence of various defects around it, leading to side-effects of having leakage of current increased and light-emission efficiency decreased. In addition, various complex processes such as patterning for pixelation and post-processing for prevention of leakage current are required.

Professor Yong-Hoon Cho's research team developed a technology that can create pixels down to the size of a microscale without the complicated pre- and post-processing using a focused ion beam. This method has the advantage of being able to freely set the shape of the emitting pixel without causing any structural deformation on the material surface by controlling the intensity of the focused ion beam.

Read more: Partnership to Develop Premier Metaverse Experiences

The focused ion beam technology has been widely used for ultrahigh-magnification imaging and nanostructure fabrication in fields such as materials engineering and biology. However, when a focused ion beam is used on a light-emitting body such as an LED, light emission of a portion hit by the beam and a surrounding area rapidly decreases, which has been a barrier to fabricating a nano-scale light-emitting structure. Upon facing this issue, Professor Cho's research team began the research on the idea that if they turned things around to use these problematic phenomena, they can be used in the ultra-fine pixelation method on a sub-micron scale.

The research team used a focused ion beam whose intensity was softened to the extent that the surface was not shaved, and found that not only the light emission rapidly decreased in the area hit by the focused ion beam, but also the local resistance greatly increased. As a result, while the surface of the LED is kept flat, the portion hit by the focused ion beam is optically and electrically isolated, enabling pixelation for independent operation.

Professor Yong-Hoon Cho, who led the research, said, “We have newly developed a technology that can create sub-micron-scale pixels without complicated processes using a focused ion beam, which will be a base technology that can be applied to next-generation ultrahigh-resolution displays and nano-photoelectronic devices.”

This research in which the Master's student Ji-Hwan Moon and the Ph.D. student Baul Kim of KAIST Department of Physics participated as co-first authors, was carried out with the support of the National Research Foundation of Korea's Support Program for Mid-Career Researchers and the Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation. It was published online in 'Advanced Materials' and was also selected as the internal cover of the next offline edition.

ZEISS has acquired the shares of the joint venture tooz technologies, which was founded together with Deutsche Telekom in 2018. ZEISS is thereby responding to the large, growing market potential in the fields of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) glasses.

Until now, each partner held 50% of the shares in the start-up, which develops high-tech optics in the area of augmented reality. ZEISS and Deutsche Telekom thereby pooled their expertise in the fields of optics, optoelectronics and connectivity – three critical factors for realizing market-ready smart glasses. This has proved a success, as evidenced by the development of seamlessly integrated complete solutions for smart glasses over the past years.

"In a challenging and exploratory technological environment, we have achieved all the goals and milestones that we set together with ZEISS and Deutsche Telekom," says Dr. Kai Ströder, CEO of tooz. "Now is the right time to focus on the unique selling points: serial production and visual correction in imaging systems. We will also retain our start-up organization as part of the ZEISS Group to remain agile in this complex and dynamic technological race."

As the ZEISS Group's AR/VR competence center, tooz will further drive the development and integration of optics for augmented reality products completely independently. In the future, tooz will also equip optical systems from other manufacturers of AR/VR optics with prescription lenses to place products with an integrated prescription on the global markets.

‍

ZEISS and tooz: complementary know-how in a complex field of business

"tooz covers specific competencies and technologies for design, engineering and manufacturing processes, which complement the existing capabilities at ZEISS quite well. tooz will benefit in particular from production and process know-how and the significant experience in the approval of medical optics, and will be better positioned on the international market in the future," says Gerrit Schulte, Head of ZEISS Ventures.

Smart glasses, AR, mixed reality and VR will become part of daily life, for commercial applications but also especially for private use. Due to an increased demand internationally for personalized visual correction, an AR optic with a prescription is an essential customer requirement. The integration of tooz in the ZEISS Group addresses this market need and puts tooz in a stronger starting position.

‍

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 8.8 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2022).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 38,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities (status: 30 September 2022). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Precision Neuroscience Corporation, the only brain-computer interface (BCI) company developing implants that are designed to be high-resolution, minimally invasive, and reversible, announced a $41 million Series B funding round led by Forepont Capital Partners. Mubadala Capital, Draper Associates, Alumni Ventures, and re.Mind Capital also participated in the round, alongside existing investors Steadview Capital and B Capital Group. The new financing enables Precision to continue hiring top talent while powering further product development and paving the road to FDA regulatory review, expected in the coming months. The latest investment brings the company’s total funding to $53 million in under two years.

“We imagine a world where devastating neurological conditions – stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia – are finally treatable,” Michael Mager, CEO of Precision Neuroscience, said. “To reach this world, brain-computer interface technology needs to progress out of the lab and into the clinic. Precision is excited to take on that challenge.”

Read more: Neuralink’s Brain Chip Gets A Wide-Ranging Update

According to the American Neurological Association, nearly 100 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from neurological conditions ranging from migraines to Parkinson’s disease. Precision develops life-changing implants designed to restore neurological function for these individuals. Precision’s implant, the Layer 7 Cortical Interface, is a strip of flexible, thin film material – similar to a piece of Scotch tape, but with a thickness that is 1/5th that of a human hair. It is configured to conform to the surface of the brain without damaging tissue and can be implanted using a proprietary, minimally invasive cranial micro-slit technique. Precision’s device is the only BCI implant that is engineered to be safely removable. Unlike other minimally invasive approaches, it can process large amounts of data; each microelectrode array comprises 1,024 electrodes, with electrode density 600 times greater than standard cortical arrays. The company holds more than 25 patents and pending patents on its innovative technology, states a press release.

The brain-computer interface industry is undergoing a period of active growth and development, touched off by crucial advances in microfabrication, machine learning, and microelectronics. Co-founded in 2021 by neurosurgeon Ben Rapoport, Precision has assembled some of the top talents in the field. Within two years of the company’s founding, the team has already validated its high-resolution brain-computer interface system and is advancing toward clinical trials in 2023.

“Forepont is proud to lead Precision Neuroscience’s Series B raise to support the advancement of Precision’s cutting-edge technology,” Eric Attias, founder and managing partner of Forepont Capital Partners, said. “Precision is pioneering a BCI product that we believe will achieve patient outcomes that were previously thought to be impossible.”

About Precision Neuroscience

Precision Neuroscience’s goal is to provide breakthrough treatments for the one billion people worldwide suffering from neurological illnesses. They are building the only brain-computer interface that is designed to be minimally invasive, safely removable, and capable of processing large amounts of data.

Our Innovation of the Month is coming from Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH (IOP) which is a digital health company, based in Hannover (Germany). IOP is addressing a vastly underserved area in the care of glaucoma patients via innovative technologies and products.

Their eyemate® system consists of a permanent implantable and biocompatible microsensor, responsible for intraocular pressure measurements. The microsensor is powered and read out by an external hand-held device. The operation of this patient hand-held device is simple and reliable. The data will then be transmitted via a wireless data connection to a secure internet-based database. Thus, the eye doctor can monitor the therapeutic response and adjust therapy early on, in case of elevated intraocular pressure, avoiding further loss of vision. The eyemate® smartphone app will provide helpful information about the disease status and the therapy success to the patient and a medication schedule can be established, which reminds the patient automatically when he/she has to apply his/her glaucoma medication.

Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH has a team of very experienced and highly motivated experts in their field and is supported by seasoned investors and renowned clinical and scientific advisors. They collaborate with prestigious institutes in order to present the most advanced and utile products to patients and the medical community.

Want to learn more about Implandata Ophthalmic Products GmbH? They are with us at the WT Wearable Technologies Conference EUROPE 2023 in Munich on April 24-25^th!

Know Labs, an emerging developer of non-invasive medical diagnostic technology, today announced that Ron Erickson, Founder and Chairman, has been unanimously named Chief Executive Officer by the Company’s Board of Directors while continuing as Chairman of the Board. Former CEO Phil Bosua has stepped down as an executive officer of the Company and Board Member and will become a technology advisor and consultant to Know Labs, effective immediately.

Ron Erickson is the Founder of Know Labs and has been with the company and its predecessors for nearly 20 years. He brings 30 years of board, business development, financial, and executive leadership experience from industries including therapeutics, mobile technologies, and software.

“Thanks to Phil’s genius for invention, Know Labs’ intellectual property portfolio is second to none in the emerging field of non-invasive medical diagnostics,” Erickson said. “By evolving into a technology advisory and consulting role, Phil will have the freedom and flexibility to pursue his passion for new discoveries in science, software, and artificial intelligence, while participating in the value our team continues to create for shareholders.”

As part of his technology advisory and consulting role, Bosua will provide ad hoc technical guidance to the Know Labs product development team. Concurrently, Know Labs will transfer certain assets of its subsidiary AI Mind, Inc. to Bosua, who will focus on innovation and advancements in artificial intelligence, says a press release.

“Having established our Bio-RFID™ platform technology as a new standard for accuracy in glucose monitoring, as evidenced by our latest patent, our focus now is accelerating product development and testing while working toward the FDA clearance process for medical devices,” Erickson continued. “We anticipate our work toward this goal will accelerate in 2023, as a result of the progress made by our team, with support from our investors. We have recently expanded our team in product and clinical development functions, which are critical for our 2023 activities. I’m confident we have the right team to achieve our goals and believe Bio-RFID will transform the medical diagnostics industry and significantly improve the lives of millions of people worldwide.”

“When Ron and I met, back in 2018, I was intrigued by the opportunity to pursue the holy grail of the medical industry, a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring medical device,” Bosua said. “We have accomplished so much since then, and it has been an honor to lead such a great and capable team alongside Ron. The Know Labs’ foundational technology that I invented is unique and will change people’s lives, and I’m proud of that. My passion is to seek unique and challenging opportunities as I have done throughout my career. I trust that the Know Labs team has the capability to take the technology from here and deliver the first non-invasive blood glucose monitor into the market.”

Know Labs Board of Directors is fully supportive of this transition and remains confident in the company’s ability to move ahead. Bill Owens, Know Labs Board Member, stated, “We are enthusiastic about the path forward. It is aggressive and results-oriented, which comforts us and the shareholders we represent. I’m looking forward to the future and what they can accomplish as a team.”

Know Labs will continue to provide updates on progress toward clinical trials and FDA clearance of its non-invasive glucose monitoring devices. The company continues to test and refine Bio-RFID’s hardware and algorithms in preparation for the FDA clearance process.

About Know Labs

Know Labs, Inc. is a public company whose shares trade on the NYSE American Exchange under the stock symbol “KNW.” The company’s technology uses spectroscopy to direct electromagnetic energy through a substance or material to capture a unique molecular signature. Know Labs refers to its technology as Bio-RFID™. The Bio-RFID technology can be integrated into a variety of wearable, mobile, or bench-top form factors. This product will require U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance prior to its introduction to the market.

3M has unveiled its new medical adhesive that can stick to the skin for up to 28 days and is intended for use with a wide array of health monitors, sensors, and long-term medical wearables. Prior to 2022, the standard wear time for extended medical adhesives was up to 14 days. 3M now doubles that standard to help deliver a more patient-centric model of care.

"Our 3M scientists created a technology and then pushed that tech to its boundaries without compromising skin health," said Chad Reed, director of global business for 3M Medical Materials and Technologies. "Medical wearables are a cornerstone for the future of health care, and we're committed to unlocking its potential with our world-class materials science."

The polyester fabric tape was created with the manufacturers of medical wearables in mind, such as sensors, monitors, and other devices that are supposed to measure a wearer's health over an extended length of time.

Read more: Market Launch for Automated Insulin Delivery System

For instance, sticky sensors are currently replaced every 10 to 14 days in continuous glucose monitoring devices like Abbott's FreeStyle Libre 3 and Dexcom's recently cleared G7. The vital sign monitors from BioIntelliSense, on the other hand, are designed to monitor health for up to three months, but the adhesive needs to be changed every week.

The use of a longer-wearing substance, such as 3M's 4578 tape, on those devices, might therefore both ease the remote monitoring process for patients and make it less hands-on while also ensuring fewer interruptions during the tracking period. Additionally, by reducing the number of moving parts, it might lower the cost of operating those devices.

The new adhesive, 3M™ Medical Tape 4578, also adds the feature of liner-free stability, which can be stored for up to one year, giving device makers more flexibility in the design process, 3M said in a press release.

3M touts more than 55 years of skin adhesion science and 3M Medical Tape 4578 adds to the extensive breadth of the company's medical adhesive offerings. Medtech manufacturers can utilize 3M's online "Find My Adhesive" tool to match their products with the best backing materials based on the functions and intended end users of the devices.

If you were able to watch the Samsung Unpacked 2023 event earlier, you are likely aware that the firm recently unveiled a new effort in the area of Extended Reality, or X as it is more commonly called. The specifics of any tangible product were not revealed at the announcement, and this is where a new leak is now appearing.

A battery that just gained regulatory certification in South Korea fits up with a specific model number that the rumor mill previously connected to an impending Samsung handset, as noticed by GalaxyClub. It was assumed that the SM-I120 model of the object was an AR/VR wearable. It appears plausible that this hardware product will be released in the near future when considering the announcement made at Samsung Unpacked and the appearance of this battery module.

Intriguingly, according to a report by The Washington Post, the South Korean conglomerate's extended reality project will also involve service collaborations with Meta and Microsoft. This effectively unites large tech for the same goal. According to the article, Google and Qualcomm have acknowledged their collaboration with Samsung on the XR headgear.

According to the newspaper, TM Roh, president and head of Samsung's mobile experience division, says the company will join the mixed reality market cautiously because it doesn't want to make the same mistakes as other competitors that appear to have jumped on the bus too quickly. "There have been many attempts by other companies so far, but not as successful as had been hoped because perhaps the ecosystem was not as ready as it should have been,” the report quotes Roh.

Since 2018, Samsung had stopped producing virtual reality headsets, with its updated 107 Odyssey headset designed for Windows PCs being the final one, reports Gadgets 360.

Apple is apparently getting ready to introduce the Reality Pro, its first XR headset, this year. Rich features including hand and eye movement tracking, immersive graphics, and sophisticated AR/VR videoconferencing capabilities are anticipated to be included with the Reality Pro.

A method that uses liquid metal to make an elastic material that is impenetrable to both gases and liquids has been created by an international team of researchers. The material can be used to package valuable technology that needs to be protected from gases, including flexible batteries.

“This is an important step because there has long been a trade-off between elasticity and being impervious to gases,” says Michael Dickey, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. “Basically, things that were good at keeping gases out tended to be hard and stiff. And things that offered elasticity allowed gases to seep through. We’ve come up with something that offers the desired elasticity while keeping gases out.”

A gallium-indium eutectic alloy (EGaIn) is used in the novel method. Eutectic refers to an alloy with a lower melting point than its component elements. The EGaIn is liquid at room temperature in this instance. A thin coating of EGaIn was produced by the researchers, who then covered it with an elastic polymer. Glass microbeads were placed on the polymer's internal surface to prevent the liquid coating of EGaIn from pooling. The end result is essentially a liquid metal-lined elastic bag or sheath that is impermeable to gases and liquids, reports Matt Shipman at NCSU News.

By measuring how much liquid content was allowed to evaporate and how much oxygen was permitted to escape from a sealed container made of the novel material, the researchers were able to determine how successful the material was. “We found that there was no measurable loss of either liquid or oxygen for the new material,” says Tao Deng, co-corresponding author and Zhi Yuan Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The researchers are also conscious of the costs associated with manufacturing the new material. “The liquid metals themselves are fairly expensive,” Deng says. “However, we’re optimistic that we can optimize the technique – for example, making the EGaIn film thinner – in order to reduce the cost. At the moment, a single package would cost a few dollars, but we did not attempt to optimize for cost so there is a path forward to drive cost down.”

The researchers are currently exploring testing options to determine whether the material is actually an even more effective barrier than they’ve been able to show so far. “Basically, we reached the limit of the testing equipment that we had available,” Dickey says. “We’re also looking for industry partners to explore potential applications for this work. Flexible batteries for use with soft electronics is one obvious application, but other devices that either use liquids or are sensitive to oxygen will benefit from this technology.”

DarioHealth, a leader in the global digital therapeutics (DTx) market, announced an agreement with Dexcom, the global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology, to integrate its market-leading CGMs, into Dario's multi-chronic condition platform.

Dexcom CGM uses a small, wearable sensor to continuously measure and send glucose levels to a receiver or smart device, enabling people with diabetes to make real-time decisions about their health. This agreement enables the integration of data from Dexcom CGMs directly into Dario's metabolic solution, making it easy for people using the wearable device to benefit from Dario's highly personalized support. Dario's integrated digital health solution provides highly personalized support for people living with chronic conditions by using clinical, engagement and behavioral data to adapt each user's experience over time. Data from glucose monitoring devices such as Dario's proprietary smart meter and now Dexcom CGMs enable highly personalized journeys that guide users to the most effective and engaging path to better health, according to a press release.

"Nearly two million people use a continuous glucose monitor today, and the ability to capture that data in Dario's platform expands our ability to deliver a dynamic, highly relevant experience to more people living with diabetes. It's an exciting development that will ultimately benefit every Dario member as the CGM data enriches our overall data ecosystem," said Rick Anderson, President of Dario.

The integration with Dexcom builds on the collaboration between Dario and Sanofi US which aims to establish an ecosystem of dedicated technology partners and industry-leading digital therapeutics solutions.

Read more: Medtronic MiniMed Improves Outcomes for IDDM Patients

"We're proud of our ongoing collaboration with Sanofi US which is helping Dario to establish new innovations to meet the needs of our customers and members as demonstrated by this Dexcom integration," continued Mr. Anderson.

About DarioHealth

DarioHealth Corp. is a leading digital therapeutics(DTx) company revolutionizing how people with chronic conditions manage their health through a user-centric multi-chronic condition platform. The platform and suite of solutions deliver personalized and dynamic interventions driven by data analytics and one-on-one coaching for diabetes, hypertension, weight management, musculoskeletal pain, and behavioral health.

The user-centric platform offers people continuous and customized care for health, disrupting the traditional episodic approach to healthcare. This approach empowers people to holistically adapt their lifestyles for sustainable behavior change, driving exceptional user satisfaction, retention, and results. Dario provides its high user-rated solutions globally to health plans and other payors, self-insured employers, providers of care, and directly to consumers.

Stratix Corporation, a leading provider of Managed Mobility Services (MMS) in the U.S., has partnered with Hanover Research on a new survey of IT leaders that shows companies are investing in mobile technology solutions to get the nimbleness and efficiency they need to succeed as disruption continues and the economic outlook appears recessionary.

Stratix's 2023 Enterprise Mobility Outlook report found 86 percent of organizations are using more mobile now than in the last three years, and 97 percent say mobile is very, or extremely important to their business outcomes. It's a clear indication business leaders are rapidly turning to mobile technology use cases that enable agility and increase productivity, states a press release.

"What is different in this year's Enterprise Mobility Outlook report is that we are seeing IT leaders prioritizing mobile investment strategies to transform workflows, enhance employee enablement and collaboration, and improve supply chain efficiencies," explained Stratix Senior Vice President of Marketing Elizabeth Klingseisen. "Despite - or perhaps because of - economic conditions, businesses are doubling down on cost-effective mobile technology to be more competitive and effective."

The study also found the proliferation of mobile use cases is expanding to more than phones and tablets. They found:

• 59% are leveraging more wearable devices in workflows now than in the past three years
• 67% are using more IoT
• 78% say emerging technology impacts overall IT strategy

The report also revealed the proliferation of mobile technology is putting pressure on those same organizations.  

"Most IT teams are overwhelmed by the number and diversity of technology solutions they're now expected to support," said Klingseisen. "It's leading to burnout, security concerns, and other problems, so they are increasingly turning to partner with MMS providers to get the expertise needed to be successful."

Read more: Apple Study: Women Experience Abnormal Periods

The full survey results and findings can be found in the Stratix 2023 Enterprise Mobility Outlook research report. You can also listen to more analysis from Elizabeth Klingseisen in the Enterprise Mobility Insights podcast.

About Hanover Research

Founded in 2003, Hanover Research is a global research and analytics firm that delivers market intelligence through a unique, fixed-fee model to more than 1,000 clients. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Hanover employs high-caliber market researchers, analysts, and account executives to provide a service that is revolutionary in its combination of flexibility and affordability. Hanover was named a Top 50 Market Research Firm by the American Marketing Association in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and by the Insights Association in 2019.

About Stratix

As the most experienced pure-play enterprise mobility specialist in the U.S., Stratix is dedicated to guaranteeing nonstop mobility. The company leverages four decades of expertise to accelerate and inspire mobility transformation for some of the world's largest organizations. Stratix's SmartMobile programs ensure each client has the right technology, tools, and support programs in place to stay ahead.

According to a research article published in JAMA, ChatGPT responded to inquiries about cardiovascular disease prevention "mostly appropriately." 25 questions were created by researchers to cover key ideas in heart disease prevention, such as risk factor counseling, test findings, and prescription information. They asked the AI chatbot the questions three times, and a clinician rated each set of answers.

If the chatbot's responses varied in each set, the doctor assessed the responses as appropriate, improper, or unreliable. The responses were also assessed in two different contexts: first, as patient-facing platforms, and second, as draft replies to patient messages given to a doctor for review, reports MobiHealth News.

In the study, it was discovered that 21 of the 25 questions were rated as appropriate in both scenarios, while only four were improper. Three of the four sets of wrong responses contained all three incorrect answers, while one set contained just one such response.

The analysis's limitations were recognized by the researchers. Cardiovascular disease prevention cannot be covered in just 25 questions at this time because the chatbot is not yet intended for medical usage. They advised using more reviewers to assess responses in subsequent studies or creating a formal grading system that didn't rely as heavily on a clinician's opinion.

"Findings suggest the potential of interactive AI to assist clinical workflows by augmenting patient education and patient-clinician communication around common CVD prevention queries. For example, such an application may provide conversational responses to simple queries on informational platforms or create automated draft responses to patient electronic messages for clinicians," they wrote. "Whether these approaches can improve readability should be explored, because prior work has indicated low readability of certain online patient educational materials for CVD prevention."

Many businesses promote chatbots for use in the healthcare industry. The company Wysa raised $20 million last summer. Wysa creates a chatbot that leads customers through cognitive behavioral therapy for issues including depression, anxiety, and stress.

Woebot Health, a business that also develops chatbots for mental health issues, received a $9.5 million investment from Leaps by Bayer about a year ago. In 2021, Woebot's postpartum depression digital therapy was given FDA Breakthrough Device Designation.

Leitwert is a Zurich-based start-up founded in 2014 during a robotics project at ETH Zurich’s Autonomous Systems Lab. Over time, Leitwert has been specializing in the development of firmware for wearable devices. The company enables patients, care providers, and researchers to improve the quality of life and health outcomes through deeper insights gained from wearable biosensors.

Leitwert provides market-leading firmware for wearables and enables device manufacturers to efficiently manage their device fleet with IoT applications and provides a platform for the integration of health data from wearables in clinical processes and digital health solutions.

Watch the whole interview with Lukas Geissmann, CPO at Leitwert, below to learn more about their interesting technology!

This past week, Italian artist Mattia Casalegno debuted his latest thought-provoking installation, Aerobanquets RMX, at Miami Art Week in Miami, Florida. The multisensory experience combined VR technology with delicious food to deliver a mixed-reality meal quite unlike anything seen before.

Aerobanquets RMX is a collaboration between the artist Mattia Casalegno and the team behind the restaurants Rahi, Adda, and soon-to-open Dhamaka — the chef-partner Chintan Pandya, the restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and Rahi’s chef de cuisine, Soham Deshpande — who together designed the menu. The performance debuted in 2018 at an arts center in Shanghai, reports NewYork Times.

Throughout the unique gastronomy experience, guests dined on five to seven dishes prepared by Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning chef Chintan Pandya.

Since they are unable to see their food in the real world, an animated rendering of each one-bite course appears in the virtual space as it’s served. As a result, there are no preconceptions of what one’s about to eat and diners find their senses heightened, each flavor affected by what they are hearing are seeing in the virtual reality space.

“Your senses are more open. You’re more attentive and aware of what you are eating,” Casalengo told Artnet News. “VR is a game for me. It’s a way to extend your senses and focus more on taste and texture.”

This is a wonderful way to eat a meal. Virtual space animations swirl around you, taking you to enigmatic voids with floating fruits and musical instruments or colossal classical statues. Gail Simmons, a food writer whose dulcet voice you may already be familiar with from her 16 years as a Top Chef judge, narrates the meal and describes each one-bite course.

This incredibly distinctive gastronomic and artistic experience was initially offered by Casalegno at Shanghai's Chronus Art Center in 2018; it is now being presented with Meta Open Arts and produced by Flavor Five Studio as a special event at Superblue Miami exclusively for this year's art week. The James Beard Foundation in New York also started using aerobanquets in 2020, but this is the biggest one yet, accommodating up to 16 people per meal. Every time, Casalegno works with a different chef, changing the virtual reality graphics and music to go with the new meal.

Reservations are required for dining at Aerobanquets, where patrons can select between a $58 five-bite, 30-minute experience or a $200 one-hour VIP lunch with ten bites and alcoholic beverages. The pillowy milk bread topped with mushrooms and lentils and the intensely spicy bite of Hudson Valley foie gras are highlights of the VIP version.

Japanese tech startup Diver-X made news when it launched an ambitious VR headset earlier this year. Now, Diver-X has unveiled an innovative glove that is capable of flexing and compressing to replicate the sensation of touch.

Dubbed ContactGlove, the wearable is a revolutionary VR controller in the form of a glove, equipped with haptic feedback and high-precision hand tracking. With button input just like conventional VR controllers, ContactGlove allows you to experience a truly immersive VR world. Plus, it's compatible with all SteamVR content.

Hand Tracking/SteamVR Skeletal Input

Until now, VR gloves were only not accessible to the mass due to their high cost and proprietary software requirements. Driver-X has changed that by making the VR glove controller compatible with SteamVR, the most popular VR content platform, thus making it accessible to a wider audience. Now, everyone can enjoy the benefits of a VR glove controller at a more affordable price.

Built-in Controller Input

ContactGlove is a unique glove-type device that not only captures finger movements but also reproduces buttons and stick operations with just finger movements. This allows for a more intuitive and immersive experience in virtual reality.

‍

Read more: Apple Could Soon Launches AR/VR Headset with 8K Display

‍

ContactGlove SDK

To make content development using ContactGlove as smooth as possible, the company provides SDKs for Unity and UnrealEngine. This allows developers to easily integrate ContactGlove into their VR projects and take full advantage of its unique features.

Specification

• Battery: 6 hours without haptic feedback, 2 hours with haptic feedback (will be improved by a software update)
• Charging time: 2.5 hours (USB type-C)
• Wireless connection: includes a dedicated dongle
• Size: S/M/L
• Hand tracking: bending sensor and IMU (standard version does not support finger opening)
• Vibration: Back of the hand (equipped on all models)
• Tactile feedback: thumb, index finger, middle finger (on tactile-equipped models only)

Only Available On Kickstarter

The company is pitching ContactGloves starting at ¥65,000 (~$490) for models without the flexible touch membrane, and ¥94,000 (~$710) for non-haptic models with Tundra Trackers included. All haptic-capable versions of ContactGloves are already gone, which were priced starting at ¥115,000 (~$870).

Daily health-tech pioneer Baracoda provided the general public with its first glimpse of BHeart, the world's first health tracker with an "endless" battery. Integrated discreetly within bracelets and watch bands compatible with any classic timepiece, BHeart uses its patent-pending BMotion energy harvesting technology to recharge itself entirely by motion, body heat, and environmental light.

BHeart gathers sufficient energy to power a range of sensors that deliver health data to a smartphone app for iOS or Android devices. BHeart uses this captured energy to encourage a more active lifestyle by its wearer. Thanks to its advanced technology, BHeart was awarded a CES Innovation Award in the sustainability category, according to a press release.

BHeart is an example of the next generation of daily health-tech products, which Baracoda believes will increasingly center design on blending into existing objects, fashion, and routines, making health-technology more hassle-free and invisible. By contrast, today's health trackers often require considerable user intervention, including frequent charging, manual updates, and complicated data interpretation. The complexity can form barriers to adoption by those who don't want another gadget to manage and seek more passive ways to keep tabs on their health or to share data with healthcare providers and caregivers.

"The first health trackers were important for establishing that wearable technology can encourage healthier lifestyles, but we must reach more than athletes to improve public health," said Thomas Serval, CEO of Baracoda. "People of all ages and fitness levels need easier ways to track their health, so we must design products that fit into everyone's lifestyles, including people who don't find today's technology accessible or easy to maintain."

Read more: Using Wearables to Help People Affected by Substance Use

BHeart is designed to be subtly worn as a screenless watch band for an existing timepiece or as a bracelet. Despite its simplicity, its clever design hides complex sensors and energy collection technology. Baracoda's AIoT platform transforms the data coming from multiple health sensors into actionable insights about users' body energy, health status, mental resilience, activity level, and sleep quality.

BHeart's smartphone app shares these insights and also provides simple, personalized advice, if needed, on the state of the user's health in order to improve it daily. In addition to health indexes, users can see the energy they produce each day and over time, showing personal baselines and how behavior influences health, to encourage daily improvements.

BHeart is also created with sustainable principles in mind, including not only its energy-autonomous design but also the selection of plastic-free materials used in its manufacturing. Sustainable leather and high-quality and lightweight alloys have been chosen for durability and its design for use with current classic watches further reduces the electronic waste associated with some smart watches' short life cycles.

"Helping people become healthier shouldn't demand they take on entirely new routines, and technology doesn't have to be disposable to be low maintenance," added Serval. "We can build tech that lasts to build habits that last. It just has to be designed tofit into our existing lifestyles."

For the base model of the watch band, the material is a lightweight metal, in silver, dark silver, or gold tones to match most classic watches. The extended product line will include a watch band or standalone bracelet made of sustainable leather to easily match any daily outfit.

BHeart is compatible with standard watches with a lug width of 18-22mm. The price of BHeart starts at $100 and will be available to purchase at bheart.io from April 2023. The BHeart app will be free to download from iOS App Store in April and Google Play Store in June 2023.

About Baracoda

Established on three continents, Baracoda is a leader in daily health-tech. Baracoda infuses connected tech into the everyday routine, leveraging AI, data analysis, machine learning, app development, gamification, and more. The firm launches products and scale business alongside global market leaders, relying on a unique B2B2C business model. Its CES-awarded innovation model is driven by quantitative indexes, developed in-house to recognize daily habits that improve health and wellness.

Advancements in Virtual Reality let its users do many things in a virtual environment. However, one aspect that has been difficult to replicate is the sense of touch. That may be about to change with the development of the Haptic Metaverse Glove by Japanese start-up AI Silk Corporation. AI Silk, a Tokyo-based wearable-tech startup, is set to unveil a new haptic glove at CES 2023 which approaches both haptic feedback and finger-tracking in a different way altogether.

Called Lead Skin, the controller houses these conductive fibers, which not only provide finger-tracking and control buttons on the back of the gauntlet-style controller, but also an electrical haptic pulse that aims to simulate manipulating virtual objects.

Made from AI Silk’s proprietary conductive fiber, LEAD SKIN®, Haptic Metaverse Glove powered by LEAD SKIN features built-in finger-bending sensors, as well as control buttons on the back of the wearer’s hand, all of which are also made of the same conductive fiber. Providing wearers tactile feedback when they “touch” Metaverse objects, the ultra-lightweight glove enables users to enjoy a truly immersive Metaverse experience without having to hold a bulky remote control, reports Heraus.

“Our Haptic Metaverse Glove powered by LEAD SKIN is a game-changer for Metaverse exploration because it enables players to move around and manipulate AR objects freely and intuitively, just as you would in the physical world,” said AI Silk CEO Hideo Okano. “What makes this possible is LEAD SKIN, our proprietary and patented conductive fiber that has the potential for a wide range of uses beyond AR games. We are very excited to launch our new product and introduce this innovative technology at CES 2023.”

One of the major advantages of the Haptic Metaverse Glove is its lightweight and comfortable design. It weighs only 380g (~13.5oz), or about the weight of two Quest 2 controllers with batteries included. Lead Skin is said to measure the current impedance from the expansion and contraction of the fabric within, and then through deep machine learning-developed algorithms “understand the intended actions from glove wearers’ physical finger movements,” AI Silk says in a press statement.

AI Silk Corporation’s Haptic Metaverse Glove could be a game-changer for virtual reality, bringing the sense of touch to the forefront of the technology.

Meta (formerly Facebook) has acquired the Netherlands-based 3D smart glass maker Luxexcel, as it doubles down on its Metaverse dream in 2023. Meta, however, did not disclose the sum it spent on acquiring the company.

As first reported by Belgian Newspaper DeTijd (Dutch), the Turnhout, Belgium-based company was quietly acquired by Facebook parent Meta in an ostensible bid to bolster the development of its in-development AR glasses.

Luxexcel was founded in 2009 and is best known for 3D printing to make prescription lenses for glasses. Currently, the Belgian-Dutch company focuses on developing smart lenses which can be printed with integrated technology like LCD displays and AR capabilities.

Read more: Facebook Owner Meta Unveils VR Headset

Luxexcel can integrate the elements needed to create an augmented reality (AR) experience within a prescription lens, such as holographic film and projectors, reports The Verge.

"We're excited that the Luxexcel team has joined Meta, deepening the existing partnership between the two companies," Meta said in a statement.

In September 2021, Meta unveiled the Ray-Ban Stories, a pair of smart glasses that can take photos and videos, or make hands-free, voice-controlled calls using Meta platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Now, Meta will likely leverage the company’s technology to produce prescription AR glasses, a product that has long been anticipated to come out of Meta’s billions of dollars of investment into its Reality Labs. However, a report this summer stated that Meta was scaling back its plans for consumer-grade AR glasses, which were initially slated for 2024. Meta did not comment on these rumors at the time, reports TechCrunch.

Even as Meta works toward building its first pair of AR glasses, we may not see a finished product for some time. Andrew Bosworth, CTO & Head of Reality Labs, says Meta’s AR glasses will “require years of progress” as it attempts to make the device “slimmer, lighter, faster, and more powerful.” In June, The Verge’s Alex Heath reported that the first version of Meta’s AR glasses will only be available to developers — just like Snap’s Spectacles — while two later pairs could become available to consumers over the course of several years.

At IFA 2022 in Berlin, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Meta Platforms, Inc. announced a multi-year agreement to collaborate on a new era of spatial computing powered by Snapdragon extended reality (XR) platforms and technologies for the Meta Quest platform. The companies have worked together on cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) innovations for over seven years, most recently with Meta Quest 2, and this agreement solidifies the mutual commitment to deliver multiple generations of premium devices and experiences powered by custom VR platforms in the years to come, Qualcomm said in a press release.

“By partnering with Meta, we are bringing together two of the world’s Metaverse leaders to revolutionize the future of computing for billions of people in the coming years,” said Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Building off our joint leadership in XR, this agreement will allow our companies to deliver best-in-class devices and experiences to transform how we work, play, learn, create, and connect in a fully realized Metaverse.”

Read more: Technavio: AR/VR Integration To Drive Metaverse Market Growth

“We're working with Qualcomm Technologies on customized virtual reality chipsets - powered by Snapdragon XR platforms and technology - for our future roadmap of Quest products,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Meta. “As we continue to build more advanced capabilities and experiences for virtual and augmented reality, it has become more important to build specialized technologies to power our future VR headsets and other devices. Unlike mobile phones, building virtual reality brings novel, multi-dimensional challenges in spatial computing, cost, and form factor. These chipsets will help us keep pushing virtual reality to its limits and deliver awesome experiences.”

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's largest and one of the world's leading high-tech applied research institutions, announced it will introduce sports and fitness technologies at its CES 2023. ITRI also will exhibit its innovations in sports and fitness at CES Unveiled Las Vegas.

ITRI's sports and fitness highlight technologies include iSportWeaR, a wearable device that monitors physiological data and provides health analysis and management during exercise; and the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing, the world's first virtual coach for indoor bike and flywheel training using contactless detection technology to provide advice on breathing, biomechanics, and coordination.

ITRI's CES 2023 highlight technologies in AI, robotics, and ICT include AI Aquarium, a CES 2023 Innovation Awards honoree, the world's first smart aquarium that helps identify marine life in real time; Cubot ONE: Indoor/Outdoor AMR, an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) integrating AI, IoT and 5G technologies, that can operate indoors and outdoors, take elevators and travel on the rugged ground; and RobotSmith, an AI and robotic system for metal workpiece grinding and polishing.

iSportWeaR is a smart personal health management solution for fitness and sporting enthusiasts. Featuring non-contact low-power radar technology, it can be integrated into accessories such as sunglasses and bike handle grips to provide real-time detection and continuous monitoring of physiological parameters. It accurately measures heart rate, breathing rate, and activity behavior such as cycling posture and resting status. This helps athletes better understand their health status and optimize training across various exercises such as running and cycling. Long-term usage history is logged in a personal database, which users can check anytime.

iSportWeaR also provides data for sports injury prevention. When detecting abnormal physiological conditions, it sends out alerts via the smartphone to users, helping to prevent injuries such as heat exhaustion.

The application in bike handle grips is the first of its kind in the current bike accessory market, marking a breakthrough in health-monitoring cycling solutions. ITRI worked with a leading bicycle brand to develop iSportWeaR and is introducing this technology to various pioneering product designs for additional cycling applications.

The iSportWeaR miniature module enables seamless integration into different sporting accessories, and it eliminates the need for sensors that have direct contact with the user's skin. The sensing device even works with sweat interference and through gloves, and it works indoors or outdoors, rain or shine, in temperatures ranging from 41 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (5 to 50 degrees Celsius) and with a relative humidity of 10 to 90%. iSportWeaR uses Bluetooth Low Energy communication to receive and transmit signals, with measurement range for heartbeat rates of 48 to 240 beats per minute (bpm) and respiration rates of 6 to 60 bpm.

The Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing is the world's first virtual coach for indoor bike and flywheel training using contactless detection technology and big data analytics to provide advice on breathing, biomechanics, and coordination. The system measures respiratory rate via thermal sensing and includes a depth camera for skeletal imaging and motion tracking. It analyzes the user's back, shoulders, elbows, arms, hips, and knees through image-based skeletal movements. It compares collected data with the statistics of world-class cyclists and offers real-time professional-level suggestions on breathing adjustment, motion strength, and body coordination, improving users' training experience and progress. With no monitoring wearables, users can focus more on realistic road condition simulations and enhance training effectiveness. ITRI has cooperated with world-renowned bicycle manufacturers to create powerful solutions for training athletes with the Digital Twin for Sport Guidance with Vital Sign Sensing.

Additional sports and fitness technologies that ITRI will showcase include:

iMetaWeaR is a smart clothing technology enabling haptic feedback via multi-position electrical stimulation to create an enhanced Metaverse experience for users playing virtual sports such as boxing and fencing. Dry, washable fabric-based electrodes are screen-printed into somatosensory garments, eliminating the need for adhesive electrodes. The elastic feature and customized design offer high comfort, and the robust control mode allows for stimulation variations in an immersive environment.

The Athletic Armband for Contactless EMG Detection is a capacitive electromyography (EMG) athletic armband for continuous real-time measurement of electric signals from muscles without direct skin contact. This sports armband can measure muscle strength in professional training, providing information including the order of muscle activation, the level of fatigue, and injury alerts through an app. The wearable design includes flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) and redistribution layer(RDL) technologies, and the sensing distance is up to 0.3 mm.