Category Archives: Transhuman

WISeKey Strengthens its Technology Portfolio Across Cybersecurity, IoT, NFT and the Metaverse by Constantly Learning and Adapting to Provide Customers with a Highly Trusted, Secure, and Intelligent Platform for Their Digital Transformation

WISeKey International Holding Ltd. , a leading global cybersecurity, IoT, and AI company, announced its latest Cybersecurity IoT developments reinforcing the position of WISeKey as a major player on these strategic technologies.

The pace of change being experienced since the start of COVID-19 pandemic in almost every industry is unprecedented; this has led to the acceleration of digital transformations. Private, public entities and governments across the globe seeking to seize on the huge opportunities ahead, are also facing huge challenges presented by the merge of the IoT, AI, Cybersecurity, Trust, Identity Management and the Metaverse, thus they need a new platform model that transforms their operations, protects their data and customers while at the same time reduces complexity, accelerates service deployment, and increases security.

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To satisfy clients needs WISeKey has embarked on a major digital transformation adding new verticals and activities that can be summarized as follows:

1.WISe.ART platform: WISe.ARTs unique competitive edge comes from its platform which is secured by WISeKeys various security technologies enabling the authentication of digital identity based NFTs, physical objects as well as digital assets, in a safe end-to-end process. The WISe.ART platform offers users full control of their WISeID NFT, while other NFTs must request access to identity information and WISeID NFTs users then can decide by themselves what level of information they wish to share. New artists joining the WISe.ART NFT Marketplace that increasingly see a future for the tokens that upends the economics of content creation and influence on the internet. Almost 100 artists have already joined the WISe.ART NFT Marketplace with approximately 500 products, adding a commercial NFT sales potential aggregate of $20 million worth of NFTs.

2.WISeSat solutions: WISeSat is the first cost-effective and secure IoT connectivity solution anywhere on Earth using picosatellites and low-power sensors. It aims to answer the needs of any large IoT deployment in agrotech, energy, logistics and more. WISeSat collects and sends data from terrestrial sensors, increasing knowledge of the status of assets and offering essential information to improve processes and optimize production. These interactions between sensors, gateways, ground stations and satellites require Trust. WISeSat, by using VaultIC, a complete cryptographic toolbox that makes straightforward the integration of digital security in any satellite device, offers this Trust. It ensures all Certificate-based Authentication (PKI), Authorization, Encryption, and Integrity requirements. The goal is to offer this service in a SaaS model allowing both remote and redundant IoT communications for companies seeking to securely connect their assets via satellite communication, covering large and unserved geographic areas such as maritime, deserts, mountains, etc., at affordable prices. WISeKey in cooperation with FOSSA Systems has launched in June 2022 , 7 new WISeSat FOSSA secured satellites creating one of the largest European IoT constellations in history. FOSSA has increased to 13 the WISeSat-ready constellation in orbit, becoming the Spanish satellite operator with the largest constellation.

3.Patents:The filing of patent application for a System and Method for Providing Persistent Authenticatable NFT with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), under the number US 17/514,296 ensures the provenance, authenticity, persistence, and long-term value of NFTs that are minted on Blockchains using this method. During the minting process, this method allows to ensure that the NFT is not corrupted, incomplete, or ambiguous. In general, there is a high confidence in the ability of a Blockchain to preserve and store the public key and digital signature information of the NFT along with any subsequent transaction data over long and very long periods of time. However, a Blockchain cannot preserve information that the NFT does not itself include. Such as disclosed in the patent application, it is the information in a persistent off-chain storage that establishes the value and that needs to be authenticated and secured.

4.NanoSealRT: The development of a new semiconductor theNanoSealRT, an NFC Forum Type 5 semiconductor chip that works with both Android and IOS 12 (and above) devices (the essential patent granted in March 2021 by the E.U. and the Chinese Patent Offices), further reinforced WISeKeys position as a major Smart Label system provider in traceability, anti-counterfeiting and consumer engagement applications.

5.Post-quantum NFC/ID card solutions: WISeKey and Synergy Quantum are currently developing post-quantum NFC/ID card solutions for second factor identification and post-quantum encryption chips and software platform for PQE tunnelling solutions.

Of note, in October 2021, Synergy Quantum SA signed a joint venture agreement with the I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation, under the National Mission for Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India to provide its knowhow and skills for the productization and commercialization of co-developed technologies in the field of quantum sciences.

On December 15, 2021, Indias Union Cabinet approved the Semicon India Program (Program for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India), with an outlay of INR 760 billion (>US$10 billion) for the development of a sustainable semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India. According to the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, semiconductor consumption in India was worth US$21 billion in 2019, growing at the rate of 15.1 percent.

6.Universal Communications Identifier (UCID):WISeKey has also made strong progress on using WISeID as a Universal Communications Identifier (UCID), a unique identifier for an IoT device on a network; the blockchain, a distributed ledger shared with the nodes of a computer network guarantees security and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), cryptographic assets on a blockchain cannot be replicated. The combined practical application of these technologies implementing UCID on the device, using NFTs, and putting them on the blockchain ensures that the device itself is authenticated on a network that cannot be corrupted.

7.NCCoE project: WISeKeys strategy to further expand its U.S. operations will also benefit from the recent announcement it has been selected as a collaborator by NIST for the NCCoE Trusted IoT Device Network-Layer Onboarding and Lifecycle Management Consortium project. For this project, WISeKey is working with NIST to define recommended practices for performing trusted network-layer onboarding, which will aid in the implementation and use of trusted onboarding solutions for IoT devices at scale. The WISeKey contributions to the project will be Trust Services for credentials and secure semiconductors to keep the credentials secure. Specifically, WISeKey will offer INeS Certificate Management Service (CMS) for issuing credentials and VaultIC secure semiconductors to provide tamperproof key storage and cryptographic acceleration.

8.The Code to The Metaverse:This year The Code to The Metaverse, was officially introduced at Davos in May in a broader partnership with NBC, who will be producing a 12-part multi-media series to include broadcast, event and social media programming. Grounded in a human-centric foundation,The transHuman Codeprovides an ethical platform for developers, enablers and users of new technologies to prioritize keeping people at the center of gravity in the relationship between woman/man and machine. With its roots in the development of secure identity management, WISeKey has stood at the forefront of providing greater security for data authentication since 1999. In the future,The transHuman Codeplatform, secured by WISeKey, could seamlessly ensure that technological innovations protect humans in the all environments. Our co-existence with artificial intelligence will challenge all conventions of ethical norms as we have known them, as we continue to digitize our work environment, our social interaction, and our physical activities. Recent developments have forced governments around the world to take steps to quickly understand how Metaverse, this new frontier of innovation, is challenging the traditional conception of Sovereignty. With data being stored virtually on the Metaverse anywhere in the world and government employees and citizens using information technology systems that are hosted and operated from anywhere (even outside of their jurisdiction), the expected sovereign rights over that date on the Metaverse needs to be reconsidered. Many information technology companies are telling governments that that their versions of the Metaverse will be enough to ensure sovereignty over their data and citizens. Others are stating that new legislation is needed to protect citizens. All in all, the solutions they propose are partial and unsatisfactory.

9.Cybersecurity Tech Accord membership: WISeKey is a member of the Cybersecurity Tech Accord is a public commitment among more than 150 global technology companies to protect, empower and improve security, stability and resilience of cyberspace. Since its inception, Cybersecurity Tech Accord signatories have supported initiatives on improving email and routing security, implemented Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) in their own operations, participated in global requests for comments on the UNs new High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, and endorsed the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace. Additionally, the coalition has coordinated with like-minded organizations such as the Global Cyber Alliance, Internet Society, and Global Forum on Cyber Expertise.

10.Clinton Global Initiate: WISeKey will be joining the Clinton Global Initiate in September 2022 to address Digital Identification issues as part of the United Nations SDG. WISeKey, in cooperation with the International Organization for Secure Transactions Foundation (OISTE.org), will be providing a Digital Identification Infrastructure-NETeID-designed to support a network of 20,000 Identification Authorities worldwide with the objective to issue a billion digital identities. Each of these 20,000 Identification Authorities operating from 189 countries will be authorized to issue Digital Identities locally.

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Performance artist Stelarc is world-renowned for using his body as a canvas for his art, which explores themes of the post and trans-human, from voluntary surgeries (yes, he still has his third ear, now a permanent part of his body, on his forearm), his flesh-hook suspensions and robotic attachments. But his latest work is a stand-alone installation that not only operates without the artist present, but is effectively controlled by anyone.

For the Science Gallery Melbournes new exhibition Swarm, Stelarc worked with Dr Paul Loh from the Melbourne School of Design and David Leggett from LLDS Architecture to create an enormous kinetic sculpture which senses and responds to the presence of humans. The project is also a collaboration with PhD students at the School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Pelican Studios and pneumatic and electric automation company Festo.

Swarm, which features 16 large-scale installations from around the world, explores ideas of collective behaviour, highlighting the way social behaviour underlies everything from molecular movements, the lives of insects, the algorithms in our hyper-connected digital world and how AI and new technologies replicate swarming behaviour.

Artist Stelarc with his work Anthropomorphic Machine at Science Gallery Melbourne.Credit:Chris Hopkins

Stelarcs eight-metre high Anthropomorphic Machine, which will sit in the Gallerys corner window on Swanston St, uses a system of cameras to detect visitors and reacts in real time to their gestures and movements. And while its a machine, it does so using the principles of human body structure.

Its a robot in the sense that its a machine thats interactive and responsive, says Stelarc, but its not your usual humanoid or insect-like robot.

He describes it as an alternative anatomical architecture. The work is anthropomorphic in the sense that its not figurative, but in the sense that it has skeletal tensegrity structure it has other muscles, steel tendons, a circulatory system of air, pneumatic lungs and a computational system.

A series of cameras are linked to the machine to detect the space beneath and around the structure, and whether a person is in proximity. Depending on whether the person is static or moving around, the machine will respond differently via a system of pneumatic rubber muscles that work with compressed air, which move all or some of 498 stainless-steel struts held together by cables.

Stelarc with his third ear which was implanted in his forearm in 2012.Credit:Helen Nezdropa

The whole structure is flexible and deformable, says Stelarc. As a muscle contracts in length, it pulls part of the structure it then deforms the tensegrity.

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The machines cameras track the dynamic behaviour of the crowd, the speed of interaction between people, and their distribution, using what Science Gallery Melbourne Director and Swarm curator Dr Ryan Jeffries calls a swarm algorithm.

I see also the structure itself becoming like a murmuration, says Jeffries, but also responding to groups of people, and thats at the heart of Swarm in terms of social, collective behaviour.

When still, the machine is beautiful, its rubber and steel parts appearing to float mid-air, but it becomes something eerie when its moving, as air hisses and the struts clank gently.

Stelarcs artwork is a machine that operates with a human-like bodily structure.Credit:Chris Hopkins

As the struts change their positioning orientation, it can be described as a kind of swarming, says Stelarc, where one strut affects another and the movement spreads across the structure. Its also about the notion of machine aliveness what constitutes a machine, what sort of vocabulary of movements generate a sense of aliveness.

Anthropomorphic Machine can also be controlled remotely; people can log on to a website and interact with the machine at any time which might be alarming for passersby.

If you go to a website, the camera switches on and your movements in front of the camera can make it respond remotely. Anyone, anywhere at any time can access the robot and animate it, explains Stelarc. Halfway through the night, when nobody is here, it is lit up, and[it] will start responding.

Stelarc, now 76, has long been interested in the idea of bodies being physically separated but electronically connected. Before most of us even knew what the internet was, he staged an interactive performance in the mid-90s called Fractal Flesh.

My body was in Luxembourg, and people in the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the media lab in Helsinki, and a conference in Amsterdam could access my body and remotely activate it via muscle stimulation, he says. There was no exoskeleton involved just 50 volts in different body sites which made my body move, done with a touchstone interface.

He performed a similar piece, ReWired/ReMixed, in Perth, where he lives, in 2016 at the Perth Institute for Contemporary Art, using an exoskeleton arm controlled remotely by strangers. Wearing a mask and headphones, he also decoupled his vision and hearing.

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For five days, six hours a day, I could only hear with ears that were in New York, I could only see with eyes in London and anyone, anywhere at any time could access my right arm and remotely animate it.

Wasnt that weird? Yes, he says. But most things I do are weird. A touch of understatement from the man who, with his partner and frequent collaborator Nina Sellars, created the work Blender, which used combined sterilised bodily material surgically extracted from the pair inside a sealed, air-powered machine.

That work was, he says the inverse of his 1993 work The Stomach Sculpture, in which he swallowed a small crab-like robotic sculpture which opened and closed, had a flashing light, and made a beeping sound, and was filmed through an endoscopic camera fed into his oesophagus.

With Blender, instead of a machine choreographing inside a soft human body, here a machine becomes the host for a liquid body composed of biomaterial from two artists bodies. There were proximity senses around the machine so when people approached, it triggered the blender blades to blend the material.

Anthropomorphic Machine, in comparison, seems almost conservative, despite its human-machine hybridity. Its a continuation, Stelarc says, of his works around machine bodiments and hybridities.

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Because of its skeletal structure, the pneumatic rubber muscles, the circulatory system of compressed air, the pneumatic lung, the vision and computational system, he says, if you werent referring to a machine, those descriptions might easily refer to a body.

Late-night CBD pedestrians have been warned.

Swarm is at Science Gallery Melbourne, August 13 - December 3. On August 20, Anthropomorphic Machine will perform with dancer Carol Brown and the Bolt Ensemble. melbourne.sciencegallery.com

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Artist Stelarcs creature comes to life at Science Gallery - The Age

A hallmark of cyberpunk science fiction is human augmentation leading to transhumanism. We may still be several decades (or even centuries) away from true transhumanism, but augmentation in the form of wearable tech is already in its infancy. To celebrate Wearable Tech Month here at Hackster, we rounded up some of the most interesting wearable research from the past few years.

First, lets look at new developments that refine todays wearable tech. The current consumer wearable tech market is full of smartwatches and fitness trackers, but those dont exactly feel like something out of a cyberpunk movie. These new developments, however, push us a little closer in that direction.

This Skin Patch Acts Like a Battery-Free Fitbit

This wearable provides data about its users vitals. It gathers that data by analyzing the users sweat, which contains valuable information in the form of chemical signatures. It doesnt require a battery because it receives power in the same way as NFC (Near-Field Communication) devices: wirelessly from radio waves in the air. It is disposable and affordable, but can still analyze sweat volume, pH levels, lactate, glucose, and electrolyte concentration.

Oneras Bio-Impedance Patch Uses Machine Learning to Detect Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a very common disorder that many do not take as seriously as they should. Diagnosing sleep apnea today requires a sleep study in which the patient must wear a bulky and uncomfortable array of sensors overnight. To make diagnostic sleep studies less unpleasant, Onera Health developed this bio-impedance patch. The patient wears this unobtrusive patch on their chest and it gathers data by passing a small current through their chest. A deep learning model analyzes that data and is able to diagnose sleep apnea with 73% accuracy a rate that should improve with better model training.

Caltech Developed a Sweat-Powered E-Skin Patch to Monitor Your Health

Similar to the first patch, this wearable e-skin monitors a users health by analyzing their sweat. But this patch differs in how it receives power. Instead of relying on radio waves from an external source, this patch uses the sweat itself to generate electricity. Sweat contains lactate, which this patch can convert into a tiny electrical current. It is a very small amount of power, but the researchers claim that it is enough for the e-skins sensors and a Bluetooth transmitter.

Epicore Biosystems' Wearable Hydration-Monitoring Gx Sweat Patch Launches Alongside Companion App

Everything weve covered so far is still in development, but this Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch is on the market right now you can even buy it at your local Dicks Sporting Goods store. The patch is passive and contains no electronic components. It relies on a chemical reaction that correlates with hydration level. That chemical reaction causes a color change in the patch. A companion app provides an accurate analysis of the color change, helping users determine their exact hydration status.

As we move further from the current state of the consumer market and towards new territory, we find a new class of wearable HMIs (Human-Machine Interfaces). These HMIs facilitate interesting new ways for us to interact with technology and have a lot of potential alongside emerging mixed reality advances.

This Patch Turns Your Skin Into a Multi-Touch Controller

This patch is a bit like a wearable laptop touchpad. Like the touchpad on your MacBook, it can detect touches at multiple points. But its developers at Germanys Saarland University designed the patch to be worn on the users palm. The prototype patch connects to a Raspberry Pi Zero single-board computer (SBC) strapped to the users wrist. The result is a wireless, wearable touchpad that the wearer can use to control their smartphone, virtual reality headset, and more.

This Wearable Patch Could Give ALS Sufferers the Ability to Communicate More Effectively

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease causes sufferers to lose muscle control, which makes it difficult for them to communicate and to interact with technology. But even people with advanced ALS retain some small amount of muscle control, especially of their facial muscles. This patch, worn on the face, can detect miniscule muscle movements. A machine learning model analyzes those movements and determines what expression the user is attempting to make. It can only detect three facial expressions, but users can chain those together in unique combinations to communicate more complex ideas.

Wearable Brain-Machine Interface Could Help the Disabled Control Wheelchairs Wirelessly

Those with ALS and other mobility-affecting conditions also have trouble controlling their wheelchairs. This electroencephalography (EEG) brain-machine interface has a traditional scalp sensor, an e-skin nano-membrane electrode, and a wearable Bluetooth transceiver. It sends EEG data via Bluetooth to a tablet or computer up to 15 meters away. A deep learning neural network then interprets the EEG data and provides control commands to an electric wheelchair, letting the user navigate without the assistance of a caretaker.

Synthetic Skin Could Add a Sense of Touch to Prosthetics

Prostheses are already very cyberpunk, thanks to our modern robotic technology. But even the best prosthetic limbs dont provide much feedback to the wearer. This new synthetic skin could change that. Magnetic beads embedded in the soft, flexible skin cause measurable changes in a magnetic field in response to pressure. That gives the skin a sense of touch. This technology is suitable for robots now, but needs more development for prosthesis use so that wearers can perceive the signals coming from the e-skin.

The Somatic Data Glove Is a Wearable Keyboard/Mouse for Our Cyberpunk Future

This is a prototype that you can build right now, courtesy of Zack Freedman. It is a glove-like wearable that detects each fingers position as well as overall hand movement. The idea is that wearers can use the glove to perform actions on a connected computer by completing D&D-esque somatic hand movements. But while the prototype hardware is ready, software implementations are not. However, enterprising developers with programming skills can try their hand at creating software interfaces for this Somatic Data Glove.

All wearable devices face a similar challenge: where to get power. The last thing consumers want is another device that they have to charge every night. Thats why researchers are developing technology that can passively harvest enough energy to power wearable devices.

New Wearable Magnetic Patch Converts Your Movement into Electricity

This patch relies on simple electromagnetic principles. If you pass electric current through a coil of wire, you generate a magnetic field. But the opposite is also true: if you move a magnet through a coil, you generate electric current. This patch utilizes that effect to turn body movement the stretching and twisting of skin into usable power. The patch contains microscopic magnetic particles in a flexible silicone matrix. Stretching or twisting the patch causes the magnetic particles to move within the matrix, inducing current. The patch generated up to 4.27mA per square centimeter of material, which is enough to power very efficient devices.

Wearable Device Turns the Human Body Into a Useful Battery

Human bodies produce waste heat as a byproduct of metabolic processes. Heat is, of course, energy. By harnessing that waste heat, we can harvest energy that would otherwise be lost to the air around us. This wearable patch does so with a thermoelectric generator (TEG) on a small scale. TEGs generate electricity in the presence of a temperature differential. They usually work at large scales, such as to utilize waste heat from power plants. But in this case, the TEG uses the difference in temperature between to wearers skin and the ambient air to generate electricity.

Its time for the projects that really feel like they came straight out of a Neal Stephenson novel. These are the wearables that scream cyberpunk in bright, neon letters on a backdrop of a rainy dystopian city.

Wearable Textile Creates Extra Layer of Muscles

When you think of human augmentation, you probably imagine enhanced cybernetic muscles that let people lift cars or jump over houses. This Myoshirt is as close as we can get with current technology. It is a vest and sleeve system that adds an artificial motor-retractable tendon to the users arm, giving them the ability to lift more weight. It is useful for people who lack natural muscle strength and people who need to lift more than normal.

This Wearable Could Make The Matrix-Style Skill Downloads Possible

The Matrix is likely the most well-known cyberpunk movie in existence. In a very memorable scene, protagonist Neo is able to download the knowledge to perform kung-fu. Such a thing is possible with this wearable indirectly at least. This forearm-mounted device stimulates muscles with electricity, causing them to contract. By controlling the electrical stimulation, it is possible to force the wearer to perform a predetermined series of hand movements. Theoretically, the device would allow people to complete tasks with their hands as if they already had the trained muscle memory to do so.

ElectroDermis Makes Wearable Electronic Patches Comfortable and Aesthetically Pleasing

Cyberpunk isnt just about technology, it is also about aesthetics. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University realized that and created electronic patches that people would actually want to wear. The simple truth is that people are less likely to use ugly devices. That is especially true when they have to wear those devices. Thats why ElectroDermis looks cool. Many of the technologies mentioned in this article would work with the ElectroDermis design ethos and would have a much better chance at widespread adoption, because humans care about style.

What is your favorite emerging wearable technology? Let us know in the comments!

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The Wearable Cyberpunk Future on the Horizon - Hackster.io

There are a lot of weird creatures lurking in the exhibition Grossly Affectionate now at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and it is hard to tell exactly what they are.

Some are cushy, if not quite cuddly, like the plush animal-like objects Jennifer Pettus makes out of various recycled fabrics and a few unexpected odds and ends, like human hair, napkin rings and faux fur.

Some are downright difficult to stomach, like Cristobal Ceas The Extended Thing, an installation that pairs three-dimensional sculptures of internal body organs with digital prints of what appear to be more body organs intestines, and things that look like kidneys, hearts and veins.

And some are just plain out of this world, like the installation by the artist who goes by the name Mr. Hanimal, which features three sculptural beings, each with the size and bearing of a small dog, that appear to have thumbs for heads and to use fingers as feet.

Nothing in this show is easy to describe in words or categorize in the usual way we talk about humans, animals and other souls that inhabit physical bodies, and that is the goal of Grossly Affectionate. It wants to challenge us to rethink our perceptions of the living form, refusing to allow easy descriptors like race, gender, flora, fauna, earthling, alien, beautiful, ugly or anything else.

The timing is just right, of course. We are living in an age of trans-human awareness, where races mix, genders blur and DNA can be altered. Its a fabulous moment in history where people and things that did not formerly fit in are finally being recognized and slowly to some, too-rapidly to others accepted.

As jarring and unattractive as the exhibit can be, Grossly Affectionate recognizes the beauty in all of this, but also the challenges it presents for how we understand and communicate with each other. These are confusing times for everybody, and anyone who struggles to avoid using incorrect pronouns or mis-gendering their neighbors or talking too-clumsily about ethnicity, disabilities, medical conditions, sexuality, age or other markers fully understands the situation.

Rather than being confrontational, though, this show offers a place to relax, even to laugh and acknowledge we are all morphing together.

And it succeeds because the work is fully committed. The images and creatures the seven artists present have an irresistible sincerity to them, a realness that begs you to consider their essence and to appreciate it, no matter how difficult they can be to figure out.

Pettus three-dimensional objects are good examples. As you first encounter them they come off like the kind of squishy things you want to touch and hold satiny, quilted cushions or playthings that belong in domestic settings.

But Pettus, who uses mostly recycled textiles that she finds at garage sales, gives them their own individual agency, and quirkiness, and moves them firmly out of the typical comfort zones. She uses pretty colors and patterns but mixes them in awkward ways. She gives them humanoid or doll-like forms, but holds back on symmetry so it can be difficult to put the picture together. They seem to have one arm or leg, and awkward lumps and head shapes, and clawed feet. The titles she gives them confuse their biographies even more. One is called Flotsam, another is Pussyfooted.

Artist Kate Casanova indulges in similar contrasts, though she seems to specialize in mixing different densities of materials. She combines hard and soft things, solids and fluids, stiff plastic and pliable mesh.

Her piece No-show Blister Breath evokes a monster from a low-budget sci-if movie with plastic, blister-pack bubbles all over its surface that make it look like it has multiple eyes. She sets it up on two concrete blocks that stand in as legs.

Grossly Affectionate continues through Sept. 5 at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St., Boulder. Info: 303-443-2122 or bmoca.org.

The contrasts in her work serve as metaphors for the contrasts in all beings, especially humans. Made of skin, bone, blood and organs, are we hard or soft, wet or dry, delicate or durable?Or, as this show posits, grotesque or lovable?

Like Pettus offerings, Casanovas works are not hideous, just unique and they ask us to recognize the uniqueness of all beings.

The other artists have their own ways of expressing this idea. Estevan Ruiz Cicatriz is a collage of 18 close-up, black-and-white photographs of those round scars many people have from inoculations meant to prevent smallpox. They can be hideous, yet we know these crater-like marks save lives. Each has its own shape, but they document a common frailty and ability to persevere that cuts across social categories.

The same goes for Ceas disembodied organs, and another piece, by Sam Grabowska, which resembles oversized and exposed ribs. The works come off as raw, but there is something honest about them. We hide these things because they repulse us, but better to see them and to understand that this is the stuff we are made of, and to use them to highlight the fact that these internal elements supersede notions of gender, race and even species.

Pamela Meadows, who curated the show, was wise to balance that seriousness with some more whimsical work, including Daisy May Collingridges series of photos featuring people wearing quirky, pillowy costumes that confuse the inside of our bodies with the outside. Her fleshy clothes look like anatomical drawings come to life, and it is impossible to discern if the people wearing them are male or female, old or young. They simply ask us to consider how bodies move and relate to each other.

And then there are those quadri-pedal thumbs Mr. Hanimals walking hands, which are rendered in yellow, blue and pink. They are the ultimate Grossly Affectionate objects, a little creepy, for sure, but in an odd way, relatable and very human. As humans, we learned to walk together on our evolutionary journey to the top of the food chain and those opposable digits are the things that set us apart from almost every other living thing on the planet

In a sense, they are our essence, more than any label or category we might assign ourselves or each other. We are just thumbs, weird, lurking thumbs.

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This Boulder art exhibit is beautiful and ugly all at once - The Denver Post

WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event

TransHuman Code Authors, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson Introduce The Code to The Metaverse at Davos Event

Geneva and Zug Switzerland, May 31, 2022 WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WISeKey, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity, IoT and AI company, announced that its CEO and founder, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson, Executive Managing Director, M&A at Generational Equity, introduced their latest project, The Code to The Metaverse at Davos event.

In the bestselling 2019 book, The transHuman Code, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson offered a carefully curated take on the essential conversations that will determine if technology will upgrade or undermine our humanity. Born at Davos event, through multiple conversations and workshops, fittingly, it could be argued that the books origin was decentralized.

At unprecedented speed, the expanding frontier of the Metaverse is now stretching well beyond its Second Life gaming roots, said Mr. Fergusson at the launch event. In the most dramatic technological innovation of the last decade, we are truly at the threshold of our future lives as we build the bridges between our physical universe and the Metaverse.

However, the founding premise of The transHuman Code still holds true as we venture into the unknown of the Metaverse, said Mr. Moreira. Firstly, that the Human is greatest technology of all and, most importantly, that it is paramount to keep humans at the center of gravity in this technological revolution.

In a series of events at the 2022 annual Davos gathering of business, policy and philanthropic leaders, Moreira and Fergusson announced the sequel to The transHuman Code with the creation of the new groundbreaking multi-media platform - The Code to The Metaverse. Through the interactive series, participants, viewers and readers will be invited backstage into the laboratories and into the Metaverse to experience their future in this 3D virtual realm.

To provide a glimpse into whats coming, the authors engaged 6 Metaverse pioneers to discuss how the rapidly evolving gateways into and tools for the Metaverse will transform our personal, professional & social life experiences in ways unimagined. Joining Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson were:

Offering exclusive insights and announcing dynamic initiatives, the contributors all echoed a common theme: The Metaverse will have a dramatic impact on how we socialize, work, and learn in the future. At the forefront of the collective agreement, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson aligned with the esteemed technology innovators on the premise that all people be able engage safely and with confidence in the Metaverse so that we as individuals, are respected and treated fairly on all virtual platforms.

About WISeKeyWISeKey ( WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI, and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping todays Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an installed base of over 1.6 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens, etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the leading edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKeys Swiss-based cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit http://www.wisekey.com.

Press and investor contacts:WISeKey International Holding LtdCompany Contact: Carlos MoreiraChairman & CEOTel: +41 22 594 3000[emailprotected]

WISeKey Investor Relations (US)Contact: Lena CatiThe Equity Group Inc.Tel: +1 212 836-9611[emailprotected]

Disclaimer:This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance, or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey

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WISeKey Announces the Launch of "The Code to The Metaverse" an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GuruFocus.com

(Clockwise from lower left to right) Tunic (Image: Andrew Shouldice), Card Shark (Image: Devolver Digital), Elden Ring (Image: Bandai-Namco), Kirby And The Forgotten Land (Image: Nintendo), The Quarry (Image: 2K Games)Graphic: Allison Corr

2022 has been a quieter year for gaming than most; outside a few high-profile releasesand one massive, medium-sweeping bulldozer courtesy of FromSoftwaremajor releases (at least, from the big-budget studios) have been few and far between.

But that, of course, only calls for deeper curation, and so The A.V. Club is here with a look at the best games published in the first half of 2022, whether smaller indie titles, Elden Ring, or big-budget games forced to exist in the unfortunate shadow of Elden Ring. Our list runs the gamut from open world epics to small-scale emotional adventures, and from obscurity-soaked love letters to the latest adventures of everyones favorite pink vore monster. But all our picks are united by one thing: These were the games we likedand whyin the first half of 2022.

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The 10 best games of 2022 (so far) - The A.V. Club

Elon Musk is a consummate Technocrat and Transhumanist who seeks the merging of technology and the human body with the ultimate purpose of achieving immortality. His Neuralink project experiments with Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) literally puts silicon in your skull and connects it to the outside world. TN Editor

Your brain, with a USB-C port in it. Thats Elon Musks vision for Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI). In a controversialJuly 2019 white paperhe claimed that his companyNeuralinkhad taken a huge step towards building a scalable high-bandwidth BMI system that would let the human brain stream full broadband electrophysiology data to a network, using a combination of ultra-fine polymer probes, a neurosurgical robot that sews them into the brain, and custom high-density electronics.

A single USB-C cable provides full-bandwidth data streaming from the device the paper noted: the device having been stitched, in theory, to your cerebral cortex. Neuroscientists were varying shades of intrigued, appalled and dismissive: the custom hardware would only pick up noise, they suggested: interpretation of brain waves simply wasnt that advanced; the ethical issues were pronounced; the body would reject this level of intervention; where was the peer review of the paper?

A year later, Musk has promised a Neuralink update.

This was cryptically announced by Musk in July 2020, with theTweets: If you cant beat em, join em Neuralink mission statement and Progress update August 28. Tendays ahead of the reveal, we decided to take stock of Neuralinks works and the ongoing discussion around the potential of BMI; speaking to a range of specialists in the sector about where the work was going and how realistic Musks vision was.

Neuralink began as a way to advance the technology of BMI: described by one organisation, the Mayo Clinic, as a technology that acquires brain signals, analyses them and translates them into commands that are relayed to output devices that carry out desired actions. (Many observers suspect that the pending update will have to do with the analyse them part of that statement, and Musks if you cant beat em statement refer to his well-documented concerns about the power of AI.)

These desired actions could be how to move a wheelchair without the use of your arms or how to control bionic limbs: It is plausible to imagine that a patient with spinal cord injury could dexterously control a digital mouse and keyboard wrote Musk in the 2019 paper. When combined with rapidly improving spinal stimulation techniques, in the future this approach could conceivably restore motor function. High-bandwidth neural interfaces should enable a variety of novel therapeutic possibilities.

While this might be the starting point for Neuralink, the ambitions of those working closely on BMI include, for some, the hope that technology could eventually to be used to connect the human race via a bona fide neural network; allowing people to communicate using thoughts and images rather than words, and even give over their motor function to others, with their consent*. The ideas behind this have their roots in a dizzying transhumanism. Meanwhile, very physical issues have remained a hurdle

The most commonly used invasive BMI chip, the Utah Array, comprises an electrode with tiny, incredibly sharp silicone needles, that are pushed into the brain, after some skull has been cut away. There are less invasive ways of collecting data on brain activity but in general terms, the more invasive the technology, the more data from the brain scientists can catch. Neuralinks tech is similar, but designed to gather even more data on how the brain works. The electrodes are long threads rather that short needles, allowing it to follow contours, and sewn into the brain rather than placed on top.

(Musks robot can accurately sew six sensor threads, or electrodes, per minute into the human brain, via small holes in the skull: The robot registers insertion sites to a common coordinate frame with landmarks on the skull, which, when combined with depth tracking, enables precise targeting of anatomically defined brain structures. An integrated custom software suite allows pre-selection of all insertion sites, enabling planning of insertion paths optimised to minimise tangling and strain on the threads.)

These sorts of advancements in BMI have been largelyavoided by neuroscientists at any significant scale due to their invasiveness; although testing on rats and chimpanzees is happening. The consequences of getting things wrong are significant. As Dr Henry Marsh, a leading English neurosurgeon, warned in one interview after the initial paper was published: The brain does not heal in the way bone and muscle and skin heals. Every time you cut the brain you damage it, and it wont recover

However, there are varying degrees of damage depending on the materials used. Co-founder and CSO of full stack neural interface platformBIOS, Oliver Armitage, explained the differences to Computer Business Review as follows: With the existing material, when youre using stiff materials like silicone, silicone substrates and metals, the finer and pointier and deeper into the tissue you go, the more damage you create. With some of the newer technologies based on soft polymer electrodes, that trade-off [between invasiveness and accuracy of data] doesnt really hold anymore.

Read full story here

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Transhuman Elon Musk: Your Brain Will Get Its Own USB-C Port

The grass is certainly looking greener on the other side at this particular moment, with the contrast of edge highlighting rectangles for untold hours being held up to making my stabby guys stab a bunch of elves. Anyway, lets hop in the bed of an Impulsor and get this antique on the roadshow:

SRMs Road to the Roadshow: US Open Seattle 2022: Part 6: Transhuman in the box: This grunge pun gimmick thing is really overstaying its welcome isnt it

On my first step of SRMs Return to Hovertank Hell, I built an Impulsor. Ill be straight up, this hover El Camino is markedly more user friendly than its bigger Repulsor cousins. Theres a handful of multi-hover plate panels instead of the 15 or so individual hover plates on a Repulsor, and that means a lot less time filing down mold lines. The instructions did have a few mistakes, calling out the wrong numbers for pieces at least twice and on occasion showing parts attached out of order. Building the whole thing took maybe an hour and a half, and thats with the extra Black Templars doodads I glued on. I do wish there was a techmarine gunner on the Impulsor like there is on the big boi tanks, but thats one less thing to paint I guess. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who paid attention to the last edition and a half of the game, but I was painting smol Black Templars until 2019 so what do I know.

Why was I painting Black Templars Sternguard in 2019? Why???. Credit: SRM

When it came to actually painting the Impulsor, it was a pretty straightforward affair. Notably smaller than a Repulsor, my hope was that it wouldnt take as long as the RepEx. My primer also decided not to be hydrophobic this time, so paint actually stuck to the model! Painting a black tank black is exponentially more tedious when it takes 2-3 coats just to stick.

Impulsor WIP. Credit: SRM

I left off the hover plates, the canopy armor, the shield dome, missile turret, and the pair of cupola hatches. I glued those last few to 25mm bases so I could hold something while I painted them. I committed to the missile launcher because it seemed like the most interesting weapon option of the bunch, and I have a gut feeling the orbital strike relay is never going to be anything but a novelty option. Im not gluing the top armor plate down so if I want to run this cheaply, I super can, or I can swap in the cupola stubber from my RepEx. With vehicles and other expensive models like this, versatility is always the best way to go. Lastly, I painted the hover plates separately, which is a kinda messy affair, but it was a fine way to spend a rainy crafternoon.

The last touches were transfers and weathering. I plastered as many transfers as I could reasonably jam on there, but the top looked a little barren. I did something I feel like I saw Matt Hudson do in White Dwarf years and years ago and slapped a Templar cross on top of one of the cupola hatches. Since its got a crenelated shape I hit it with Micro-Sol a few times to soften it, then gently cut my way through the gap between the hatches with a sharp x-acto knife. Lastly, I hit it with a smidge of black paint from beneath so the loose flaps of cut transfer wouldnt show. Weathering was just a quick sponging of Rhinox Hide, some dashes of Stormhost Silver, and a few drybrushes of various neutral browns. Altogether it wasnt the most arduous painting experience in the world, but it certainly felt like it transitioned from model I decided to paint to project almost immediately.

Black Templars Impulsor. Credit: SRM

Any competitive player will use some athletic metaphor like getting your reps in and I myself am guilty of using this wholly adequate turn of phrase. Unfortunately for me, this has been less getting my reps in and more answering the regular gymgoer question of how much can you bench? only to weakly reply 35 pounds. You see, Ive been enjoying Age of Sigmar far more than 40k lately, making this whole event (and NOVA afterwards) a bit of a farce. Ive only got time for a single 40k game before heading out and I should probably write a list, as my flight is in 71 hours at time of writing.

Ive got 303 Power Level of Templars, and will need both 50 and 100PL lists for the event. Named characters are out, as this is Crusade and should be my own story, not theirs. My first priority will be to fit in every Primaris thing I have, and then from there add in small bois to fill things out. The exception will be my Techmarine, as theres quite a few vehicles in here that are gonna need tuning up. From there, Ill make sure my army is legal by adding and removing units accordingly, and go on from there. Listbuilding isnt my strong suit, and I typically build an army based more on vibes than on anything more concrete like math or competitive data.

Black Templars Crusaders, sans Neophytes on this occasion. Credit: SRM

Is this a vehicle-heavy list in an edition notoriously unfriendly towards vehicles? Yes. Will it do well? Probably not. Will I have fun going 2-4 in this event? Hopefully! I wish I could jam a Chaplain in there, but Marshal Siegward has been my Templar commander since I first started this force in 2017, a Techmarine is gonna be necessary for this motor pool, and a Crusade without The Emperors champion just seems foolhardy.

Dont talk to me or my son ever again. Credit: SRM

With a flight coming up alarmingly soon, a stack of homework still to be done for this event, and altogether too little time to actually get a game in before I bounce, Im afraid this is the last article in this series before hitting Seattle itself. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for one last pained grunge pun made for my amusement and my amusement only, and my recap of the event.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us atcontact@goonhammer.com.

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SRMs Road to The US Open Seattle Part 6: Transhuman in the Box

Elon Musk's expeeriments with Artificial Intelligente just took a wild turn that leaves us puzzled, to day the least. Last year, he had previously presented the Tesla Bot. A humanoid-shaped robot with capabilities that came from his car technology company. He promised to deliver the first actual prototype before the end of 2022 and begin production on a moderate number of models for sale in 2023. But what shocked us even more is Optimus, a perfected humanoid robot that will have the capabilities to have the personality of its owner. If you buy one of these robots, you will be able to download many of your traits to it and make it behave like you do. Sounds creepy but that's where technology has gotten us thus far.

During an interview with Business Insider's CEO, here's what Musk said: "Humanoid robots are happening. The rate of advancement of AI is very rapid. Optimus is a general purpose, sort of worker-droid. The initial role must be in work that is repetitive, boring, or dangerous. Basically, work that people don't want to do. We could download the things that we believe make ourselves so unique. Now, of course, if you're not in that body anymore, that is definitely going to be a difference, but as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do that. Humanity has designed the world to interact with a bipedal humanoid with two arms and ten fingers. So if you want to have a robot fit in and be able to do things that humans can do, it must be approximately the same size and shape and capability."

Although Optimus still seems like a project for the future, the Tesla Bots are hitting the market in 2023. Knowing how quickly Elon Musk tends to grill his workers, we completely believe in his time frames for delivery. At 5-foot-8 and 125 pounds, the Tesla Bot will have similar capabilities to the actual cars. It will basically be a walking computer who will also be able to perform physical activities. In its face there's a screen that will present all the information the owner needs. Physically, they will be capable to deadlift 150 pounds and carry about 45 pounds. However, they will walk painfully slow at only 5mph. Although these mechanical limitations were put in place on purpose in order to remain unable to harm humans. The future is here, we only hope it's not a Skynet scenario where robots take over the world.

Read more from the original source:
Elon Musk unveils Optimus: A humanoid robot where you will ... - Marca

WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event

TransHuman Code Authors, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson Introduce The Code to The Metaverse at Davos Event

Geneva and Zug Switzerland, May 31, 2022 WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WISeKey, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity, IoT and AI company, announced that its CEO and founder, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson, Executive Managing Director, M&A at Generational Equity, introduced their latest project, The Code to The Metaverse at Davos event.

In the bestselling 2019 book, The transHuman Code, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson offered a carefully curated take on the essential conversations that will determine if technology will upgrade or undermine our humanity. Born at Davos event, through multiple conversations and workshops, fittingly, it could be argued that the books origin was decentralized.

At unprecedented speed, the expanding frontier of the Metaverse is now stretching well beyond its Second Life gaming roots, said Mr. Fergusson at the launch event. In the most dramatic technological innovation of the last decade, we are truly at the threshold of our future lives as we build the bridges between our physical universe and the Metaverse.

However, the founding premise of The transHuman Code still holds true as we venture into the unknown of the Metaverse, said Mr. Moreira. Firstly, that the Human is greatest technology of all and, most importantly, that it is paramount to keep humans at the center of gravity in this technological revolution.

In a series of events at the 2022 annual Davos gathering of business, policy and philanthropic leaders, Moreira and Fergusson announced the sequel to The transHuman Code with the creation of the new groundbreaking multi-media platform - The Code to The Metaverse. Through the interactive series, participants, viewers and readers will be invited backstage into the laboratories and into the Metaverse to experience their future in this 3D virtual realm.

To provide a glimpse into whats coming, the authors engaged 6 Metaverse pioneers to discuss how the rapidly evolving gateways into and tools for the Metaverse will transform our personal, professional & social life experiences in ways unimagined. Joining Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson were:

Offering exclusive insights and announcing dynamic initiatives, the contributors all echoed a common theme: The Metaverse will have a dramatic impact on how we socialize, work, and learn in the future. At the forefront of the collective agreement, Carlos Moreira and David Fergusson aligned with the esteemed technology innovators on the premise that all people be able engage safely and with confidence in the Metaverse so that we as individuals, are respected and treated fairly on all virtual platforms.

About WISeKeyWISeKey (NASDAQ: WKEY; SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI, and IoT respecting the Human as the Fulcrum of the Internet. WISeKey microprocessors secure the pervasive computing shaping todays Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an installed base of over 1.6 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens, etc.). WISeKey is uniquely positioned to be at the leading edge of IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data that, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications predict the failure of their equipment before it happens.Our technology is Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKeys Swiss-based cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visitwww.wisekey.com.

Press and investor contacts:WISeKey International Holding LtdCompany Contact: Carlos MoreiraChairman & CEOTel: +41 22 594 3000info@wisekey.com

WISeKey Investor Relations (US)Contact: Lena CatiThe Equity Group Inc.Tel: +1 212 836-9611lcati@equityny.com

Disclaimer:This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance, or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey

Excerpt from:
WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GlobeNewswire