Sufficient warnings could afford patients time to prepare for the onset of a seizure by taking medication. Those who don’t respond well enough to anti-epileptic drugs would also have the chance to minimize the risk of seizure-related injuries.

Epiness, according to the BGU researchers, minimizes the number of EEG electrodes that a wearer would need to use. They developed and tested algorithms using EEG data from epilepsy patients who were monitored for several days before surgery. The algorithm with the best prediction performance was 97 percent accurate, and it kept almost the same level of performance (95 percent) with fewer electrodes.

It’ll probably be some time yet before the device is available to epilepsy patients. A new startup called NeuroHelp has licensed the Epiness tech for further development and commercialization. Clinical trials for a prototype are scheduled for later this year.

Owlet

Hardware

The third-gen Owlet sock is much like its predecessors: A sensor shines light through the skin and, using the light that shines back, it then estimates the baby’s blood flow and oxygen level. The Owlet sensor fits inside a fabric “sock” that pairs to a WiFi connected base station, and the base station updates an app on your phone with readings. The wearable monitor uses a handful of color-coded alerts to update parents on their babies. Green means reading data; blue is low battery; white is charging; and orange is disconnected. Red means a dip in heart rate or pulse ox, which triggers an insistent alarm as well to clearly signify potential distress. The new Owlet model features a redesigned fabric sock, a smaller base station and wireless charging. These hardware upgrades are, for the most part, thoughtful and useful, with the exception of a few snags.

Amber Bouman/Engadget

Let’s start with the sensor (one of the thoughtful bits). What had been a flat circular shape with a micro-USB dongle for charging is now a thicker, dongle-less, button which sits in a butterfly-shaped fabric base. The sensor is secured into place by fitting it through a hole in the sock, and then anchored using velcro. This makes it much easier to switch the sensor in and out of the four included socks. Of the two left-and-right pairs, one for children under 12 pounds and one for those over 12 pounds. (This is also an update from the second-gen, which included three sizes of sock for the right foot only.) 

The sock is wrapped around the ball of the foot and secured behind the ankle with velcro straps like a tiny sports band. The sensor is located more on the side of the foot now, with the velcro underneath the foot. Owlet says many of these changes come from feedback from parents, but I found them problematic in practice. It is comically difficult to get the sock properly secured on a wriggling infant, but I generally managed okay with the second-gen model.

Amber Bouman/Engadget

With the changes to the third-gen sock, I not only found it harder to properly align the sensor, but it was also too easy for my kids to slip the socks off. This had occurred randomly once or twice with the previous version, but with the new one it happened five times between the twins in a matter of a week. The way the sensor and velcro are located makes them easy to snag and rub. I also found it harder to get the sock set smoothly on the foot which in turn made it more difficult to properly secure both the ankle strap and the sensor. I referenced the Owlet manual and instructions for tips on how to do this better, but the ankle strap kept slipping off my son and the whole sock slipped off my daughter multiple times. 

Because I couldn’t quite get the socks to lie flat, it was harder to figure out how to correct the fit when I got an orange “difficulty getting reading” alert. These orange ‘disconnected’ alerts are absolutely my least favorite part of the Owlet system. When a sock alerts, it rings both your phone and the base station with notifications (and by playing “Hush little baby” with a flashing orange light). 

Amber Bouman/Engadget

I got a some scary red alerts with the latest socks, which are every bit as alarming as they should be. However, during the “Low oxygen/low heart rate” red alerts my babies looked totally fine. I checked the guides in Owlet’s app which told me that, among other things, a disconnected sock could result in a partial reading, hence a red alert. This made the iffy fit on the socks all the more problematic (I did not enjoy leaping out of bed in the middle of the night for a red alert that was due to a misalligned sock). There are several other factors (elevation, circulation, periodic breathing) that could contribute to red alerts, and Owlet provides a guide on what to do if you receive one. I wound up talking to our pediatrician, who confirmed that I’d likely be able to easily identify a real emergency issue versus an error alert. 

All told, I saw many more orange disconnection alerts. They occurred when my kids slipped out of their socks, but also sometimes for unknown reasons. This was particularly unwelcome in the middle of the night, when I didn’t want to risk waking sleeping babies with alert noises or sock readjustments. The second-gen sock at least had a way to minimize the sounds for these notifications, but this option is missing in the new version. This is the main challenge with the Owlet system: A baby can shift the sock enough to trigger an alert. Yes, it’s important to know when the sensor isn’t correctly seated,  but I wish it didn’t happen so often. I also wish I better understood what activities and behavior caused the alerts when the sock seemed correctly fitted. 

Amber Bouman/Engadget

I appreciated the other hardware changes a lot more. The new base station is almost half the size of the old base station, which makes it easier to fit on a nightstand. It’s significantly less bright than its predecessor, which makes it a lot less obtrusive in the middle of the night (something that really aggravated my colleague Daniel Cooper in his original hands-on). 

Upgrading the socks to wireless charging feels like a genius move. This makes the device easier to put in a variety of places, with one less cable to keep track of. Owlet says the redesigned sock can grab an eight-hour charge in 20 minutes, and a full charge in an hour and a half. Unlike the second-gen model, the battery life here is measured in hours instead of a percentage, which was helpful but I seemed to get low battery warnings a lot earlier. Four hours of battery left doesn’t seem worthy of an alert, if you ask me.

Amber Bouman/Engadget

A few other notes: It was nice to see that the new socks automatically turn on the base station once your kid is wearing the sock; the old ones required you to manually turn on the station with a tap. If the socks get pushed off the base station while charging, it will trigger an orange disconnection alert. Though Owlet only connects to 2.4GHz WiFi, it will stay connected in the event of a WiFi disruption. While staying in a hotel during a recent wildfire evacuation, I had no luck trying to connect the second-gen socks, but they immediately reconnected to my home WiFi when we returned. 

Software

As with the hardware, the software changes here feel well thought-out. Owlet replaced its physical manual with an app download, and the GIFs and videos included in the app were actually pretty helpful. Installation was straightforward for both versions, though there was always a step I had to attempt more than once. With the old version it was getting the WiFi connected; with the newer one it was registering a new device and assigning it to a child. 

For some reason the app had me add the sock, then assign it — but I had to create a new profile instead of the one that I had created for the second-gen setup. Then I had to re-register the same device again under the child’s profile. None of this was particularly onerous, but it seemed unintuitive to register each gadget twice. And, while it’s nice that the app has an easy way to add multiple children and monitors, I now have four entries in the app: one for each child and each device. That’s a little cluttered, and I wish I was allowed to rearrange the cards or tiles here. However, I did appreciate how the app on my partner’s phone automatically updated after I added the new socks. 

Owlet

Once installation is complete, all the information is available by tapping that child’s name/picture from the home screen. Your child’s data will refresh as updates are received from the sock. When your child moves it will show feet and say “wiggling,” though the updated sock now features “work through motion,” allowing the sensor to continue taking readings “during activity such as diaper changes, burping or nose cleanouts.” The previous sock would pause readings during these movements. You can also toggle the base station on or off from here, something I’ve found useful when trying to turn off those orange ‘disconnected’ alerts I mentioned earlier. 

Owlet includes the child’s name on alert notifications in the app so you can tell whose sock needs your attention when an alert pops up. But there’s no such information in the notifications that appear on the app lock screen, so you have to open the app to find out which child’s sock is setting off the alarm. Because I’m on a satellite internet connection, that increases the time to find out what’s going on during red alerts. The app also measures sleep trends, which was informative to have on hand as I try to move the twins into cribs. Another nice touch: The information about babies on the ‘Guide’ page took prematurity into account and there’s also a corresponding  NICU-stay option in the profile setup. 

Amber Bouman/Engadget

Wrap-up

Despite my irritation with the orange alerts in general, I really like my Owlet socks. They provide me with helpful information and peace of mind, which counts for a lot. I also generally appreciate the changes that have been made to the third-gen device, with the new sock design being an important outlier. The wireless charging, ‘work through motion’, sensor redesign and app changes are all features that make the system give faster and more accurate readings in the day-to-day. If you’re able to tolerate the disconnection alerts, and have the patience to strap a sensor onto a baby, the Owlet is a solid system to have for NICU, new or nerd parents alike. 

We’ve asked Apple for comment on the issue, although watchOS 7.0.1 doesn’t appear to have addressed the glitches. Newer watches (including this author’s Series 5) don’t appear to be affected. It’s also unclear if the problems affect Series 3 watches bought directly from Apple with watchOS 7 already installed.

There’s a good chance this will be patched in an upcoming release. Even so, it’s not a great experience for owners of a device that’s still considered current.

OS 5.0 includes a new interface navigation method and an interface with tweaks that take advantage of the higher-resolution screens, such as a new font and improved graphics. It can run older apps, although they’ll have to run in a compatibility mode.

The cutoff isn’t completely surprising given the scale of the update. Even so, it’s not a thrilling prospect if you own an earlier Fitbit smartwatch. Your device’s software might already be somewhat obsolete after just a year — while it’ll work as originally intended, you won’t get a steady stream of new features like you might from Apple, Google (while it waits to acquire Fitbit) or Samsung.

But if you’re among those who believe Facebook already knows too much about our lives, you’re probably more than slightly disturbed by the idea of Facebook having a semi-permanent presence on your actual face. 

Facebook

Facebook, to its credit, is aware of this. The company published a lengthy blog post on all the ways it’s taking privacy into consideration. For example, it says workers who wear the glasses will be easily identifiable and will be trained in “appropriate use.” The company will also encrypt data and blur faces and license plates. It promises the data it collects “will not be used to inform the ads people see across Facebook’s apps,” and only approved researchers will be able to access it. 

But none of that addresses how Facebook intends to use this data or what type of “research” it will be used for. Yes, it will further the social network’s understanding of augmented reality, but there’s a whole lot else that comes with that. As the digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) noted in a recent blog post, eye tracking alone has numerous implications beyond the core functions of an AR or VR headset. Our eyes can indicate how we’re thinking and feeling — not just what we’re looking at.

As the EFF’s Rory Mir and Katitza Rodriguez explained in the post:

How we move and interact with the world offers insight, by proxy, into how we think and feel at the moment. If aggregated, those in control of this biometric data may be able to identify patterns that let them more precisely predict (or cause) certain behavior and even emotions in the virtual world. It may allow companies to exploit users’ emotional vulnerabilities through strategies that are difficult for the user to perceive and resist. What makes the collection of this sort of biometric data particularly frightening, is that unlike a credit card or password, it is information about us we cannot change. Once collected, there is little users can do to mitigate the harm done by leaks or data being monetized with additional parties.

There’s also a more practical concern, according to Rodriguez and Mir. That’s “bystander privacy,” or the right to privacy in public. “I’m concerned that if the protections are not the right ones, with this technology, we can be building a surveillance society where users lose their privacy in public spaces,” Rodriguez, International Rights Director for EFF, told Engadget. “I think these companies are going to push for new changes in society of how we behave in public spaces. And they have to be much more transparent on that front.”

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said that “Project Aria is a research tool that will help us develop the safeguards, policies and even social norms necessary to govern the use of AR glasses and other future wearable devices.” 

Facebook is far from the only company to grapple with these questions. Apple, also reportedly working on an AR headset, also seems to be experimenting with eye tracking. Amazon, on the other hand, has taken a different approach when it comes to the ability to understand our emotional state. 

Consider its newest wearable: Halo. At first glance, the device, which is an actual product people will soon be able to use, seems much closer to the kinds of wrist-worn devices that are already widely available. It can check your heart rate and track your sleep. It also has one other feature you won’t find on your standard Fitbit or smartwatch: tone analysis. 

Opt in and the wearable will passively listen to your voice throughout the day in order to “analyze the positivity and energy of your voice.” It’s supposed to aid in your overall well being, according to Amazon. The company suggests that the feature will “help customers understand how they sound to others,” and “support emotional and social well-being and help strengthen communication and relationships.”

Amazon

If that sounds vaguely dystopian, you’re not alone, the feature has already sparked more than one Black Mirror comparison. Also concerning: history has repeatedly taught us that these kinds of systems often end up being extremely biased, regardless of the creator’s intent. As Protocol points out, AI systems tend to be pretty bad at treating women and people of color the same way they treat white men. Amazon itself has struggled with this. A study last year from MIT’s Media lab found that Amazon’s facial recognition tech had a hard time accurately identifying the faces of dark-skinned women. And a 2019 Stanford study found racial disparities in Amazon’s speech recognition tech. 

So while Amazon has said it uses diverse data to train its algorithms, it’s far from guaranteed that it will treat all its users the same in practice. But even if it did treat everyone fairly, giving Amazon a direct line into your emotional state could also have serious privacy implications. 

And not just because it’s creepy for the world’s biggest retailer to know how you’re feeling at any given moment. There’s also the distinct possibility that Amazon could, one day, use these newfound insights to get you to buy more stuff. Just because there’s currently no link between Halo and Amazon’s retail service or Alexa, doesn’t mean that will always be the case. In fact, we know from patent filings Amazon has given the idea more than a passing thought.

The company was granted a patent two years ago that lays out in detail how Alexa may proactively recommend products based on how your voice sounds. The patent describes a system that would allow Amazon to detect “an abnormal physical or emotional condition” based on the sound of a voice. It could then suggest content, surface ads and recommend products based on the “abnormality.” Patent filings are not necessarily indicative of actual plans, but they do offer a window into how a company is thinking about a particular type of technology. And in Amazon’s case, its ideas for emotion detection are more than a little alarming.

An Amazon spokesperson told Engadget that “we do not use Amazon Halo health data for marketing, product recommendations, or advertising,” but declined to comment on future plans. The patent offers some potential clues, though.

Google Patents/Amazon

“A current physical and/or emotional condition of the user may facilitate the ability to provide highly targeted audio content, such as audio advertisements or promotions,” the patent states. “For example, certain content, such as content related to cough drops or flu medicine, may be targeted towards users who have sore throats.”

In another example — helpfully illustrated by Amazon — an Echo-like device recommends a chicken soup recipe when it hears a cough and a sniffle. 

As unsettling as that sounds, Amazon makes clear that it’s not only taking the sound of your voice into account. The patent notes that it may also use your browsing and purchase history, “number of clicks,” and other metadata to target content. In other words: Amazon would use not just your perceived emotional state, but everything else it knows about you to target products and ads. 

Which brings us back to Facebook. Whatever product Aria eventually becomes, it’s impossible now, in 2020, to fathom a version of this that won’t violate our privacy in new and inventive ways in order to feed into Facebook’s already disturbingly-precise ad machine. 

Facebook’s mobile apps already vacuum up an astounding amount of data about where we go, what we buy and just about everything else we do on the internet. The company may have desensitized us enough at this point to take that for granted, but it’s worth considering how much more we’re willing to give away. What happens when Facebook knows not just where we go and who we see, but everything we look at? 

A Facebook spokesperson said the company would “be up front about any plans related to ads.”

“Project Aria is a research effort and its purpose is to help us understand the hardware and software needed to build AR glasses – not to personalize ads. In the event any of this technology is integrated into a commercially available device in the future, we will be up front about any plans related to ads.”

A promise of transparency, however, is much different than an assurance of what will happen to our data. And it highlights why privacy legislation is so important — because without it, we have little alternative than to take a company’s word for it. 

“Facebook is positioning itself to be the Android of AR VR,” Mir said. “I think because they’re in their infancy, it makes sense that they’re taking precautions to keep data separate from advertising and all these things. But the concern is, once they do control the medium or have an Android-level control of the market, at that point, how are we making sure that they’re sticking to good privacy practices?”

And the question of good privacy practices only becomes more urgent when you consider how much more data companies like Facebook and Amazon are poised to have access to. Products like Halo and research projects like Aria may be experimental for now, but that may not always be the case. And, in the absence of stronger regulations, there will be little preventing them from using these new insights about us to further their dominance. 

“There are no federal privacy laws in the United States,” Rodriguez said. ”People rely on privacy policies, but privacy policies change over time.”

 

iFixit

Another component that’s bigger in the Series 6 is the Taptic Engine. This time around, it’s also made from 100 percent recycled rare earth metals and tungsten. In late 2019, Apple said it would start manufacturing the iPhone’s Taptic Engine from recycled components. One year later, it’s doing the same with the Apple Watch.   

The teardown also highlights the removal of Force Touch. We knew the feature was on its way out when Apple released the watchOS 7 beta in June, but iFixit’s teardown confirms the component that enabled the gesture is no longer present in the Apple Watch Series 6. From a repairability standpoint, iFixit notes the removal of Force Touch makes things easier. 

“We’re happy to see a fragile, damage-prone part retired, but sad to see the final nail in the coffin for Apple’s nifty pressure-sensitive display technology,” the company said. “We’re torn, but we’ll call this a win.”  

iFixit

The end result of all those tweaks is that the Series 6 is slightly thinner than the Series 5. It measures in at 10.4mm thick compared to the Series 5’s 10.74mm. As for that blood oxygen sensor Apple talked so much about, iFixit wasn’t actually able to take it apart. “Fused display on top, fused sensor array on the bottom. We’re not gonna find anything but broken pieces if we bust this apart.”

Facebook

The controllers are also new, with updated ergonomics “for an even more comfortable experience,” the company said. What’s more, you can “ditch the controllers” entirely for some games, as the Quest 2 also supports hand-tracking. Finally, the Quest 2 will offer 3D audio capability to help you identify where objects are coming from while gaming.

While it was originally released as a standalone headset, the original Quest was eventually updated to support Oculus Rift PC content via the Oculus Link cable. The Quest 2 will have that feature from the get-go, letting you play advanced PC-oriented games like Stormland.

The Quest 2 should also work a lot better in standalone mode thanks to the stronger specs, as the original model tended to chug along for certain titles. While Oculus seems to have addressed our comfort complaint, we still don’t know if it addressed our other main gripe about the original’s steep $499 price. The biggest buzzkill might be that you now need a Facebook account to use any new Oculus products — something that the Oculus community was not thrilled about.

The Galaxy Watch 3’s allure starts with the relatively thin and light size, though it’s still a bit chunky on the underside. It also has an improved rotating bezel that’s not only smaller, but operates more smoothly than before.

The Watch 3 really shines when it comes to the sleep and fitness tracking side. It comes with a built-in running coach that provides real-time audio and visual feedback for free, unlike the subscription services offered on devices like the Fitbit. It can also effectively monitor your sleep, showing exactly when you wake up and fall asleep again, and giving you a score for each sleep session.

You also fancy health readings like VO2Max, Sp02 and even trip detection (similar to Apple’s fall detection). And of course, it’s a great smartphone companion, letting you easily reply to messages, control music and more.

With all of these features and an OS that works smoothly (unlike wearOS, at times), the Galaxy Watch 3 normally commands a pretty high price. If you’ve been looking to snag one, a $65 discount might be just the incentive you need.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

As I wrote last year, there aren’t very many fitness tracking technologies that you can cram into a watch. When you have activity tracking, heart-rate and ECG monitors on board, the best you can aim for is refinements. Work is being done on ways of using optical sensors to monitor blood sugar or food intake, but that’s nowhere near ready for prime time.

Steve Dent

I’m in two minds about its design. The larger, 42mm model is wonderfully austere, with thick lugs and a subtle beveled edge. On the other hand, there’s a whiff of trying too hard, like those fake diver’s watches that cost $20. The smaller, 38mm version is far softer, with a narrower frame and rounded lugs that blend far better into the background. For both case sizes, you can opt for a white or black face, although the 42mm black model has a red subdial hand. 

There are two subdials on the ScanWatch. The lower one is the patented analog activity dial that features on every Withings hybrid. As before, it counts from one to one hundred, it works up to the total you set for yourself in the companion app. If you’re looking to keep an eye on your activity but want to avoid unnecessary screens, this is ideal. 

The second sundial, up top, is the rounded PMOLED display that will show you smart notifications and let you access the watch’s special features. Push the crown in, and you can cycle through menus that show your heart rate, steps taken, distance traveled and floors climbed. You’ll also be able to trigger an ECG (Electrocardiogram) and an SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) test. 

Both are relatively easy to perform, you just have to sit/stand still and lay your hands on a surface, with a finger resting on the bezel for an ECG. I think it’s more elegant and reliable than the Move ECG, which required you to pinch the watch face on both sides like a battery tester. And watching the readout on the small display helps you to see how your heart is doing. 

Steve Dent

Naturally, all Withings products lean heavily on Health Mate, one of the better health companion apps available. It breaks down your health into a daily dashboard and collates your longer-term data to give you a wide-ranging picture of your progress (or lack thereof) over time. I also have a soft spot for how the app tells you when you’ve traveled the length of a major landmark — like crossing Madagascar. 

Having said all that, I think the ScanWatch is too expensive for a hybrid, despite all these features. In the US, the larger model will set you back $300, the sort of money you could spend on a flagship smartwatch. If you want an alternative to the Apple and Samsung watches of this world, then this is one of your best options, but I wish it was $50 cheaper. 

Withings says that the ScanWatch’s battery will last for up to 30 days on a charge, and it comes with a pogo-pin charging plate in the case. In the few days I’ve had to test it, I’ve barely made a dent into the cell, even with repeated ECG and blood oxygenation tests. 

Withings ScanWatch is available today in Europe, priced at €280/£250 in for the 38mm edition and €299/£280 for the 42mm body. It’ll be available in the US when the FDA clears it, and will set you back $280 / $300 for the 38mm/42mm versions.

Steve Dent contributed to this report.

Electronic skins can already react to touch, but they’re not much good at reacting to the jabs and burns that cause pain. That’s a problem for prosthetics and robots that are supposed to have human-like responses. They may be more sensitive in the future, though. RMIT University researchers have developed an artificial skin (via SciTechDaily) that reacts to pain much like humans do. It would provide “near-instant” feedback if pressure and temperatures hit levels that would make someone yelp.

The wearable prototype is made of stretchable, extremely thin electronics (oxides and biocompatible silicone) with pressure sensing, temperature-reactive coatings and brainlike memory cells. It’s subtle enough to communicate the difference between gently poking yourself with a pin versus a painful jab, researcher Md Ataur Rahman said. The design mimics the neurons, neural pathways and receptors that guide human senses.