Audio Pixels Commences Integration Stage

SYDNEY, Nov. 4, 2016

As has been previously announced the primary objectives of Phase IV is to produce completed mass produced devices that are capable of reproducing sound digitally. This objective entails replacing a sundry of discrete components used to drive the MEMS chip, with a single proprietary ASIC driver (application-specific integrated circuit).

The patented ASIC driver and MEMS transducer array are to be combined and interconnected within our proprietary chip package into a "multichip device". This objective entails uniting the independently designed, fabricated, and tested MEMS and ASIC chips in a manner that they work together in harmony, as one cohesive device. This effort commonly known as the "integration process" involves measuring and exhaustively testing the functionality and reliability of the MEMS chip as it receives and processes each signal, instruction, and condition prescribed by the ASIC with the critical precision for which it was designed; essentially bridging any possible gaps between the emulated and innovative world of design and the practical world of mass fabrication. 

With all the supporting hardware required for the integration process now in place, we are able to commence the integration process. It is anticipated that this effort will take between 4 to 8 weeks.  The company continues to actively maintain its ongoing communications with its ever-growing pool of potential customers and strategic partners, who continue to maintain a high level of encouraging confidence as we advise them of our overall progress.

The company enters this integration phase slightly behind its original forecasted schedule not as a result of any particular setback of material significance; rather as a result of the cumulative effect that relatively trivial activities have on complex, groundbreaking technology development efforts. For example: the testing conducted on the MEMS and ASIC devices revealed the necessity to enhance the integration process capabilities by accommodating a wider span of input voltages. Provisioning the system with expanded voltages involved a relatively trivial circuit design effort, nonetheless the reallocation of engineering resources and associated fabrication time to complete this task, impacted our timelines.

Within this pool of potential customers and strategic partners certain opportunities arise that merit consideration for earlier engagement. One such opportunity (alluded to at the recent AGM), is a new partnership with Bar Ilan University, a leading University in Israel that is striving to utilize Audio Pixels devices in order to enable the visually impaired to "see" again. The innovative patented concept which potentially has broader commercial applications, combines spectacle-mounted cameras with sophisticated image processing technologies to convert, in real-time, the visual image into tactile spatial information that stimulates the cornea through the transmission of ultrasonic waves. Despite the untimely need to allocate time and attention to this venture, the company agreed to this collaboration for its potential humanitarian benefits that such a technology can bring to mankind. The early support by the Company was instrumental in enabling the University to apply and receive project funding by Israel's Chief Scientist.

Yours faithfully,