One night in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a felting artisan ended her day with a prayer. May our partners have good health. May they be ambitious, and successful, and may their businesses grow. The next morning, sisters-in-law Chinara Makashova and Nazgul Esenbaeva, and the people they worked with awoke to what seemed like a miracle: Shopify orders. So many Shopify orders.
Technology
Wool, water, Wi-Fi: Modernizing an ancient business at the final frontiers of e-commerce
They got to work. It felt like everything was falling into place: The company they had built from scratch was exporting felted slippers and artisan products to wholesale partners around the globe. And with help from USAID’s green business initiative in Central Asia, they were expanding their production abilities — and finally building their own modern, direct-to-consumer web store: one with the payment processing and data security infrastructure to help them reach customers directly.
But just as their new ecommerce infrastructure was coming together, the USAID funding vanished around the world — leaving them with a $35,000 funding gap. In so many places, the internet makes building a retail business easy — but in the world’s most land-locked country, with a banking system bogged down by sanctions against one neighbor and cybersecurity barriers against another, growth is a balancing act. Tumar’s path has been unconventional: bringing together nomadic tradition, Soviet legacy, and digital commerce to build a modern business, even when the infrastructure around them can’t keep up. Their first challenge: scaling a 5,000-year-old process that had never before been automated, with machines salvaged from the collapse of the USSR.
For centuries, Kyrgyz nomads on the Eurasian steppe drove their flocks from the low green valleys to the snowy slopes of the Tian Shan mountains, sheared their sheeps’ lush thick wool, and used heat, water, and friction to felt it into the durable shyrdak blankets that lined their yurts. Felt may have been the world’s first-ever textile. It was strong, dense, and durable. It could stand up to bitter cold or pouring rain. But between industrialization and the pressure, under Soviet rule, to abandon the past, Kyrgyz wet felting by hand almost disappeared. In fact this particular felting tradition was just a few farflung elders and hidden artifacts from extinction in the 1990s when some women in Bishkek, graduating from university into a post-Soviet world, began to seek out, re-learn, and revive the practice.
Makashova and Esenbaeva — with help from Makashova’s aunt Roza — learned how to use this millennia-old technique of wet felting with Kyrgyz wool to make things like shyrdaks and kalpak hats. In 1998, they started Tumar Art Group. Within a decade, Tumar had its first wholesale partner. And in recent years, USAID-funded programs helped them share their knowledge with women throughout Central Asia, reviving an ancient industry while spurring a new economy.
On the felt factory floor
Today, Tumar’s Bishkek facility is a labyrinth of sunlit workspaces, some with pastel floor tiles, some with geraniums lining the windowsills, one full of old jelly jars and coffee containers full of pigments and dyes. Workers pull giant, fluffy sheets of “pre-felt” off the conveyor belt of a wool carding machine. On a switchboard that looks like a Cold War rocket launch interface, they toggle dials that are labeled in Chinese, with hand-scrawled Cyrillic translations taped above.
These days, modern, commercial felting operations use a water-free needle-felting process, Makashova explained. Some incorporate glue or synthetic fibers. But not here. Tumar’s engineering team hacked their way to avoiding all that, leveraging their custom manufacturing line to automate processes like carding (aligning the fibers), or kneading, done with a one-of-a-kind “beating machine.”
“We take care to keep our traditional technology of wet felting,” Makashova said. But “for the most complicated process of wet pressing, modern engineering does not offer machines, so we have to look for old Soviet schemes, adapt and make these machines ourselves — or restore old machines.”
To make one of their most in-demand products — felted slippers — they needed a heavy metal tub to hold water and heat, and flywheels that could apply consistent rhythmic pressure and agitation to the wool. An old Soviet wool milling machine would have done the trick. “Unfortunately,” Makashova said, “they are almost impossible to find.”
With scant financial resources and an economy in upheaval, it was hard for this start-up to find, acquire, and ship in the machines they needed — in part because some of those machines didn’t yet exist: Kyrgyz hand felting had never before been automated. Makashova’s brother, an automotive engineer, organized the group’s own small “mechanization base,” collecting, first, Soviet tools and metalworking machines. Gradually, the company acquired textile processing equipment from Italy, China, Russia, and beyond, salvaging, renovating, retrofitting, and Frankensteining equipment to bring automation to an ancient craft.
Then, more good fortune arrived: A Tumar associate found a tub and flywheels in “a heap of scrap metal intended for recycling,” Makashova recalled. The company’s engineering group restored the find, “and now we can’t imagine our work without these machines.”
As of the 2010s, Tumar was working more with wholesale partners around the world while continuing to make goods for their brick-and-mortar shop of the same name, on a sunny corner in central Bishkek, popular with tourists and expats.
By the late 2010s, the global market for sustainable, natural materials was on an upswing, and travelers coming through their Bishkek shop took notice, including a guy in Richmond, Virginia named Barclay Saul. He loved that you could see Tumar’s entire supply chain, from field to factory, in a day, and in the exploding landscape of eco-conscious “Instagram brands,” he and a partner decided to launch Kyrgies out of a Richmond storage space, and sell the slippers online.
In spring of 2020, when tourism came to a halt, Tumar’s bustling retail business did too. Saul’s bet was a smart one: Kyrgies’ sales surged. People were staying home — and they wanted the right footwear for it. But they also wanted natural materials. “This business has taught me simply that [people want to] buy less stuff, quality stuff,” Kyrgies CEO Saul said. Kyrgies’ ecommerce business has continued to double year over year, enabling Tumar to double its staff and scale their output fourfold in the past five years.
This is the dream, Chinara said — but there’s one dream they still haven’t been able to manifest in the reality of today’s complicated internet: their own web store. The sale of artisan goods out of the Bishkek storefront is still, in some ways, the most important thing they do, said Makashova. It’s just a quarter of their revenue, but it’s a source for their product innovation. Thanks to platforms like Shopify, Kyrgies could launch their retail business in the US virtually overnight. But for a Kyrgyzstan-based business, online retail is no easy feat. The cost of shipping by air or land from the heart of Central Asia is the first hurdle. And another thing: There’s no PayPal here. Payment systems, Makashova said, are “a very, very big problem.”
Still today, Kyrgyzstan’s banking system is closely tied to Russia’s, and Western sanctions put in place after Putin’s invasion of Crimea have made cross-border transactions tricky. Some Kyrgyz banks, wary of being blacklisted, have cut off connections to Russian-linked payment systems, and that’s left companies like Tumar in a lurch. Another wrinkle: With growing concerns over China’s access to US consumer data, platforms handling payments in countries near China — neighboring Kyrgyzstan included — are subject to serious cybersecurity hurdles. And if a payment doesn’t go through on the first attempt, often, there won’t be a second attempt. “We’ve lost many customers for this reason,” Esenbaeva said.
All this to say, Tumar’s old-school web store quickly became obsolete. They figured out they needed to rebuild their site with ISO 27001-compliant back-end infrastructure: encryption protocols, secure socket layers, and a payments gateway capable of navigating cross-border compliance from Central Asia, all in hopes of keeping international customers (and the cybersecurity platforms that protect them) from getting scared out of the purchase flow.
As of January 2025, the entire plan was in place. A new website was launched. They had the money in hand to build out the direct-sale infrastructure. But there was just one catch: The project was being financed by a green business grant from the now gutted and shuttered USAID.
Tumar is hoping that enrolling in Estonia’s e-Residency program will pull their plans for modern, global payment processing out of a death spiral — but they still have about a $35,000 international funding gap to fill with USAID’s dissolution.
On the outskirts of Bishkek, at Tumar’s new wool processing facility, the “break yurt” feels like a step back in time. Workers drink black tea and snack on puffy little squares of fried dough with clotted cream and jam. Right next door, a more modern scene unfolds: sun pours through the oculus in the yurt’s tunduk dome roof onto architectural drawings unfurled on a conference table. Shelves of binders and spiral-bound notebooks lean against the richly colored, shyrdak-lined walls. A flat-bed all-in-one printer, reminiscent of HP circa 2010 — whirs. A similar-vintage, thick-bezeled, matte-black computer monitor and keyboard set-up peeks out from piles of print-outs, a glue stick, an old calculator.
At this new factory, some 100 tons per year of course wool that would have been burned as waste is instead being cleaned and processed. More USAID green business support had been on the way — and it would’ve helped Tumar double the output. Now, they may be on their way to accomplishing that on their own, expanding their product line to include, for example, an entirely biodegradable slipper, and soundproofing and insulation panels (both “no-waste” products made, in part, from slipper scraps). And, importantly to the founders, reliable stocks of high quality raw material that other businesses across the region haven’t previously had access to. Across a stretch of grass from the side-by-side yurts, the warehouse is abuzz with activity.
“We want to open [up] possibilities [for] artisans to get new direct online orders,” and to learn how to maintain quality and consistency as output increases, Makashova said. And the only way they can do it is to keep growing.
There are workshops and small businesses across Central Asia waiting for this raw material to come their way, Esenbaeva said. That means—aside from their own production of felted goods—they’re needing to expand their partnerships with small, family-owned Kyrgyz sheep farms, and increase their capacity for processing wholesale felt. To make it all happen, they’ll need to keep collecting—and building—machines. Esenbaeva laughed, quoting Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “We are responsible for those we tame.”
Just days after showing off the Galaxy S26, Samsung is finally rolling out the ability for users to unlock their home with a tap of their phone or by simply approaching their door. The new feature, called Digital Home Key, will live inside Samsung Wallet and is powered by the Aliro smart home standard.
Samsung first teased its Digital Home Key feature in 2024 and said the feature would be available in 2025. That didn’t pan out, as the CSA’s Aliro standard — which will let users unlock smart locks with any phone — only arrived in February of this year. The new standard uses near-field communication (NFC) for its tap-to-unlock technology. It also supports ultra-wideband (UWB), giving users the ability to unlock their door as they approach and without pulling out their phone.
To add a Digital Home Key to your wallet, you’ll need to set up a compatible smart lock through SmartThings using Matter. Only some Galaxy smartphones support both NFC and UWB, including the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and up, as well as the Galaxy S22 Ultra and up. You can view the full list of compatible devices on Samsung’s website.
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When you hear “brain-computer interface,” you probably picture surgery, wires and a chip in your head. Now picture something quieter. No implant. No incision. Just sound waves directed at the brain.
That is the approach behind a new wave of ultrasound brain-computer interface companies in China. One of the newest is Gestala, founded in Chengdu with offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company says it is developing technology that can stimulate and eventually study brain activity using focused ultrasound.
Yes, the same basic technology is used in medical imaging. But this time, it targets neural circuits.
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Brain imaging highlights the regions researchers study as companies explore noninvasive ultrasound brain-computer interface technology. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What is an ultrasound brain computer interface?
Most brain-computer interface systems rely on electrodes that detect electrical signals from neurons. Neuralink is the most visible example. It places tiny threads inside the brain to record activity. Ultrasound works differently.
Instead of measuring electrical signals directly, it uses high-frequency sound waves. Depending on intensity and focus, those waves can:
- Create images of internal tissue
- Destroy abnormal tissue such as tumors
- Modulate neural activity without open surgery.
Focused ultrasound treatments are already approved for Parkinson’s disease, uterine fibroids and certain tumors. That clinical history gives companies like Gestala a foundation to build on. However, studying or interpreting brain signals with ultrasound is far more complex than delivering targeted stimulation.
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Unlike implant-based systems such as Neuralink, ultrasound brain computer interface research focuses on stimulating the brain without surgery. (Neuralink)
How Gestala plans to treat chronic pain with focused ultrasound
Gestala’s first product is focused on chronic pain. The company plans to target the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region linked to the emotional experience of pain. Early pilot studies suggest that stimulating this area can reduce pain intensity for up to a week in some patients. The first-generation device will be a stationary system used in clinics. Patients would visit a hospital for treatment sessions. Later, the company plans to develop a wearable helmet designed for supervised use at home. Over time, Gestala says it wants to expand into depression, other mental health conditions, stroke rehabilitation, Alzheimer’s disease and sleep disorders. That is an ambitious roadmap. Each condition involves different brain networks and clinical hurdles.
Can ultrasound read brain activity without implants?
Like other brain tech startups, Gestala is also exploring whether ultrasound could help interpret brain activity. The long-term concept is straightforward in theory. A device could detect patterns linked to chronic pain or depression, then deliver stimulation to specific regions in response.
Unlike traditional brain implants, which capture electrical signals from limited areas, an ultrasound-based system may have the potential to access broader regions of the brain. That possibility is one reason researchers are paying attention. Still, translating that concept into reliable data is a major engineering challenge.
The global race to build noninvasive brain interfaces
China is not alone in exploring ultrasound brain-computer interface systems. Earlier this month, OpenAI announced a significant investment in Merge Labs, a startup cofounded by Sam Altman along with researchers linked to Forest Neurotech.
Public materials from Merge Labs mention restoring lost abilities, supporting healthier brain states and deepening human connection with advanced AI. That language signals long-term ambitions. Yet experts caution that real-world applications are still years away.
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Researchers use MRI guidance to precisely target the anterior cingulate cortex with focused ultrasound during chronic pain studies. (Gestala)
The technical limits of ultrasound brain interfaces
Ultrasound faces technical limits. First, the skull weakens and distorts sound waves. That makes it harder to obtain precise signals. In research settings, detailed readouts of neural activity have required special implants that allow ultrasound to pass more clearly than bone.
Second, ultrasound measures changes in blood flow. Blood flow shifts more slowly than electrical firing in neurons. That delay may limit applications that require fast, detailed signal decoding, such as real-time speech translation. In short, stimulation is one challenge. Accurate readout is another level entirely.
What this means to you
Right now, this technology is experimental. You are not about to buy a brain helmet at your local electronics store. Still, the direction matters. If noninvasive ultrasound devices can reduce chronic pain or support mental health treatment, more patients may consider therapy without facing brain surgery.
At the same time, devices that analyze brain states introduce new privacy questions. Brain-related data is deeply personal. Regulators, hospitals and companies will need clear rules about how that data is stored, shared and protected. Finally, the link between AI companies and brain interface startups shows how closely digital intelligence and neuroscience are becoming intertwined. That connection could reshape medicine, wellness, and even how we interact with technology.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Brain-computer interfaces used to feel far off and experimental. Now they are a serious focus of global research and investment. China’s push to develop an ultrasound-based brain-computer interface adds momentum to a field already shaped by companies like Neuralink and new ventures backed by OpenAI. Progress is steady but measured. The potential is significant. The technical hurdles are real. What happens next will depend on whether researchers can turn promising lab results into safe, reliable treatments people can actually use.
If sound waves could one day interpret your mental state, who should decide how that information is used? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Lenovo put a foldable display on a gaming handheld. The Legion Go Fold Concept is a Windows-based handheld with a flexible POLED display, detachable Joy-Con-like controllers, and a folio case to turn the whole thing into a mini laptop.
You can use it as a standard Steam Deck-esque handheld with the display folded down to 7.7 inches and controllers attached at its sides, or you can unfold it for a bigger experience. When unfolded, the controllers can be repositioned to all four sides, allowing you to play with the screen in vertical or horizontal orientations.
In vertical splitscreen mode, you can put your game on one half of the screen and a second window (like your chat or game guide) on the other half. Horizontal fullscreen mode gives your game the full 11.6 inches of real estate in a 16:10 aspect ratio. To go into laptop mode, you remove the controllers and mount the handheld into a folio case with a stand, built-in keyboard, and trackpad. The controllers can be put into a separate grip mount to unify them as one gamepad.
There are a lot of ways you can use this folding handheld, including turning one of its controllers into a vertical mouse like on other Legion Go handhelds, but there’s one thing it doesn’t do: fold down to close and protect its screen. The Go Fold only folds outwards, so don’t expect a Nintendo DS or GameBoy Advance-like clamshell that closes for portability. Instead, it’s all about getting bigger than your average gaming handheld and offering more. (Though we’ve tried bigger before.)
The Legion Go Fold has some formidable specs: an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Lunar Lake processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 48Whr battery. The plastic-covered OLED has a resolution of 2435 x 1712 and 165Hz refresh rate. And there’s even a second, circular toushscreen on the right controller, under the face buttons. It doubles as a touchpad and can be a support display, allowing you to swipe between extracted UI elements from a game (which I wouldn’t expect to be widely supported), a clock, system monitoring, or an animated GIF (just for fun).
During my brief in-person demo I didn’t get to play any graphically-intense games — just Balatro, which can practically play on a potato. The screen looked plenty sharp, but like any foldable there’s a crease down the middle; it’s very visible, but you learn to look past it and ignore it after just a bit. The build and feel of the whole thing felt a little fragile, and detaching and reattaching the controllers was definitely janky. Build quality will hopefully be improved if this device ever actually makes it to market.
The laptop mode was a pleasant surprise for me though. I did not expect a gaming handheld to double as a conventional computer you could get work done on. The Legion Go Fold’s case took quite a bit of fumbling before I set it up correctly, but it shouldn’t take too long to get used to if you actually lived with it.
Then again, I don’t know if anyone is going to be able to live with this thing — ever. I’d love for the Legion Go Fold to go from concept to real product like other out-there Lenovo ideas, but I shudder to think what it might cost. The Legion Go 2 is already priced well over $1,000. And with the ongoing RAMageddon crisis we’re living through, there’s no telling how much more expensive an actual Legion Go Fold would be if it came out in a year or more.
But even if it’s not the kind of foldable I expected, and even though it may never come out, it’s certainly cool. Now somebody please make a folding PC handheld that goes from kinda-big to really small. I think that’d be the one for me.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
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