An Extend engineer named Bo Lau has built a website that lets visitors sit at a recreation of Elizabeth Holmes’ desk during her time as Theranos CEO. Visitors can open a simulated MacBook, scroll a simulated iPhone, and run a representation of the Theranos Edison machine. Lau says the texts, emails, slides, documents, and machine records shown on the site come from exhibits in Holmes’ criminal trial. TechCrunch reported on the project on October 8, 2026.
What you can open on the site
The site is organized around three simulated objects. Each one stands in for a different part of the Theranos story, and each one carries a different kind of period detail.
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The simulated MacBook Air
The laptop is styled as a MacBook Air running OS X El Capitan, a 2016-era operating system. Visitors can click through documents that were made public in the case and open them the way they would open files on a machine of that period. This is the site’s most direct way of presenting the trial record: material that was once spread across exhibit lists and court filings sits in one interface.
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The phone is modeled on an iPhone with a physical home button, another visual cue to the mid-2010s. Visitors scroll through messages and other material that Lau describes as drawn from the trial. Because the phone and laptop are presented side by side in the same desk setting, the site works less like a document index and more like a set of personal devices that someone left open.
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The Theranos Edison machine
The third object is a representation of the Edison, the blood-testing device at the center of the company’s claims. Lau’s description places machine records alongside the other material, so the site treats the device as a source of data as well as a prop. The simulation is a representation, not the physical machine, and the site should be read that way.
| Simulated object | Role in the experience | Period detail stated | Content source stated by Lau |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air | Opens documents, slides, and emails | OS X El Capitan (2016-era) | Exhibits from the criminal trial |
| iPhone | Scrolls texts and messages | Home-button design (2016-era) | Exhibits from the criminal trial |
| Theranos Edison machine | Runs a representation of the device and shows machine records | Not stated | Theranos machine records from the criminal trial |
Where the material comes from
Lau’s own post, as quoted by TechCrunch, makes the provenance claim directly: “i built a website where you can sit at elizabeth holmes’ desk open her macbook, scroll her iphone, run the theranos edison machine her texts, emails, slides, documents, and theranos machine records are real, sourced from exhibits in the united states v. holmes criminal trial.” The quote uses lowercase throughout, as in the original post. TechCrunch’s reporting does not independently audit the site’s underlying files, so the sourcing is Lau’s account, not a verified archive.
TechCrunch also describes the site’s materials as more than a thousand emails, slides, texts, and documents unveiled during the trial. That figure is the reporter’s description of the trial record. It is not a count that anyone has confirmed for the simulator’s contents.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The reporting also characterizes the site as an easier way to get through the documents than searching the thousands of PDFs on court websites. That is the reporter’s judgment, not the result of a documented usability comparison.
The trial behind the desk
The simulation is built around the criminal case United States v. Elizabeth Holmes. TechCrunch reported in January 2022 that Holmes was found guilty of four fraud counts and not guilty on counts related to defrauding patients. The company had been defunct since 2018. The U.S. Department of Justice maintains an official case page covering the criminal case against Holmes and Ramesh Balwani, and that page is the place to check the legal record itself.
The simulator and the court record are related but separate. Lau says the site draws on trial exhibits. A recreation of a desk is an interpretation of that material, not a substitute for the court’s own files.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the project promotes Extend and a film
The site has a commercial side as well as an editorial one. Lau works at Extend, which describes its product on its official site as a service for parsing, extracting, and splitting documents, and offers a free trial and a demo. The project also showcases that document-processing capability, since the trial archive is a large set of files that has to be organized before anyone can browse it.
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The project was also used to promote a watch party for You Can See Everything, the documentary directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. A24 lists the film with a release date of October 16, 2026. The official synopsis says Holmes invited a film crew to document her during the 34 days before she was sent to prison. That figure describes the film’s premise. It does not describe the trial archive or the simulator.
What is and is not verified
- Address and availability: The exact web address of the simulator was not established in the reporting, and I could not confirm that it is live. Check the TechCrunch article for the current link before you visit.
- Provenance: The claim that the content comes from trial exhibits is Lau’s. It is attributed, not independently checked.
- Usability: The description of the site as easier to navigate than court PDFs is the reporter’s view.
- Scope: The site is an interactive recreation. It is not an official court archive, and the Department of Justice case page remains the authoritative source for the legal record.
How to use the site well
Treat the simulator as a guided way into the trial record. Start with the documents in the MacBook, then compare any message you find on the iPhone with the trial exhibits that the court published. When a detail matters for a claim you plan to repeat, confirm it against the court record or the DOJ case page rather than the simulation alone.
The simulation is most useful as a way to see how the Theranos story fit together for people who lived inside it, while the court files are the place to confirm what was said and when.
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