Extend engineer Bo Lau built a website that recreates Elizabeth Holmes' desk using more than 1,000 emails, slides, texts, and documents from the United States v. Elizabeth Holmes trial. The interactive experience allows visitors to browse through materials as if they were searching through the Theranos founder's actual workspace.
The project pulls from court proceedings of Holmes' fraud trial, making the documents publicly available in a novel format. Rather than presenting the materials in traditional legal filings or chronological order, Lau's website lets users explore them as discrete objects on a desktop interface. This approach transforms how people can engage with trial evidence from one of the most high-profile startup cases in recent years.
Holmes founded Theranos, a health technology company that claimed to have developed blood-testing technology capable of running hundreds of tests from tiny samples. The company collapsed in 2015 after investigative reporting revealed the technology did not work as advertised. Holmes faced charges of wire fraud and conspiracy related to her role in promoting the company's capabilities to investors and patients.
The website represents an unusual use of trial data by making it accessible in an intuitive, searchable format. Rather than requiring visitors to navigate court documents or news archives, users can interact with the materials directly. Lau's creation reflects broader interest in the Holmes case, which has spawned documentaries, podcasts, and books examining how the startup founder misled investors and the public about her company's achievements.
The project demonstrates how trial records can be repurposed into educational or informational tools that reach broader audiences than traditional legal proceedings alone.