Robot suit for rent in Japan to help people walk

[Akoto]

Source: Associated Press

TSUKUBA, Japan (AP) -- A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will be available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month starting Friday - an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly.

HAL - short for "hybrid assistive limb" - is a computerized suit with sensors that read brain signals directing limb movement through the skin.

The 22-pound battery-operated computer system is belted to the waist. It captures the brain signals and relays them to mechanical leg braces strapped to the thighs and knees, which then provide robotic assistance to people as they walk.

Cyberdyne, a new company in Tsukuba outside Tokyo, will mass-produce HAL. Two people demonstrated the suits at the company's headquarters on Tuesday.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_ROBOT_SUIT?SITE=ALANN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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I thought this was really cool, and it offers hope to a lot of people! You sci-fi fans might note the name of the suit and the company making it, though. ;)

[Hugabear]

1. I'd be very wary of stepping into a suit made by Cyberdyne, and named HAL

I wonder how long they had to work to come up with something that fit those initials?

[Nickster]

2. How geeky am I that I thought the exact same thing when I saw those names!

[Hugabear]

6. Cyberdyne - founded in 2004

I understand wanting to capitalize on a name that's already well known in sci-fi...but why something that's responsible for driving humanity to the edge of extinction?

[medeak]

3. thanks for this!

husband and best friend both could use this!

[DS1]

4. Ahh crap! Grandpa's going to the gloryhole again

[Citizen Jane]

5. Wallace and Gromit in the Wrong Trousers

n/t

[Duer 157099]

7. LOL, exactly the first thing that came into my mind n/t

[bean fidhleir]

8. Isn't it amazing what not having a military industry will do - all that money going into

namby-pamby things like robotic helpers so that people can live more comfortably instead of committing atrocities more safely.

[foo_bar]

10. in fairness, this will eventually be used to commit atrocities more safely

I think our military's wanted this for eons but couldn't justify the maintenance costs (kind of like body armor, it's cheaper to just replace the dead people), but even in pacified Japan it's hard not to see the martial potential of a powered exoskeleton (at least in the zeitgeist of Japanese cartoons)

[bean fidhleir]

11. *sigh* You're probably right. Unless the Japanese refuse to license the technology

Wouldn't THAT be a wonder to behold!

[DBoon]

9. "I am Iron Man"

nt