Paralysed from a car crash, Israeli Amit Goffer created robotic trousers identical to Wallace & Gromit’s -only not controlled by an evil penguin. The ReWalk trousers use sensors and motors to help users’ rehabilitation, teaching them to walk again.
Not only can they help patients stand and walk, but they could also show them methods to climb stairs again. They might weigh 15kg, but when strapped on to the legs with a harness around the waist and shoulders, it recognizes shifts in upper-body movement, and shifts the motorized joints to compensate. Battery life isn’t that brilliant if you compare it for your smartphone, with the backpack holding just a 3.5 hour charge, but patients won’t be up for clambering about for longer than that anyway.
The ReWalk trousers are occurring sale in January, for around $100,000, after extensive testing within the US and Israel. Reports of a warning inside the safety manual, urging users to keep it far from evil penguins, are entirely unfounded. [ Daily Mail ]
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