At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, journalist Evan Ackerman became the first person stateside to test Cyberdyne’s HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) suit. Watch him take a stroll in this amazing mind-controlled exoskeleton.
In order to walk with HAL, sensors are first attached to its user’s legs, where they translate the nerves’ electrical signals. From IEEE Spectrum:
https://gizmodo.com/japan-is-creating-your-future-cyborg-overlords-right-no-5060335
The suit works on intent: the user needs only to “think” of moving his or her legs — the suit does the rest. That’s because the brain sends signals to the muscles of the legs, and the sensors detect them.
“Once I figured out how to stop trying to walk in the suit and just let the suit walk for me, the experience was almost transparent,” Ackerman said.
Cyberdyne has been testing the 10-kilogram, WiFi-powered exoskeleton in Japanese hospitals, and the US military has expressed interest in the technology as well. Using the legs takes a little getting used to (and they don’t have the strength of, say, a Power Loader), but the technology is nonetheless fascinating.
