I found this demonstration of an emerging robotics technology that promises to bring assisted walking to the wheelchair bound. It’s an inspiring glimpse of an interdisciplinary engineering effort that provides an exoskeleton to support rehabilitation efforts of parapaligics . The technology was featured in this techcrunch fundraising campaign for the pending clinical trials. The technology is an adaptation of the HAL exoskeleton used by military forces to help them carry heavy loads (around 200 pounds) for extended periods of time. For someone who’s had a family member stuck in a wheelchair for an extended period of time, this is very encouraging for our future, particularly as the average age of the global population continues to increase and life expectancy increases in many nations.
