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Will you be wearing an exoskeleton in ten years? The tech that could change how we move
Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance journalist in Newcastle, UK.
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A variety of exoskeletons are entering the consumer market, including ones sold by Hypershell, a company in Shanghai, China. Credit: Hypershell
Daniel Ferris says that the best exoskeletons are the ones you forget about. When the biomechanical engineer has one on, he notices little more than a slight tugging. But after removing the device, it can seem as if he is suddenly trudging uphill.
How a revolutionary technique got people with spinal-cord injuries back on their feet
Ferris has been designing wearable exoskeletons and powered prostheses for decades, and has long thought that they would soon become a part of everyday life. In 2009, he published a prediction1 that “by 2024, people will be walking down the street, in the malls, and to their homes wearing robotic exoskeletons”.
Ferris admits he was “jumping the gun”, but his vision is getting closer to reality.
At the time he made his forecast, exoskeletons were mostly being used in clinical settings to rehabilitate people after spinal-cord damage or stroke. “Exoskeletons were really targeted as: function is lost, and we need to replace this function,” says Taylor Dick, a neuromuscular biomechanist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
Today, researchers and companies are increasingly talking about augmentation instead: adding a fraction of the force needed for a movement. A powered brace might take some load off an arthritic knee, and robotic shorts could make an older person’s daily walk less exhausting. Other exoskeleton devices are designed for a wide range of users, including young adults hoping to go farther and faster. Last October, Nike unveiled a prototype ‘powered footwear’ system called Project Amplify, which is aimed at everyday athletes, and tourists in China can rent exoskeletons during a visit to a hilly section of the Great Wall.
For proponents of exoskeletons, this augmentation can’t come quickly enough. Many countries, including Japan, China and Italy, are rapidly ageing, and the number of people worldwide aged 60 years or older is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.