Industrial and military applications are one thing, but I’ve often wondered if exoskeletons would someday become a viable mechanism for helping older people continue to be able to navigate their environment. Maybe it’s something we’ll see in our lifetimes?
Yes, with the way things are going, that's a prediction that I'm confident will happen. The only question is how long will it take, and what's the rest of everything else going on going to happen.
older people have money...
beer arm lifter.
grocery bag arm hooks.
dance instructor with couples integration for toe avoidance. [skeptical spouse sales pitch]
seat getter outer. (and toilet sitter downer)
Why just the old? I’m “young” and could benefit from an iron man suit
Ha, to some degree couldn’t we all? But assuming you can negotiate a flight of steps and stand up from the dining table without trouble, your benefit strikes me as less pressing than, say, that of my mother-in-law.
I just do a lot of DIY construction. Being able to lift even 100kg safely would be a game changer.
The trades would benefit enormously from such a thing.
I was just thinking trades wouldn't benifit that much. We have trucks and cranes and stuff.
What construction material weighs 100kg? All the stuff is made to be installed by a guy or two. Big stuff is hoisted with cranes, heavy concrete is pumped. A sheet of plywood is carried by one man, a cement block gets plopped 2 feet from where it needs installed one by one, doors and windows are a one man show.
the difficult part for the elderly is how to put it on, the product assumes always someone helps with it, also the weight itself could be a safety hazard
Definitely right now. But maybe with time and next (or next-next) gen materials, it’ll become more viable.
right, like self-installation.
"hey exo, download me!"
"upload me into bed!"
make it double as an attachment for a stairlift and you have a seriously good product on your hands