Posted 07.15.2010 at 2:59 pm
5 Comments
REX, The Robotic Exoskeleton
REX Bionics
We've seen robotic exoskeletons before -- there's Lockheed's HULC that's designed to augment soldier performance, and then there's Raytheon's XOS that's more like an actual Iron Man suit -- but this one is different. REX, the Robotic Exoskeleton, is designed to help those usually bound to wheelchairs stand up and walk, and it should be commercially available later this year.
Created by two New Zealanders whose mothers are confined to wheelchairs, REX allow users to self-transfer from chair to the exoskeleton, then control their movements via a joystick and control pad. It runs on a rechargeable battery that lasts about two hours during continuous use and is swappable in instances where the user wishes to move about on his or her feet for longer periods.
At $150,000 USD, REX is by no means inexpensive, but it does offer wheelchair users a practical and (almost) readily available means of getting out of their chairs. Other technology like HULC (which isn't intended for paraplegics anyhow, but rather to enhance strength and performance) are still in testing and could be for awhile. REX will go on sale in Auckland later this year and should be available worldwide by mid-2011.
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Sweet! That must be like a dream come true for those wheelchair bound...imagine using this if you've never walked before. Makes me dewey eyed just thinking about it.
just one question? what if it falls over.. thats gonna hurt ALOT please tell me it has gyroscopes or something in it to sense if its about to fall over and soem sort of safety algorithm to stop the fall?
I wonder if constant movement stimulation of blood flow by a device like this will maybe correct the issue for some people... blood flow = repair of damaged tissue... movement keeps muscle from complete atrophy. If it does have that side effect I say yet another cheer.
That explains the big ****-eating grin on that dude's face! Nice!
"At $150,000 USD, REX is by no means inexpensive, but it does offer wheelchair users a practical and (almost) readily available means of getting out of their chairs."
Actually, considering that most severely disabled people are unemployed and/or living at or below the poverty level, this doesn't offer us anything at all. I'm tired of having the "latest and greatest" technology lauded for disabled people because it is almost always out of the price range of those same people.
Why is it that most people think that disabled people are able to use this technology? Because we are not, unless some company decides to bless us with a donation. Or are the prices kept high because companies know that some day insurance may pay for it, so why not try to get all the $$ they can...?