BB pal Alberto Gaitán says that the latest rev of HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb), a mobile suit gundam of sorts, "looks like a pain to dress into, but it sure would go far into making the otherwise-able more fully-abled. I think it's exciting for gimps (and I say that with all due pride)." From New Scientist:
(Click image for diagram of HAL 3.) Two control systems interact to help the wearer stand, walk and climb stairs. A "bio-cybernic" system uses bioelectric sensors attached to the skin on the legs to monitor signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles. It can do this because when someone intends to stand or walk, the nerve signal to the muscles generates a detectable electric current on the skin's surface. These currents are picked up by the sensors and sent to the computer, which translates the nerve signals into signals of its own for controlling electric motors at the hips and knees of the exoskeleton. It takes a fraction of a second for the motors to respond accordingly, and in fact they respond fractionally faster to the original signal from the brain than the wearer's muscles do…"It's like riding on a robot, rather than wearing one," says (University of Tsukuba researcher Yoshiyuki) Sankai.
