Robotic Suit For Rent In Japan

xTantrum writes with an AP story that begins "A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will be available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month starting Friday — an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly."

Comments

fp bitches!

[shaitand]

'an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly'

Not for $2200/month it won't.

Re:fp bitches!

[Splab]

Well it wont help in places where elderly are expected to take care of themselves - however in the civilized parts of the world where the government takes care of their elderly and disabled this will have huge benefits for all.

Re:fp bitches!

[TubeSteak]

Well it wont help in places where elderly are expected to take care of themselves - however in the civilized parts of the world where the government takes care of their elderly and disabled this will have huge benefits for all.

You let me know what country takes care of their eldery to the tune of $2200 per month, because that's where I want to retire.

Last I checked, most of those "civilized parts of the world" are either reforming their State pension systems or are planning to.

Re:fp bitches!

[clarkkent09]

in the civilized parts of the world where the government takes care of their elderly

Government doesn't take care of the elderly, taxpayers do. If you are going to take my money and pass it on to the elderly then at least give credit where it's due.

Re:fp bitches!

[TheJasper]

I can quite imagine in my parts of the world this being a feasible benefit for the elderly *and* the disabled. This doesn't mean everyone over 65 is all of a sudden going to be outfitted like robocop. It means that if this technology will significantly improve someones standard of living then 26,400 isn't the issue.

As for magically appearing...nothing ever does. First you have to have the machines. At the same time pretty much you need doctors, therapists and tecnicians trained to work with the machine. Then you have to probably teach people to work with it.
It's not the money that will be a big problem but the support structure. Even so, I'm sure in 10-20 years you'll be seeing these things or similar ones on the same level as a wheelchair.

Re:fp bitches!

[Splab]

Well Denmark is spending more than that per month.

Having such a suit means the elderly can get up and down stairs by themselves, go shopping on their own - that means freeing up workers and giving companies more people to hire, while we are currently feeling a bit of pain due to the financial crisis we still have more job offerings than people to hire.

Re:fp bitches!

[compro01]

$2200 for now. Remember, this is a first-gen product.

Re:fp bitches!

[smoker2]

Yeah, because you would just donate your money every time you see an elderly person in trouble. Same as how you maintain the roads, and defend the country.

Re:Cyberdyne?

[thermian]

Summer Glau, is that you?

If all robots looked like her, I'd be the first in the queue for robotic domination...

DEAR GOD NO

[loafula]

Anyone who has ever seen the elderly try to drive a car already knows this is a HORRIBLE idea.

Re:Amen to that -- remember what cell phones cost.

[Shotgun]

The problem is that they will be running up against the Laws of Physics. You can make it smaller and lighter all you want, as long as you don't run up against those most enforced of laws.

Phones and video games just have to produce voltages large enough to represent 1s and possibly 0s. Maybe produce some light. You can get away with using less power if you can make the electronics smaller. A nice feedback loop.

This robotic system has to actually lift and move things. Things that are not getting smaller. It takes a given amount of power to lift a 170lb person. You can't make the power requirement smaller. To be mobile, something to generate that power has to be carried along. There are several ways of possibly accomplishing this task, but don't count on any major revolutions.