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Robot Body Suit To Be Marketed In Japan
destinyland writes "A Japanese company is preparing limited mass production of a cybernetic bodysuit which dramatically increases user strength up to ten times. The "Hybrid Assistive Limb" suit synchronizes movements of a mechanical exoskeleton to biological nerve signals detected by biopads on the body. (Originally envisioned for people with disabilities, the suit also has industrial applications, and the company is planning annual production of 400 units at $4,200 apiece.) Its battery life is five hours, according to the company's web site, which promises they're also opening an EU branch to begin sales outside of Japan."
Seems a bit of an oxymoron.
And I want one. With lascannons.
which is totally what she said
looks kinda neat, straps a bit gay though, make some form of cover for the front and rear of the person and it may just look like your going to a japanese anime convention or something.
Look at the name of the company . . . Cyberdyne. Fuck them and their goddamn pre-Terminator bullshit. I shouldn't worry, they'll probably be bought out by Weyland-Yutani anyway.
...but only if you wear your underpants on top of the suit.
Hybrid Assisted Limb? Or H-A-L for short? HAL?
I'm waiting for the model 9000.
Increase your strength by 1000% ! Attaches to your body with... velcro?
Still waiting for the "in use" videos to pop up on youtube. I'd love to see a driver unload a freight truck wearing one of these, instead of a forklift.
moox. for a new generation.
looks kinda neat, straps a bit gay though, make some form of cover for the front and rear of the person and it may just look like your going to a japanese anime convention or something.
. . . actually I don't think we want to see the Hentai version of this.
Ick.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Did anyone actually take note of the name of the Japanese Corporation making this thing? Way to leave out actually survival-critical news.
Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?
At least five hours isn't time enough to do that much damage, should one of them become self-aware.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Before someone goes and dreams of a Steve Austin experience: You can't carry more. You can't lift a car, unless that "wearable robot" also comes with an exoskelet that can carry that weight.
Lifting power is not only muscle power. It is also required that you are able to endure the stress that additional weight puts on your system.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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The Yakuza.
Welcome myself as your new robotic overlord!
Someone wearing HAL vs someone wearing Tmsuk Enryu.
I can't think of anything more awesome right now.
I hope I'm not the only one who saw this and thought, oh cool! Only $4,200? What a steal, I'm gunna get one!
Too bad reality set in :(
This has been around for a few years. Their wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_5's earliest entry is from 2005, as was the earliest event date listed in the company web site http://www.cyberdyne.jp/English/events/index.html.
Also, they failed to mention that while you're wearing one of these, it causes your mouth to move out-of-sync with the words you're saying.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
And why exactly are we throwing millions of page views at these racist fucks???
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Yeah, I second that. Apparently they're only happy with the Japanese making new toys if they stay in their own country.
A Corporation Creating Machines Which will Doom Us All To Extinction, By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet.
Put one of those weird body suits on one of the guys who compete for the Worlds Strongest Man Award and you get quite a scarely looking mix between Hulk and a Robot Dog.
I wonder if it could be shipped with a light gauss, ER PPC and some LRM cases.
No doubt that old, old joke with the punchline, "That feels pretty good. Bionic arm...jerk it off" will enjoy renewed popularity.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Now that we have maximum strength, we only have to develop maximum armor and maximum speed and we're set for Crysis. Good thing we still have 11 years to do that.
This can't possibly be one size fits all. I wonder if they have to make sizes for different combinations of arm, leg, and back length?
weinersmith
Ever wanted to be BIG BIG? Now are your chance! For little as 4200$$ American dollars now you too can enlarge your strength (up to 10x). Last for FIVE hours, for her pleasure!
This looks like an April 1st press release. Or a sad company looking for every movie tie in they could find.
If its real, I guess we can expect 400 new super villains per year. Who is working on Spiderman suits and genetic engineering?
Perhaps we will need the Qualcomm Crocaeagles sooner than we expected!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3agYeT-T9co
Think Deeply.
I dunno, the picture of the guy wearing the HAL suit seemed pretty unrealistic to me. Plus, the company's name is "cyberdyne", and they've named their product HAL, ffs. It seems like a big lark to me - runs on a battery? that makes you 10 times stronger for 5 hours? And it only costs 4,200 bucks? Something here seems a little off.
.... I, for one, welcome our new robotic-suit-assisted overlords?
That some fool gets in the news by trying to be a superhero and promptly gets himself hurt.
"The only legitimate use of a computer is to play games." - Eugene Jarvis
That's it? Shit I'll take three! Time to start a super hero group in my neighborhood!
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
Between Cyberdyne corporation and HAL suit....do we REALLY want to let this company grow? Imagine HAL in a T1000 body
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
I'd wait till the control system has the new ZERO System enhancement.
[Insert pithy quote here]
A cybernetic power-enhancing suit? Great, here comes the Covenant...
Where do I apply?
Mine will be named Alphonse...
for the new Terminator flick?
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
The first thing I thought of was the suit they wore in aliens to move the big machinery around.
So naturally, my second thought was: "BAD ASS!"
"I don't have to think. I only have to do it. The results are always perfect, but that's old news." - Meat Puppets
It says that it carries its own weight. From the pic, it is appears to have a nearly identical design to l-marts new toy that they developed for sale to the US military and NATO. My understanding is that their exoskeleton is already in production.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Please editors change the link. This is pretty bad for /. :S
Anyone else thinking "Starship Troopers?"
On the Bounce!
how this compares to l-marts new suit that is being sold to the DOD? It looks similar to it. I wonder if this has => strength, and endurance.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I guess it partly depends on how much of a response-time delay there is in the system.
Eric Baird
I have considered setting up a site to parody many of the minority race sites (for example, la raza), to make ppl think about it. And here it is. Now that I read it, and realize that it really does mimic La Raza, Farrakhan, Jackson, etc, I am absolutely disgusted by it.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Cyberdyne? HAL? Come on, its been a week already.
The question I would ask is how this thing is powered. Are you going to have to walk around with a giant electrical cord? Is it battery powered? Fuel? How long can this thing go before it runs out of power and you're trapped midway with hundreds of pounds in your arm? Unless there has been some massive, miraculous leap in energy storage technology, my guess is that our friend HAL is still just a novelty toy at this point.
. . . actually I don't think we want to see the Hentai version of this.
Some of us do.
Welcome our new terminator exo-skeleton wearing overlords. Well.. for 5 hours a day anyway.
I put on my robe and wizard hat..
Wow, this is so cool. Like a person can become a robot! Haha! wow, technology is so amazing :)
"HAL" is a questionable and somewhat creepy marketing move.
But "Cyberdyne"? Now that's just plain stupid. It'll take more than an army of Japanese boys in power suits (dreaming of pink hair, high skirts and higher-pitched baby voices) to stop Harlan Ellison from ripping into your jugular.
-FL
Time to update sci-fi movies.
Now soldiers have 50x strength, jump 50 meters high and march to war while still sleeping.
I wonder, with the advent of robotic exoskeletons and mecha, will the Agriculture Ministry now be in charge of Gundam?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.A.N.T.I.S.
It was a decent show with a lot of potential. Too bad it got canceled and jumped the shark (or in this case, invisible dinosaur).
Yes, and it is an old story to boot. About three years ago I saw a documentary on Dutch television, about a Japanese exosceleton robot to help the elderly gain their independence back that was in practical testing, and it looked almost exactly just like this one. Take that for an oxymoron. Nevertheless, I'm really happy that they will finally become available commercially.
I saw something like this on Ghost in the Shell.
Hopefully Apple will start working on the iBrain Cyberbrain.
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
Power assisted exoskeleton?! Stay away from me you Bitch!!
DNA, the splice of life.
A couple of concerns with this suit. If it increases the strength of the human user 10x, the biggest limitation is going to be hand strength. Your arms may now be able to lift 500 kg, but if your hand muscles (and hand and arm bones) cannot handle 500 kg, then the strength enhancement is pretty useless.
Similarly, if you're thinking of using it in combat (a la Ripley in Aliens), you can't punch any harder than your hand can, nor can you swing or carry a weapon any heavier than your hand can. So it needs either some kind of powered glove at the end, or some kind of simple waldoed hand at the end that you can control with your hands.
like I said, parent is insightful.
Some people watch too many sci fi movies. But it is an interesting idea. I see one (major) issue, crime. http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/faq/index.html