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UK Paraplegic Woman First To Take Robotic Suit Home

Posted by Soulskill on from the can-we-call-it-a-mech dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It might be a ways off, but every day we get closer to the possibility of William Gibson's short story The Winter Market becoming a plausible reality. Viable consumer exoskeleton for the paralyzed? Check, finally. Quoting Reuters: 'The exoskeleton is activated by the wearer tilting their balance to indicate the desire to take a step. It supports the body's weight and also allows the person to go up or down stairs, as well as sit or stand up independently. It costs 45,000 pounds and although clinical studies are ongoing that could back a case for health authorities to fund purchases of the device, the developers argue that savings on the treatment of ailments related to inactivity could offset the cost.'"

14 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Dead or Alive by 0racle · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're coming with me.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  2. And in the future... by Russ1642 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Won't be long before lazy fat people are using these just because they don't feel like using their own muscles to move their limbs. Happened with the mobility scooters, it'll happen with these suits.

    1. Re:And in the future... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      It wouldn't last. They must tilt and move a bit in order to move the exoskeleton. Too much effort. They would use the skeleton to sit on the mobility scooter and drive around.

    2. Re:And in the future... by bitt3n · · Score: 3, Funny

      Won't be long before lazy fat people are using these just because they don't feel like using their own muscles to move their limbs. Happened with the mobility scooters, it'll happen with these suits.

      step one: get them addicted to motor control suit. step two: distribute virus to suits that locks in wearer and prevents him from eating anything but celery.

      --
      how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
    3. Re:And in the future... by mcgrew · · Score: 2

      Won't be long before lazy fat people are using these just because they don't feel like using their own muscles to move their limbs

      I feel sorry for fat people. It's not laziness, how would you like to have to lift 350 pounds just to get off off the couch? Plus, they usually get problems with their joints wearing out from carrying all that weight.

      Obesity is a health problem, and laughing at someone's health problems, whether it be morbid obesity, insanity, or cancer, is the mark of a heartless jerk.

      I'm just damned glad I'm skinny. I can't gain weight if I try.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    4. Re:And in the future... by fm6 · · Score: 2

      I don't usually care about getting modded down. But there's something extremely sad about getting multiple Flamebait mods for pointing out that somebody's an ignorant bigot.

    5. Re:And in the future... by fm6 · · Score: 2

      I simply do not get stationary bikes. Has to be the most boring exercise possible.

  3. 45,000 Pounds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why does it weigh so much?

  4. Re:Take it to its logical conclusion. by Githaron · · Score: 3

    If something like that became easily accessible to the average person, the guards would probably have similar suits.

  5. Re:No Images by LuxuryYacht · · Score: 3, Informative

    A Pic is here:

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/uk-paraplegic-woman-first-to-take-robotic-suit-home/article4517848/?cmpid=rss1

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
  6. This thread is useless without pics by jfengel · · Score: 3, Informative

    For anybody who wants to see what the thing looks like, there were numerous pictures from when she "ran" the London Marathon.

    http://www.metro.co.uk/news/898507-paralysed-claire-lomas-completes-london-marathon-in-bionic-suit

    (Not exactly running, since it took 17 days, but it's still a hell of a feat. One that deserves a few freaking pictures.)

  7. It's the wrong trousers, Gromit! by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 5, Funny

    And they've gone wrong!

  8. Bad idea by formfeed · · Score: 2

    Quoting Reuters: 'The exoskeleton is activated by the wearer tilting their balance to indicate the desire to take a step.

    So if you stand atop a cliff and look down, the thing takes a step forward?
    Nice.

    Didn't the owner of Segway die exactly this way?

    1. Re:Bad idea by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      Quoting Reuters: 'The exoskeleton is activated by the wearer tilting their balance to indicate the desire to take a step.

      So if you stand atop a cliff and look down, the thing takes a step forward? Nice.

      Didn't the owner of Segway die exactly this way?

      There is a very simple way of getting round that potentially fatal flaw: just don't stand right on the edge of a fucking cliff.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it