Tech Support

Bionics are no longer the preserve of the Six Million Dollar Man: soon the elderly or disabled may be able to walk, climb stairs and do housework with the help of a robotic suit, or exoskeleton. The "hybrid assistive limb," or HAL, is the brainchild of Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai of the University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Inspired by Isaac Asimov's sci-fi novel I, Robot and Japanese manga comics, Sankai has produced a suit that weighs up to 22 kg and supports its own weight — and the wearer's — with a metal frame. When the wearer moves a major muscle, a nerve signal sent from the brain to the muscle generates a detectable electrical pulse on the skin's surface. HAL's bioelectrical skin sensors pick up the pulse and send a signal to a battery-powered wireless computer, worn as a backpack, which triggers HAL's motors.

The university has set up a commercial venture, Cyberdyne Inc., to market HAL. It costs up to $19,000 a suit — but that's still a lot less than $6 million.