If you'll recall, Tsukuba University professor Yoshiyuki Sankai designed a robotic suit called
HAL-5 a few years ago. Production of this
handicap-overcomer began
back in 2006, and as promised, manufacturer Cyberdyne (not to be confused with Cyberdyne Systems, best known for its genocidal Skynet AI and army of Terminator robots) is finally ready to crank it out in large numbers. Starting this Friday, HAL will be available for rent in Japan at the modest rate of $2,200 per month. Sankai hopes it will prove useful to the elderly and folks with disabilities by providing super-strength mechanical assistance when they send brain signals to move their limbs. HAL may be used for good but it won't be used for awesome; Sankai has turned down military-types who've expressed interest.
[Thanks, Evan]
posted Oct 7th 2008 5:54PM
I would love to have one :D
I just want to see these made more practical so parapalegics can make use of them. I already know for the first couple of months, everyone will be staring at parapalegics running around in these, but I wanna see them able to walk again. We've got so many paralyzed and amputeed troops. I know it won't happen soon, but I hope it does.
I'd also like a bulletproof nanosuit in 3XL.
I don't need cloaking, but MAXIMUM STRENGTH is a must.
i,m disabled , i can,t see anyone disabled affording 2200 bucks a month,i dream of
something like this for a long time,but i know it would change my life if i ever had one,
i guess the price will come down but 2200 bucks is 3 months pay for a disabled person
so time you pay mortgage, food and bills ,even if i don,t smoke crack i still could never
save that kind of coin in 2 years ,but as long as the military doesn,t get to abuse it i say
i get to dream for a another decade .
If you had one, you could return to work and the tiny disabled benefits wouldn't be a deterrent.
"manufacturer Cyberdyne (not to be confused with Cyberdyne Systems, best known for its genocidal Skynet AI and army of Terminator robots)"
Umm how do we know? This thing could very easily be a first stage prototype, they could be perfecting the neural net processor in some other lab. Once that's done, this suit could operate autonomously.
so THAT'S what the Terminators in Terminator Salvation will look like.
on a more serious note:
H.A.L.
Human -> Autonomy with a Laser eye. Duh.
or Humanity will Always Lose.
*shivers*
FYI: Cyberdyne is also the company that made robotic maid girls in the anime "Hand Maid May".
Maybe all the suits are part of a hive mind and they're simply hiring them out to people as a cheap way of training the AI..
I dunno guys, I'm getting more of an Imperial Storm Trooper vibe from this one.
"Move along, move along..."
I. Am. Iron Man. duna duna duna duna dah dah dah. ;-)
Forget ironman! I SHALL BECOME MASTER CHIEF!
A company called Cyberdyne and a robot named HAL? This won't end well.
Lets just hope Clarence Boddicker doesn't get ahold if it.
i think cyberdyne is a subsidiary of yoyodyne propulsion systems
Wouldn't extended use of something like this cause some sort of physical dependency? In other words, your body gets used to being mechanically assisted and reduces muscle tissue because it thinks it doesn't need it anymore. So is it just intended for short term usage such as taking on super villains once in a while?
The muscles will only experience severe atrophy if they are never moved or used. A suit like this which would still bend your joints and flex your muscles will keep them in relatively normal condition. The same concept is used in physical rehabilitation like kick starting bipalegics leg nerves but having them strapped to a exersice bike.
This can actually do just the opposite. Those with disabilities that caused them to be bedridden could use this to get muscles working again that they haven't used in a long time
My mother has multiple sclerosis, a bad form of it. It's been six years since she could stand up from a sitting position, eight years since she's been able to walk without assistance (a walker, the arm of another person, etc). Her physical strength has slowly been deteriorating for the past fifteen years.
A device like this would allow her to move much more freely unassisted. Although this device would be doing almost all of the work she would use muscles that she hasn't used in a long time, giving them a work out. Slowly, she would start becoming less dependent on the device, turning down the power on it slowly so it's not doing as much.
She may never walk or stand on her own again, but something like this could get her a lot of the way there. It would do the exact opposite of what you're thinking.
how are the elderly to afford this exactly? lmao its gonna be hilarious, people walk around in these!!!! xD
Unlike us silly bailout the rich Americans the Japanese have a national healthcare system and it works....if we had one we too could be cyborgs...and it will be hilariously awesome
Says who it won't be used for awesome?
"Elderly", they say; some 60ish ex-Marine will get hold of one of these, and the bad
(or otherwise in the way) guys won't know what, um, "awesome"d them.
Dude, your punctuation was a little.... overkill.
Quoth he of the quad-dot ellipsis.
You can use quad dot ellipses if it's the end of a sentence.
ex: He lived happily ever after....
You're actually supposed to put a period after the 3rd dot.
True, but if that was the end of the sentence, then I call capitalization on the next sentence "overkill."
(The pedant in me is compelled to point out that you still use a three-dot ellipsis, followed by a one-dot period. But I honestly can't tell which Lowest Ranked typed there...)
Guys, get the hell off my ellipsis.
This article proves that Engadget isn't just a bunch of Apple fanboys, they also really like the Terminator.
I think the search results for 'skynet' turn up more than enough results to prove their love for all things Terminator.
http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=skynet&invocationType=wl-gadget
Depending on where the brain wave information is collected, couldn't this be used as a remote operated platform as well? Kinda reminds me of Mass Effect armor.
I wanna wear one just because it has glowing joints
Then you must really like Trony Guy; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3609OtM138c
Those aren't glowing joints, they are all arc reactors.
You're just too smart for your own good.
it just occured to me, $2,200/mo is crazy, who's tax dollars are gonna pay for that? Will insurance even cover for that? Wonder how japan would do that...
Don't worry, they don't pay tax dollars in Japan!
Haven't you heard of stealing?!
Yakuza take care of their elderly and disabled, you know.
He can turn down the militaries of the world all he wants. It'll still be in their hands faster than he can sell it. Chinese, European, North Korean, and Russian spies will be tripping over each other in his offices and online in his computers every night.
I'd add the CIA, but these days they're way too busy talking to the NY Times to actually do any spying. *eg*
The military already has a better suit in the works being made by SARCOS. Google sarcos XOS, and you'll see.
So by your reasoning Samuel, military use is awesome instead of good use which is average. right?
Interesting.
I *think* it's a reference to StrongBad, where he answers an email by asking a girl "Do you take off your face and hands when you go to sleep? If so, are you a robot? What kind of powers do you have? Do you use them for good or for awesome?"
So, this being a robot suit ... it kinda works, see? Maybe I'm wrong though and that's fine too :P
@AutumnBringer:
Correct! You win 120 Engadget points. Sadly, such points don't actually exist, but feel proud anyway.
Not only was it a strong bad e-mail but the very first strong bad email if memory serves me.
Who needs robot arms and legs when you can just have the Cheat do everything for you?
does turning down the military also include applicaions for those injured in military hospitals who could possibly benefit from this technology?
Well I WANT One You guys can be master chief,Iron man But i got dibs on boba fett ok.
hhheeeelllllllllllllllllll noooo! do you know who i am? i'm the juggernaut! BITCH!
How smoothly does it operate? Wouldn't it jostle the elderly around?
I would think that would be worse for someone.
+1 for glowing joints
what happens when your in the middle of lifting a ton of weight and the battery dies?
I cant believe no one has commented on "$2,200 per month".That's $26,400 a year, and $132,000 in 5 years. How much is it all worth?
BUT, you cant put a price on not being able to walk or move your arms then you all of a sudden can with this suit.
Yay for math!
3 WORDS
Myles Bennett Dyson
Is it just me or does it look like Apple's version of a Terminator? The iTerminator. I can't wait for the iTerminator nano. {sarcasm}
excellent; this will go perfectly with my stormtrooper helmet.
Well, if you've already modded your helmet with blue LEDs, yes.
If not, you'll wanna get on that while this is shipping.
Sweet. Now astronauts can walk on Jupiter.
Awesome!! :D
Great...How much lower will our wages go when we have to compete with guys wearing these suits...think I, Robot. On the other hand, will I be able to get my truck loaded quicker at Home Depot? I already have a problem with rude elderlies at Wal Mart in those electric carts, so you better be ready to tackle centenarians who don't want to wait in line. just think of all those mods you'll be able to add....power tools, those wheelie skates, who would need a car? you could carry a huge backpack!
They Probably named their company "Cyberdyne" Just to be smart asses.
In the meantime, the terminator prototypes are being designed...
Why'd you make your avatar a pic of you pushing out an intense shit?
I hope the hand movements are precise. I don't want to wank and pull a… muscle or something.
$150 for two days...
It would be a great costume for Halloween. The added benefit is that you could actually pick up a girl (as in lift ;) ) off the ground.
Just put a sticker on it that says Cyberdyne Systems prototype model T-10. Or wear a Cyberdyne shirt. It would be subtle, but those who got it would find it funny. Or they would try to kill you.
Alternatively you could grow a pair, do some weight-training and still lift said girl.
Cool! The best part of this story is that Yoshiyuki Sankai the University of Tsukuba professor who designed HAL, said the HAL technology is devoted to social welfare purposes only, adding he has refused requests from military officials to share it.
He is obviously an ethical person who puts morality value before monetary benefit. He probably does want his technology used by the killing machine otherwise known as the US military, who are always looking to any new technology to maximise the potential of what they do best.
Despite that, SARCOS already has a better suit in the works. It's pretty much done now. The only thing left to do is add armor and weapons to it. Google SARCOS XOS if you don't believe me.
@Trevor
I believe you, I just don't agree. Engadget covered the SARCOS XOS (http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/11/popular-science-blows-out-the-sarcos-xos-exoskeleton/).
Cyberdyne's looks about 10 times sweeter - even if it doesn't come with his-and-hers bowling balls.
I agree with BJ, most pictures of the sarcos XOS I've seen shows it with thick cables attached to it. Until those cables disappear, it is hard to tell how bulky the suit will be.
HAL seems to be very compact.
Yea but I heard he eats meat.
What if it doesn't stop right away? That could rip an arm right off!
Also, didn't that one guy in Back To The Future Part II have a suit like this?
Go biomechatronic engineering!
Sankai san says his next project is to build a full gundam suit.
...called HAL-5....
Human : "I just need to pick up that box!"
Suit : "I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave."
what if you have parkinsons ?
Then you can be a extremely power person in a nano suit with illnesses like that,the possiblities are endless man!!,Oh and cyberdyne are working on super AI too,so the killer terminators are possible
If that's the suit, then cool. I can't wait to order mine in a few years from the back of an Archie comic, where the Atlas body building ad used to be. Let's see that guy kick sand in my face now (assuming he hasn't already ordered the HAL-7 Terminator edition).
Badass.. Supersoldiers without the genetics! I'm going to have to save hard for one of these things in the future. Imagine kung fu with this stuff!
The future's getting more exciting every day!
(Please excuse the overuse of exclaimation marks, i'm just excited.. !!!!)
Is it just me, or does this look like a stormtrooper? No military application? Bah!!!
First step toward making a Mjolnir suit.