Hard to believe we're seeing yet another wearable robot suit emerge from Japan, eh? All sarcasm aside, there actually is a newcomer to the curiously growing market courtesy of Shigeki Toyama and colleagues from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. The aptly dubbed farming robot suit is a strap-on contraption that makes lifting objects much easier than nature intended, reportedly reducing the wear and tear (read: force) placed on one's joints, knees and back by around 50-percent. Additionally, the suit will be programmable depending on the type of work being done, but we've no idea if any third-party attachments (you know, rubber band launchers, integrated HMDs, etc.) are in the works. On the real, you'll be looking at around ¥500,000 ($4,559) to ¥1,000,000 ($9,117) to ease your load, but that could dip as low as ¥200,000 ($1,823) per suit if mass production becomes viable.

[Via The Register]

Tsukuba University engineering professor Yoshiyuki Sankai could probably give his two weeks notice if he should so desire, as his brainchild -- better known as HAL -- is getting ready for "mass production." Cyberdyne has embraced the overwhelming potential available in a fully robotic suit, which could prove handy in such applications such as "walking assistance and rehabilitation, nursing, factory work and disaster relief." Having already assisted a paralyzed individual (almost) summit a mountain, the robotic suit will reportedly find itself in hospital wards in Tsukuba city (alongside the HOSPI, presumably) soon, and the company plans to produce "20 units" by 2007, while ramping up to "400-500" in 2008. While the idea of having your own personal strength-boosting Halloween costume might sound appealing, you'll have to pony up an estimated "¥5 million ($42,273) - ¥7 million ($59,182)" to purchase one, or ¥70,000 ($592) per month to rent, but even that's pocket change compared to throwing down for your own personal Land Walker.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

If tossing on a HAL cyborg suit and ascending a mountain seems a bit intimidating to you, Japanese firms Matsushita (producer of Panasonic) and Activelink have partnered with Kobe Gakuin University to develop a robotic jacket that helps rehabilitate paralyzed individuals with slightly less "lofty" goals. The vest, which slips over an individual's upper body and arms (no leg support just yet), allows the person to move their unaffected arm as they please, while it mimics the muscles in the paralyzed area(s) to help the patient recall the feelings of maneuvering that limb. By teaching the person to take over for the motorized "stretching and bending compressors" within the device, the 1.8-pound suit can gradually help someone to regain stimulation in a previously motionless area of their upper body. Activelink reportedly plans to "start testing" the unit at a Hyogo hospital soon, and make it commercially available by March 2009. The only kicker is the price -- at ¥2,000,000 ($17,159), customers best ensure their insurance plan is mighty stout before suiting up in this.