Assistive Technologies

Exoskeletons have been helping paraplegic patients to walk for years, but the latest development from KAIST is a little different. The WalkON Suit F1 can amble over to a patient seated in a wheelchair, install itself, and get the user up and walking.

While the island has 0.37% the land size of the US, Taiwan has become a hub for startups, sustainable design and tech innovation. This week, 600 inventions will vie for the 'gold medal' – the Platinum Award – at the massive Taiwan Innotech Expo.

Carnegie Mellon spinoff Shift Robotics has launched a lighter, quieter version of its strap-on powered wheels first introduced as a Kickstarter in 2022. Like the originals, the Moonwalkers Aero are designed to give users a powered boost as they walk.

Synchron has announced that a trial participant has used its brain-computer interface to turn on the lights in his home, see who is at the door, and choose what to watch on the TV – hands-free and without even a voice command.

Folks weakened by osteoarthritis or myositis may need help with everyday tasks like watering plants, filling the kettle or peeling potatoes. The Carbonhand robo-glove is designed to support such activities, and is now available to everyone in the US.

We're already seeing humanoid robots entering the workplace, but when will we be able to kick back and let the service droid take care of household chores? A new video from Germany's Neura Robotics shows this dream is inching ever closer to reality.

Rather than cut a chunk of skull away to install a brain-computer interface like Neuralink, Synchron feeds electrodes up through the jugular vein to the motor cortex. Now the tech has enabled an ALS sufferer hands-free control of Apple's Vision Pro.

Soft materials and stiff materials both have their uses, but the two properties typically aren't seen in one substance. RoboFabric is an exception, then, in that it can be switched back and forth between soft and stiff states.

The Moonwalker robo-shoes from Shift Robotics have now officially hit the market and at $1,400 they present as a legitimate, low-cost, no-maintenance, easily-carried, last-mile transportation solution.

A new robotic exoskeleton could allow people who have lost the use of their legs to stand up and even walk. It may also help get them walking unaided again, by guiding their movements and holding them up as they take part in rehabilitative therapy.

While there are already apps that guide blind users to a bus stop's GPS coordinates, those people may unknowingly end up standing too far away from the actual stop. A new app addresses that shortcoming, by letting the phone's camera in on the act.

Late last year, San-Fran's Humane launched a wearable AI gadget called the Ai Pin. Now tech startup Rabbit has partnered with Teenage Engineering for a bright orange personal assistant for your pocket called the R1.