Yet another Hacker News

34 points speckx 1 day ago 17 comments

sleepyguy 1 day ago | parent

How exciting it would be to use EAP's (electroactive polymers) that can bend stretch and change shape in response to electrical signaling. You basically put on a skin tight thick suit (like a dry suit) that is controlled by your own bodies electrical signaling via an implant? Sort of like a fascia outside of the body that gives you a massive boost of strength and super human ability. Fantasy, I know.....

adrianwaj 1 hour ago | parent

A pair of skis that have a core that can stiffen under stress, bend or chatter would be interesting too. Wearing exo legs while skiing may work for some, but I think would take away from the fun and challenge. I suppose it'd let a person ski faster, which in turn would warrant the variable core. Wouldn't want to fall though or would the exo legs act as a protective mechanism? The material in the core could also be in the exo legs, like a variable turbo-charger.

vigilantpuma 1 hour ago | parent

Industrial and military applications are one thing, but I’ve often wondered if exoskeletons would someday become a viable mechanism for helping older people continue to be able to navigate their environment. Maybe it’s something we’ll see in our lifetimes?

ramon156 1 hour ago | parent

make it double as an attachment for a stairlift and you have a seriously good product on your hands

ArashEdalat 52 minutes ago | parent

the difficult part for the elderly is how to put it on, the product assumes always someone helps with it, also the weight itself could be a safety hazard

vigilantpuma 15 minutes ago | parent

Definitely right now. But maybe with time and next (or next-next) gen materials, it’ll become more viable.

purple-leafy 49 minutes ago | parent

Why just the old? I’m “young” and could benefit from an iron man suit

vigilantpuma 19 minutes ago | parent

Ha, to some degree couldn’t we all? But assuming you can negotiate a flight of steps and stand up from the dining table without trouble, your benefit strikes me as less pressing than, say, that of my mother-in-law.

XorNot 10 minutes ago | parent

I just do a lot of DIY construction. Being able to lift even 100kg safely would be a game changer.

The trades would benefit enormously from such a thing.

Tossrock 1 hour ago | parent

I still remember doing a double take upon walking into the local hardware store perhaps a year ago, and seeing that apparently you could now just buy a powered exoskeleton to eg help you paint ceilings: https://www.festoolusa.com/campaigns/microsites/exoactive

razster 1 hour ago | parent

The way it looks on her makes me think that trump might actually be wearing something similar, with the extra bulk you see in recent months. The taps he makes, the odd gate, kinda makes sense.

cough...Artificial Intelligence...cough

ambicapter 1 hour ago | parent

Slip into this closed-source device which controls your limbs!

yyny 1 hour ago | parent

a prosthetic?

purple-leafy 50 minutes ago | parent

As someone with asshole hips at a “young” age (osteoarthritis), I dream of having an exoskeleton so I can hike long distances.

Hell, give me flight while you’re at it - iron man style.

At one point I wondered if it was feasible to get into this industry myself with my prosthetic, electrical engineering, and software background

Maybe with AI assistance it’s possible, or in the alternative case it goes the “Thomas Midgely” way and cripples or maims me further

stronglikedan 32 minutes ago | parent

Cool, cool... Now how do we get an LLM inside of one of these bad boys?

soundworlds 16 minutes ago | parent

I do think exoskeletons are hugely unappreciated and will have an amazing effect on society, due to increased accessibility, endurance, augmentation, while still keeping the human in the driver seat

rwz 12 minutes ago | parent

Perfect. I want my power armor before the Great AI Uprising and the first Robot War begins!