Robot suit for rent in Japan to help people walk

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-07 15:30

Cyberdyne, a new company in Tsukuba outside Tokyo, will mass-produce HAL. Two people demonstrated the suits at the company's headquarters on Tuesday.

A demonstration video also showed a partially paralyzed person getting up from a chair and walking slowly wearing the HAL suit.

"We are ready to present this to the world," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, a University of Tsukuba professor who designed HAL.

Sankai, who has worked on robot suits since 1992 and is also Cyberdyne's chief executive, said a full device that covers the entire body is also being designed, though it is unclear when it will be available commercially.

HAL comes in three sizes-small, medium and large and also has a one-leg version for a 150,000 yen (US$1,500) monthly rental fee.

Noel Sharkey is a robotics expert not affiliated with the technology. The professor at the University of Shefilitary officials to share it.

Some European nations have already expressed interest and HAL may soon be on the market there, but US sales are still undecided, Sankai said.

The University of California, Berkeley, and other researchers around the world are working on similar robotic suits that increase mobility.

Daiwa House Industry Co. will lease HAL suits to Japanese care facilities for the elderly and others for those with disabilities. It plans to rent 500 units over the next year. Japan is a rapidly aging society and taking care of the elderly population is widely viewed as a growing challenge here.

Daiwa manufactures homes in Japan, but is also expanding its business to nursing-home operations. "We are going to be very cautious, but we wanted to take the initiative to help people," Daiwa director Takashi Hama said.