[CES 2011] Cyberdyne demonstrated their really interesting assistive technology known as the Challenge HAL. HAL, a Hybrid Assistive Limb, will sense your intention and provide the relevant assistance at the right joints, where it will definitely come in handy when helping the less able out in daily activities such as exercise, recuperative therapy, medical care and welfare fields. Not only that, if I had something like this to wear, it will definitely provide me with the necessary boost and motivation for exercise on a daily basis – wouldn’t you want to be the talk of town while getting around this? Since it can be worn in a sitting position, wheelchair users will also not have any issues with the HAL. Wearing it might take more time though, taking at least 5 minutes to suit up. Too bad it maxes out people who are 185cm in height, so those who are taller will have to search for assistance elsewhere. Cyberdyne intends to introduce HAL to the European region first after rolling it out in Japan already. We do wonder just how much juice is required to charge up the HAL for everyday use. Gotta love the kind of sound it makes when you walk around in it though as shown during the demonstration – it does bring back memories of Prof. X using the Shii’ar exoskeleton before he wiped out the Bucket Head’s mind.
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