Cyberdyne (indeed, Terminator fans, it is an actual company) has been showing off versions of its Hybrid Assistive Limb exoskeleton, better known as HAL, since the mid- to late-2000's. At the January 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the company intends to make an appearance at CES 2011, in Las Vegas, showing the latest version of their exoskeleton technology.
Currently, HAL is only available in Japan. Depending on the version you are using, it can boost your strength 2x to 10x. HAL's technology allows it to support its own weight, so a user doesn't feel "weighed down."
Since Japan has an aging population, low birth rate, and the highest median age in the world, the country has a vested interest in these types of technologies as well as in robotics. The primary audience, it can be imagined, is aging and disabled people, but the technology could obviously be used in other situations as well.
The latest version has a battery life of 2 hours and 40 minutes (enough for a Terminator movie). Currently, some 50 hospitals and elder-care homes in Japan are using a lower-limb-only version of HAL to assist disabled people. Rental fees for a system for both legs are 140,000-150,000 yen a month ($1,688 - $1,808).
Cyberdyne plans to start leasing a full-body version to caregivers in 2011. It hopes to begin consumer sales in 2015. Watch a pair of videos in the sidebar.
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Why just Japan? We could use it right now here in the US.
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