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[sonicfan]

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TOKYO (AFP) - Japan has taken a step into the science-fiction world with the release of a "robot suit" that can help workers lift heavy loads or assist people with disabilities climb stairs.

"Humans may be able to mutate into supermen in the near future," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, professor and engineer at Tsukuba University who led the project.

The 15-kilogram (33-pound) battery-powered suit, code-named HAL-5, detects muscle movements through electrical-signal flows on the skin surface and then amplifies them.

It can also move on its own accord, enabling it to help elderly or handicapped people walk, developers said.

The prototype suit will be displayed at the World Exposition that is currently taking place in Aichi prefecture, central Japan.

Japan has seen a growing market for technology geared toward the elderly, who are making up an increasing chunk of the population as fewer younger Japanese choose to start families.

A government report last week showed that pensioners made up a record 19.5 percent of the country's population in 2004 and that the ratio will grow rapidly, surpassing 35 percent in 2050.

All I can say is, IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME.

 

[AniHawk]

I need to know how much this amplifies human abilities.

 

[sol5377]

awesome! now the japanese will be strong enough to lift their petite wives and walk them through the door on their wedding nights. Rock!

 

[aoi tsuki]

http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=50878

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Alert me when they build the first mecha! Or better yet, Veritech fighter.

 

[Manics]

awesome! now the japanese will be strong enough to lift their petite wives and walk them through the door on their wedding nights. Rock!

This can only enhance sexual activity as well.

 

[Willco]

ROBOT PENIS HERE I CUM

 

[mrmyth]

You guys missed the whole 'elderly' part.

OMG SENILE MECHA OVERRUN JAPAN!!!!!1!!!

 

[Mama Smurf]

He picked up a whole woman? And clothes? AND shoes?!

Wow!

 

[Desperado]

awesome! now the japanese will be strong enough to lift their petite wives and walk them through the door on their wedding nights. Rock!

:lol exactly what I was thinking lmao...it's as if lifting a japanese woman is impressive to them

 

[tedtropy]

I'm a little curious as to what's going on in that second pic. Robo-thrusting, no doubt.

 

[tedtropy]

:lol exactly what I was thinking lmao...it's as if lifting a japanese woman is impressive to them

"With this technology one can have the stength of...an AVERAGE AMERICAN MAN." <crowd gasps>

 

[Mama Smurf]

Does it give you super speed too? 'Cos she's hot, I'd run off with her.

 

[tedtropy]

Does it give you super speed too? 'Cos she's hot, I'd run off with her.

"Gotcha' bitch!" <clomp clomp clomp clomp>

 

[Pedigree Chum]

"With this technology one can have the stength of...an AVERAGE AMERICAN MAN." <crowd gasps>

"Gotcha' bitch!" <clomp clomp clomp clomp>

:lol

 

[Outdoor Miner]

And we're blowing billions on a missile defense system?

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO STOP ROBOTMEN MR BUSH?

They're going to have 80-ft mechs before we even get to the stage they're at now.

Japan = 21st century superpower #1.

 

[Dan]

There's just got to be a third picture missing where the guy throws the woman. That's where the actual power of the suit is unveiled.

 

[sonicfan]

http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=50878

Damn, didn't see it before.....

 

[Lord Error]

I'm wondering if that suit lifted the girl without his help (i.e. if he's flexing his muscles at all, beyond just little what suits needs to analyze his motion). If it's the suit doing all the lifting, that's quite damn impresive considering how small and non-intrusive it looks. Lifting 50kg, and doing so with absolutely no effort or ever getting tired are two very different things.

I know that US army is also investing in things like this, btw.

 

[Leatherface]

whoa.

 

[Bob White]

Hell yeah!

Strap me in and put me in the ring with a fucking bear!

Humans + 1 ........again! hahahahaha

 

[Vormund]

It would be awesome if you could jump like a Jedi with that.

 

[MIMIC]

 

[mrmyth]

In the Haloverse books, regular humans can't wear the armor because it taps into a neural lace that interprets muscle commands - i.e. you think about moving your arm and it moves. In the first testing of the suits a normal human went to move his arm and the motion snapped it in five places. Each subsequent jerk of pain broke another bone somewhere until the guy was a bag of jelly.

Life imitating art is going to be funny to watch.

 

[Hero]

In the Haloverse books, regular humans can't wear the armor because it taps into a neural lace that interprets muscle commands - i.e. you think about moving your arm and it moves. In the first testing of the suits a normal human went to move his arm and the motion snapped it in five places. Each subsequent jerk of pain broke another bone somewhere until the guy was a bag of jelly.

Life imitating art is going to be funny to watch.

Somehow I think this predates Halo. Please do not talk like this ever again.

 

[Raven.]

I need to know how much this amplifies human abilities.

US military version, IIRC, allows you to lift 200pounds, and feel as if you'd just lifted 4pounds :lol . In a decade or two with far more advanced motors + improved energy storage/generation + better interphases(neural) I'd expect one could probably lift .5-1 Ton, and achieve sustained 30+MPH runs with no sweat.(I'm personally willing to invest .5-1Million for such a suit... combined with advanced liquid armor, thermal/radiation/bio/chem protection, and rapidly deploying motion-ballistic-sensing antiballistic head protection, advance camouflage tech, etc. Not to mention advanced counter attack measures- like a katana- time to meet da mgs ninja ).

This is the sort of power one can attain when one properly uses great quantities of wealth in the near future(along with extinctionlvl event resistant self-sufficient isolated facilities). The difference between those with mastery over forms of potential power such as cash, and those with little dominion of such, is akin to that between Grand Chess masters and novice chess players. Wasting millions on multiple cheap supah large mansions MY @$$!!!

 

[AssMan]

Uh uh. What's next? Fusion?


Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..............sion-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[krypt0nian]

I need to be able to jump to second story rooftops for this to be an effective addition to my vigilante arsenal.

Specs?


oh and does it come in black?