14 DAY TRIAL // Japanese company Cyberdyne is now selling HAL exoskeleton suits to whoever can afford them. Back in 2009, the first models were planned and those who wanted to rent them needed to come up with $2,200 (€1,800), but for $2,000 more you could even own one.
If the name rings familiar, that's because Cyberdyne is the fictional company that built Skynet, a network of supercomputers and the main antagonist in the Terminator movie series.
Now that the company has started mass production of the exoskeleton, anyone who thinks it is worth that amount can purchase it directly from Japan.
These HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) suits are pretty mainstream in Japan and they’re used in medical industry and for task support. They can also be used at disaster sites where human approach is required.
There are only two types of exoskeleton suits manufactured by Cyberdyne: HAL 3 and HAL 5. Only the latter is a full-body exoskeleton for the arms, legs, and torso.
Depending on their destination, the HAL 5 exoskeleton suit can be customized to withstand hazardous environments or to simply reinforce body’s functions to make impossible heavy works for human power possible.
The technology is similar to that depicted in games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare or Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. But as characters in these games are usually trained before using these exoskeletons, those who want to purchase Cyberdyne’s HAL suits can also take some training courses.
One such demo usually takes up to 120 minutes and allows participants to get acquainted with wearing a HAL suit. If you’re thinking to buy an exoskeleton suit, then you will need to meet some physical requirements to be sure that you will actually be able to put it on and use it at its full potential.
Not everyone is suitable for wearing a full-body exoskeleton
For example, your body size needs to have less than 80kg and your height should be between 144 – 185cm. These numbers may be available for Japan, but once the exoskeleton gets approved for use in the United States, we might see entirely different physical requirements.
Secondly, you should definitely lack any severe disorder of joints. Sorry, but no pregnant women can wear a full-body exoskeleton and neither can people who have an implanted medical device like a pacemaker.
Considering Cyberdyne’s HAL prototypes date from back in 1997, it means that it took the company 5 years to launch it in Japan and possibly another 2 or 3 to get the exoskeleton approved in the United States.
So, how long do you think it will take an army to approve the standard use of a Call of Duty-like exoskeleton? From what we know so far, HAL 5 does not have any military applicability, but a robotic suit to support humans is not something that any government in the world would pass on so easily.
Also, do you see yourself wearing one just for the kicks?
