Photo: zimbio.com
Physically challenged or disabled people are no more ‘the neglected section of society’; they are already into serious consideration in an ultra-high-tech start-up Ekso Bionics, which was founded by a roboticist and professor of University of California Homayoon Kazerooni, Nathan Harding, Russ Angold and all members of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory at the University in 2005. Ekso Bionics has come up with the groundbreaking technology to assist disabled people, enabling them to move and walk freely like normal human. They manufacture intelligently powered robotic exoskeletons, which can be called the wearable robots, to help the disabled as well as the people who wish to accomplish tasks beyond their capacity. The company was founded as Berkeley ExoWorks, which was later replaced with the name Berkeley Bionics and in 2011 again the name was changed with Ekso Bionics.
CEO Eythor Bender aspires to expand the use of the exoskeletons in coming years. The company has already licensed its technology to assist soldiers and the paralyzed, but the founders’ visions are far reaching: they envision every possible ways to help every kind of consumers including normal desirous man who wants to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or run a marathon. In 2010, the company was selected number at 2 among “Most Significant Gadget of 2010 by WIRED magazine and was enlisted among “50 Best Innovations of 2010” by Time magazine.
Image Courtesy: Projectwalk.org
Info Source: http://eksobionics.com
