Launch Of Bionic Exoskeleton Ekso
Engineer Thomas Dwyer stands with the new Bionic Exoskeleton next to Amanda Boxtel during its launch at the Excel centre on October 21, 2011 in London, England. The bionic device developed by Ekso Bionics is a wearable, battery-powered, robotic exoskeleton, designed to aid wheelchair users and those who have suffered from spinal chord injuries to stand and walk. The Ekso device - so named because it resembles an exoskeleton - helps the wearer walk of their own accord, by picking up small upper body movements and translating them into strides.The bionic legs were demonstrated on Friday, for the first time in Europe, at the London International Technology Show.
Amanda Boxtel, who was paralysed from the waist down in a 1992 skiing accident, described them as "life changing".
"The first time I walked in them I went back to my hotel room and cried hard," she said.
The project was originally funded by the American military interested in giving soldiers superhuman strength and ability on the battlefield, said Eythor Bender, chief executive officer of Ekso Bionics, based in Berkeley, California.
