Honda Asimo in "actually has real life applications" shocker

The morality of capitalism is a complex business. On the one hand it turns millions of poor people into what is essentially slave labour, but on the other hand it lifts millions of others out of poverty and into an unsustainable consumer lifestyle like we enjoy in the rich countries. Honda, the Japanese car maker, is trying its best to make this an even cloudier moral minefield by despite being an evil polluting car maker, inventing cool technology that could help the disabled to walk.

It has come up with a support system that reduces the load on the user’s legs, allowing them to move up and down stairs, and crouch more easily. After slipping on the shoes, the device will direct the “assisting force” towards the user’s centre of gravity, which will help keep them upright.

The coolest part? It is based on the technology developed for the Honda Asimo robot (y’know, the one from the advert).

(via AkihabaraNews)

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