Article
Chris Gibbons, Healthcare Disparities Solutions Blog, 9 August 2010

Llevan siete años desarrollándolo y por fin sus 'padres' neozelandeses nos han presentado a Rex, un exoesqueleto que podría permitir que los discapacitados prescindieran de las sillas de ruedas en un futuro no muy lejano. Rex soporta el peso de una persona y se maneja con un sencillo joystick que ayudará a sus usuarios a desplazarse paso a paso.

Lo mejor del asunto es que sale a la venta en Nueva Zelanda este mismo año, y lo hará internacionalmente el año que viene. Lo peor es que los que quieran hacerse con uno, tendrán que deshacerse de 150.000 dólares (117.720 euros al cambio), aunque posiblemente la inversión merezca la pena. Tienes un par de vídeos tras el salto.

Iron Man's powers are generated from an implant designed to keep his weakened heart from failing. Of course, there are differences in our individual circumstances. Tony Stark, the man beneath the Iron Man armor, designed his own implant in an effort to save himself from a piece of shrapnel traveling to his heart. Not only that, he created the device using material provided by his unwitting captors (Asian Reds in the original "Tales of Suspense" comic; Middle Eastern terrorists in the movie). I am not nearly that clever; my device was built by Medtronic, a Minneapolis company that was started in a garage and is now the largest medical device company in the world. We have so much in common, and yet I have so many things to learn from him. Sure he's a little smoother in social situations, and better connected, yet at our core we share something rare. We are both cyborgs.

The robot, PETMAN (from Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin), is being developed by Boston Dynamics for the US Army for testing chemical protection clothing. The anthropomorphic robot will be able to balance itself while walking, crawling, doing calisthenics, and generally moving freely like a human while being exposed to chemical warfare agents.

At its current stage the robot resembles a box on legs, but in its final form it will closely resemble a person, having “the shape and size of a standard human,” according to VP of Engineering at Boston Dynamics, Robert Playter. When completed, PETMAN will be the first anthropomorphic robot to move dynamically like a real person, Playter said. The army also wanted the robot to simulate physiological responses inside the suit, such as sweating, temperature and humidity control, and even breathing, to even more realistically simulate a soldier wearing a protective suit.