http://www.newscientist.com/article...yard-workers-super-strength.html#.U9-rivlyGf1 Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! This is cool - to finally see these prototypes entering the practical use phase!
One nefarious concern... What if these exosuits become a "shackle", a person in debt to company harnessed for a set number of days to work off their debt. They are locked into it and it's not removed until they have completed their transaction. While that might sound fun running around all supped up, the company would likely take the battery out or turn it off remotely if you didn't play ball, leaving you like a human prisoner in a Gibbet.
Dunno - from the looks of it, you are just velcro'ed in on these... but I can't imagine it'd be hard to make it where you need a key to get in and out... Honestly, though, I'd never get into one of those - in the event of a fire or malfunction, I want to be able to GTFO myself and not have to wait for some podunk manager to come over with a key XD
How about the suit malfunctioned and went on a killing spree? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
There is the potential for sports applications, however the thought of someone pounding the sense out of someone encaged on an ice rink or adding a whole new element to MMA "Caged" fighting
All I know is the military applications that the "infamous Exoskeleton suit" could have are almost limitless. That's what I find most impressive about this new frontier.
Specific insurance should be issued for those using such exoskeleton suits, in case a malfunction causes serious personal injury.
Interesting that they're talking about loads of up to 100 kg yet the "operator" still has to use his hands. Regardless of how strong the suit is what good is it going to be if human finger strength is going to be the limiter? Can you imagine gripping - for any length of time - a 100 kg load of plate steel? It has to be something better than that: the suit has to be "rigidly" fixed to the human skeleton otherwise all that's going to happen is that, as the suit lifts, the applied loads are simply going to rip the velcro and leave the human waving his arms around unattached to the suit.
from the pix, it seems that there is a portion of the suit in contact with the steel. could it be a magnet?