If you have two functioning legs and a reliable nervous system, walking and running are generally thoughtless tasks. But if you’re a soldier hauling massive amounts of gear on your back for an extended period of time, putting one foot in front of the other can get exhausting.
That’s where the idea for a soft, futuristic “exosuit” came about in 2011 – when DARPA funded a project, called Warrior Web. The U.S. Army partnered with researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute to create a wearable device to help military personnel with heavy lifting and improve physical performance overall. By 2017, the army had a solid exosuit prototype that they had tested alongside researchers for three years. But one major problem remained – the exosuit let soldiers walk quickly, but they couldn’t run without the device tripping them up.
So, researchers at the Wyss Institute built on the former prototype to make an exosuit that helped users whether they’re walking or running. It also does so in a deceptively easy manner. The latest iteration features a soft pair of snug shorts with cables wrapped around the thighs and waist, designed to pull the legs in a certain fashion depending on the user’s gait.
