Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wanna Be A Super Hero?



Ever dream of being Iron Man? Well, that dream might not be as far fetched as you might think. Cyberdyne, a Japanese company founded Professor Sankai, creator of the "Robot Suit", has developed a real life Iron Man exoskeleton called HAL. While this name might take remind you of a certain evil robot from 2001: A Space Odessey, HAL actually stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb Suit.

The Post Chronicle reports on the development of Cyberdyne's robot:

The 'Iron-Man' robot suit from Cyberdyne. The idea of melding human flesh and bone with robotic parts is something more than a few people have looked into...Cyberdyne is a Japanese robotics company, and HAL is Hybrid Assistive Limb, designed to help people with weak muscles or disabilities

Interested in having your own HAL? The Post Chronicle reports that the HAL is going into production and will be available soon in Japan for around $4,200 while the Scientific American claims that the HAL exoskeleton is already available but only for rent in Japan for around $1,300 a month. THe Cyberdyne cite states that HAL is in fact currently available for Japanese residents, for varying costs depending on region, and that HAL will soon be available to consumers in the European Union.

Read entire article here.

DLR note: Will be putting a down payment on one asap.
In related news, the History Channel will have a show on tonight at 10PM called Superhuman. The show is about people with X-ray vision and Spidey-esque powers.

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