$5,000 AI Pants: This Company Wants to Rent Hikers an Exoskeleton (cnn.com)
- Reference: 0175245583
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/24/10/13/2033202/5000-ai-pants-this-company-wants-to-rent-hikers-an-exoskeleton
- Source link: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/style/video/arcteryx-skip-exoskeleton-hiking-pants-digvid
> "You can think of it like an e-bike for walking..." says Skip's co-founder and chief product officer Anna Roumiantseva. "On the way up, it really kind of offloads some of those big muscle groups that are working their hardest. We like to say it gives you about 40% more power in your legs on the way up with every step." ("And then supports their knees on the way down," says Cam Stuart, Arc'Teryx's advanced concepts team manager for research and engineering.)
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> Kathryn Zealand, Skip Co-founder and CEO adds, "There's a lot of artificial intelligence built into these pants," with Roumiantseva explaining that technology "understands how you move, predicts how you're going to want to move next — and then assists you in doing that, so that the assistant doesn't feel like you're walking to the beat of the robot or is moving independently..."
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> Stuart: I think when people think of what an exoskeleton is, they think of this big bionic frame or they think it's like Avatar or something like that. The challenge for us really was how do we put that in a pair of pants...?"
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> Co-founder Roumiantseva: We've done a lot of work to make a lot of the complicated and sophisticated technology that goes into it look and feel as approachable and as similar to a garment as possible.
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> Co-founder Zealand: And so maybe you think about them like a pair of pants.
CNN points out it isn't the only "recreational exoskeleton." (Companies like Dnsys and Hypershell have even "developed their own lightweight exoskeletons — through Kickstarter campaigns.")
But beyond recreation, this also has applications for people with disabilities. "Movement and mobility, it's such a huge driver of quality of life, it's such a huge driver of joy," says Skip's co-founder and chief product officer. "It does become a luxury — and that's a huge part of why we're building what we're building. Is we don't think it should be."
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/style/video/arcteryx-skip-exoskeleton-hiking-pants-digvid
Would you trust it on a mountain trail? (Score:2)
I don't know what kind of fail-safe stuff they've got built into this thing, but it could be a big problem if it malfunctions at the wrong time in the wrong place.
I'm sure it's for tourist traps (Score:2)
This is the kind of thing you market to old people with more money than sense. Worst case scenario you pull out your cell phone and call and somebody brings you a battery.
That said I question whether or not these would really be worth it in terms of the weight of the battery versus the amount of assist. I have an exactly been keeping up with this technology but I know a few years ago unless you were connected to the mains for something like manufacturing then it wasn't worth it.
This defeats the point of hiking (Score:3)
Has hiking become so bourgeois that this is actually good marketing? At least half of the point in my opinion is the physical exercise and I'm willing to accept some soreness the next day if the trail is long or difficult. Why not adapt or market this to industrial workers who could use something to help reduce stress on their bodies and enable them to be productive for longer?
It's been done before (Score:1)
It's the wrong trousers Gromit! And they've gone wrong!
A warning video maybe.. (Score:1)
Have you seen Wallace and Gromit's "The Wrong Trousers"?
What's the point? (Score:2)
Sure it's maybe, possibly, a money making idea, but how is it a good idea?
Want to get to the top of the mountain with minimum effort? Hire a helicopter.
And of course it has to include the AI buzzword in the product description.
Death Stranding (Score:2)
Hideo Kojima wants his idea back.
Garsh, where have I heard this before? (Score:2)
Reminiscent of Segway. It's so high tech! That must mean it makes sense!
And when... (Score:1)
The battery goes flat you then have to lug the whole thing back, or if the batteries go up in flames...forrest fire ?
Lets just put this one in with Musks Tesla Truck...
Re: (Score:2)
You know that e-bikes exist since years right?
Re: (Score:2)
You know how often they go up in flames right