New Zealand’s robot legs let paraplegics walk….for $150,000!

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by Singularity on July 26th, 2010 in Technology and innovation

Tagged Under: Argo Medical Technologies, Cyberdyne’s HAL, KAIST, ReWalk, Rex Bionics, Singularity hub, Tesla Roadster

Users control it via two joysticks, and the machine walks under its own power. With it, paraplegics will be able to stand up straight, walk, and even climb stairs. 

Unfortunately, while many of the wheelchair-bound may be interested in the walking platform, the hefty price tag of around $150,000 will make it inaccessible to most. While, I applaud Rex Bionics for helping paraplegics walk again, I honestly expected better. 

This system needs to be much cheaper and faster and it seems like they intentionally avoid showing how slow Rex moves in their two demo videos, which can be viewed at Singularity Hub. 

Others in the fray 

Earlier in the year, we saw renewed interest in another walking platform for paraplegics, the ReWalk from Argo Medical Technologies. The ReWalk is supposed to launch sometime this year, but it looks like Rex Bionics got out of the gate first. 

Without seeing the final version of the ReWalk it’s hard to fairly compare the two systems, but my intuition is that while the Rex is available first it’s not the better option. If you watch the videos on Singularity Hub complete article on this topic you’ll see why: the Rex looks big and slow. The Rex also weighs about 38 kg (~84 lbs) and seems rather bulky. 

There’s also battery life to consider: Rex Bionics says that their walker can stay active on one battery for 2 hours, and that swapping batteries to keep going is easily down. Arco claims the ReWalk stays charged for an entire day’s worth of walking. I’m skeptical of that claim, and with the ReWalk as yet unavailable, it’s hard to know if it will outlast the Rex. 

In the end, price matters 

Of course, the biggest difference to me is that the Rex costs more than a Tesla Roadster. Arco hasn’t priced the ReWalk, but it’s got to be less than that, right? I mean, Cyberdyne’s HAL exoskeleton is only supposed to be around $20k. 

I just can’t see someone taking out a mortgage to pay for the Rex, no matter how cool it looks or quickly it gets to market. Also, it seems to me that zipping around in a feather light wheelchair is infinitely preferable to plodding along at Rex’s slow speed. But then again, I’m not a paraplegic, so what do I know. 

I think I’d wait until KAIST commercialized its robot walker. Nothing beats looking like you just stepped off the set of Star Wars. Because ultimately, having machine legs and being a machinist is pretty damn cool. Not $150,000 cool, but still. 

- This is an excerpt from an article by Aaron Saenz writes for Singularity Hub, which has teamed up with NewsCollective to offer the latest articles in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and more, to publishers across the world.