Exoskeleton Robot helps paralyzed people
Baku, October 27 (AZERTAC). Exo-skeleton legs that could give paralyzed people the ability to walk again have been the star of the London International Technology Show or LITS. Also entertaining the crowds are 3D and retro games. Amanda Boxtel was paralyzed from the hips down in a skiing accident when she was just 24. But thanks to the Exoskeleton Robot, also known as the Esko, Amanda is able to walk again. The wearable robot is battery powered and uses a gesture-based interface. This means sensors monitor the gestures the user makes to determine their intentions and then acts accordingly. A real time computer orchestrates a single stride. Amanda, the pilot, says its an amazing experience. "It feels absolutely incredible, just to be standing tall, to look at you eye to eye, and to be in my 5`7 frame. I feel like I have bionic calves, bionic hamstrings and Achilles tendons and quads and I`m in the tallness of my frame. I move fluidly in space with the most natural gait ever." Eythor Bender is the founder of Esko Bionics.
"The technology is really a bionic suit or a frame that wraps around your body and it has sensors and motors that helps mimic your motions, drive you forward in a very natural way." Esko`s vision is to create a device that can be worn and used in the home as early as 2013. Multi-screen gaming has proven to be a big hit at the technology show. The games allow the player to become fully immersed in the action, and they are testing the latest titles in 3D. With the news of Apple founder Steve Job`s death earlier this month, LITS gave visitors a chance to see the company`s history from its early landmark models to the present day. The Mac Hall of Fame showcased the first Apple Mac computer - the Macintosh 512k - through to the latest Mac book Air. Adam Banks, the editor of the Mac User Magazine, says that the company will carry on the spirit of Steve Jobs even if he is no longer with them. "I think that for at least for the foreseeable future it is (Apple) going to carry on producing the best quality computers. Whether it can continue to have the best new ideas, the big new ideas, that`s going to be the real test."And if all this technology is starting to feel a bit 21st Century, there is also the chance to don the rose-tinted glasses and head over to the Retro Area. Here visitors can build high scores on vintage games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Street Fighter II. John Pudley, the London International Technology Show organizer believes retro games still influence today`s games and Apps.
"I don`t think retro gaming really went away. If you look at how people play their games nowadays most games are played on smart phones and things like that and they are all based on the older games that we have and that we have had in the UK for 30 odd years." The London International Technology Show welcomed 20,000 visitors between October 21-23.
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