HAL suits and real-life mecha
So, yesterday I happen upon this article about the HAL suit. I’d heard mention of it before, a long while ago back when Cyberdyne Inc. started working on it and it had no name, but this is the first I’d heard about its completion.
And look at it.
HAL suit image from cyberdyne.jp
Does that look cool or what? (Well, other than the guy wearing it. He doesn’t look so cool.)
So of course I trotted over to the Cyberdyne page about their HAL suit, and this (rather large) chunk of text is what immediately caught my eye:
When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence. At this moment, very weak biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. “HAL” catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer’s muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer’s daily activities. This is what we call a ‘voluntary control system’ that provides movement interpreting the wearer’s intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement.
TL;DR: The HAL suit is controlled by nerve signals from your brain.
Which immediately makes me think of MECHA. We are apparently at the level of technology where we can make those partially-mind-controlled mecha a reality, without needing to rely on imaginary pseudo-science like they generally do. I mean, look at that HAL suit up there, and then look at this:
You see? You see what I mean?! It’s only a short step from a HAL suit to something awesome like that. In fact, if I was filthy rich right now, I could probably commission Cyberdyne Inc. to make me a custom HAL frame that would look startlingly like a mecha. And I would be very happy. Shoot, I wouldn’t even need a new higher-powered scooter or anything, I’d just run my mecha to work every day. It’d be awesome.
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