The robotic footwear comes with a motor that works with calf muscles to give the wearer an extra push with every step, according to the researchers from Stanford University, US, who are behind the invention.
The team said its work, now published in the journal Nature, could help people with mobility impairments “move throughout the world as they like”.
Patrick Slade, who worked on the exoskeleton as a PhD student at the Stanford Biomechatronics Laboratory and is the first author on the study, told the PA news agency: “There are a number of clinical populations we hope to help including older adults, people with muscle weakness from a variety of conditions like stroke, and specific injury recoveries for things like Achilles tendon strain.
“We are starting to perform studies to explore the benefits of using our device with older adults. In general, older adults have muscle loss, walk more slowly and require more effort to walk at the same speeds as younger...