REX Robotics Wins 5th BODIES IN SPACE Award!
By Dr. G. • Jul 19th, 2010 • Category: Bodies in Space AwardVisions of Robocop? Terminator come to life? No it’s REX!
REX the Robotic Exoskeleton is the brilliant and compassionate techno answer to liberating wheelchair-bound folks from pains and medical complications brought on by immobile limbs.
Conceived and designed by REX Bionics based in Auckland New Zealand, REX opens the doors to a positive technofuture of thinking differently about “disability, a future where designers think about mobility in terms of health and freedom, a future in which wheelchairs users become bipedal! (Neuronauts and therapists: Consider the terrific evo-devo impact REX will make on kickstarting the nervous system and the overall physiological health of a user’s body systems!)
Operated by a joystick, REX users can “stand up, walk, move sideways, turn around, go up and down steps, as well as walk on flat, hard surfaces including ramps and slopes.” True, the exoskeleton suit only comes in designer black & white and is hardly a one design fits all (whew! I just make the height dimension of 1.46m or 4′8 inches) but it does pave the way for members of design and robotics industries to imagine the possible and respond to a market call that could change the lives of present day and future users.
New Zealand consumers will be the first to see REX on the market, slated to enter by the end of 2010. The price of innovation? This piece of beautiful invention will cost about US$150,000, though designers note the price is set to come down to $15,000. (Compare this to other mobility units e.g., the Tesla Roadster). Either way you cut the deal, for the thousands who live and work day in and day out in wheelchairs, REX will at first be out of reach.
That doesn’t stop me from awarding REX the 5th BODIES IN SPACE AWARD! Learning about REX’s somatic protocol, we find it operates on the principle mechatronics, with mechanical and software engineers collaborating to build the exoskeleton comprised of more than 4700 individual parts. Inspired by personal and family challenge of using wheelchairs, owners Richard Little and Robert Irving claim REX is “a testament …to the kiwi can-do attitude.”
Congratulations REX designers! We salute your noble effort to inspire change through innovative biotechnology!
To learn more about REX and its makers, click here
To learn more about the first REX user, see video below.
Dr. G. is a.k.a. M. A. Greenstein, an internationally recognized commentator, researcher and coach on best and future practices for "opening the doors of perception." With more than two decades of cross-cultural study and work in the visual and somatic arts and sciences, she has positioned Bodiesinspace.com as journalistic portal for crisp, balanced observation and consulting in the area of global and sustainable brain fitness practices and products.
Based in L. A. and Boulder, with networked alliances throughout the AsiaPacific region, Dr. G founded The George Greenstein Institute, Inc, The Greenstein Group and Bodiesinspace.com to advance global change in creative and "brain-aware" learning systems as well as to encourage progressive leadership in designing for sustainable lifestyles. Dedicated to BIG THINKING energized by future focused forecasting and anchored by S.I.T.T. (Somatic Intelligence Training Technologies), Dr. G is a whole-brain thought generator who privileges "interoception" as a search engine for mapping visionary ideas and images.
A member of TED, Mindshare.la, and The Neuroleadership Institute and in alliance with the Society for Neuroscience and the Neurotechnology Industry Organization, Dr. G is also a senior teaching associate of the esteemed yogi Donna Farhi and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Art Center College of Design. See http://bodiesinspace.com and Dr. G's brain-based coaching and consulting group @ http://www.greensteingroup.com
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dr. Greenstein and Dr. Greenstein, Dr. Greenstein. Dr. Greenstein said: Kudos 2 @ REXBionics! Social Design Ingenuity at it's best! http://tinyurl.com/2476483 #hplus #inventor #design #TED #better #biotech [...]