This episode we talk exoskeletons: what are they being used for now?

What might they be used for in the future? And what happens when they’re everywhere?

Guests

• Tim Pote, PhD student at Virginia Tech
• Greg Pote, Tim’s brother
• Dr. Bill Marras, professor at The Ohio State University & Director of the Spine Research Institute
• Larry Jasinksi, CEO, Rewalk
• Ashley Shew, assistant professor at Virginia Tech in technology & disability, and author of Animal Constructions and Technological Knoweldge
• Kim Sauder, graduate student in Disability Studies, author of Crippled Scholar blog
• Bill Peace, anthropologist & bioethicist, author of Bad Cripple blog

Further Reading

• The robotic exoskeleton market is poised to grow to $1.9 billion in 2025, compared to $97 million in 2016, says ABI Research’s Dan Kara.
• Berkeley BLEEX Exoskeleton
• Exoskeletons Won’t Turn Assembly Workers into Iron Man
• We Try a New Exoskeleton for Construction Workers
• The Exoskeletons Are Coming
• ReWalk Testimonials
• Cyberdyne’s Medical Exoskeleton Strides to FDA Approval
• This $40,000 Robotic Exoskeleton Lets the Paralyzed Walk
• For heavy lifting, use exoskeletons with caution
• Biomechanical evaluation of exoskeleton use on loading of the lumbar spine
• Exoskeletons for industrial application and their potential effects on physical work load
• The effects of a passive exoskeleton on muscle activity, discomfort and endurance time in forward bending work.
• The Exoskeleton’s Hidden Burden
• Walking is Over Rated
• The Obsession With Walking
• Exoskeletons as a Social Problem
• You Cannot Kill a Bad Idea: The Exoskeleton Lives
• ReWalk: A Plea for Common Sense 

Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The future historian this episode was played by Sarah Warner. The episode art is, as always, by Matt Lubchansky.

If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at info@flashforwardpod.com. We love hearing your ideas! And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.

And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help.

That’s all for this future, come back next time and we’ll travel to a new one.

Flash Forward is a critically acclaimed podcast about the future.

In each episode, host Rose Eveleth takes on a possible (or not so possible) future scenario — everything from the existence of artificial wombs, to what would happen if space pirates dragged a second moon to Earth. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a black market for fecal transplants? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) By combining audio drama and deep reporting, Flash Forward gives listeners an original and unique window into the future, how likely different scenarios might be, and how to prepare for what might come.