Transform with an artificial muscle suit

ㆍ‘Innophys’ is tackling the problem of aging by developing a muscle suit with strength support for the elderly.

ㆍAll you have to do is wear the suit like a backpack and fill the air pump. You’ll have incredible strength!

ㆍA non-motorized exoskeleton suit could be a live-action version of “Iron Man.”

Power elderly

Two people, one in his 20s and the other in his 70s, are standing in front of a 45lb(around 20kg) boulder. Surprisingly, the older man can lift the boulder more easily than the younger man. This is because the older man is wearing a “muscle suit” developed by Japanese startup Innophys. The suit has “artificial muscles” that can help older people with deteriorating joints to lift heavy loads or bend over more easily. With the suit, the older man can lift up to 55lb(around 25kg). This innovation has the potential to improve the lives of older people who struggle with physical tasks.

The Every Muscle Suit, developed by Innophys in April 2018, aims to support Japan’s aging population. According to the United Nations, Japan is the world’s “oldest” country, and by 2025, more than 30% of its population will be aged 65 or older, making it the fastest-growing super-aged society. However, Japan is not the only country facing this challenge. As the global elderly population increases, there is a greater need for seniors to continue working. Many people believe that they will be unable to work physically demanding jobs beyond the age of 70 due to mobility issues, but muscle suits offer a solution, enabling them to perform physical labor with ease. The ‘power elderly’ was born.

How it works

The principle is simple. It’s an exoskeleton device that you wear like a backpack. Once you put it on, the base of the suit secures your thighs, and the frame of artificial muscles made of rubber tubing supports your back. To activate the suit, you need to inflate the muscles by pressing the pump by hand about 30 times. When the muscles are filled with compressed air, they become taut, shorten in length, and create a strong pull on the body (up to 441lb-200 kg- of tensile force at 5 atmospheres). The muscle suit will only deflate when it’s not in use, and you can easily deflate it by pressing a button.

Senior user: “I wore a muscle suit that inflates and it felt like it was lifting my rear end, making me feel lighter. When I bent down to lift things, the suit supported me from behind, giving me extra strength. I was able to move my legs and waist without any strain on my body.”

No electricity

Innophys intentionally did not include a battery in the muscle suit. They felt that most exoskeleton products that use batteries are not user-friendly. These products require recharging from time to time, which is a limitation. Innophys’ muscle suit replaces the air compressor with a hand pump, which means that it does not rely on electricity and does not need to be recharged. Therefore, it is an ideal product for outdoor work, as it can be used for an unlimited amount of time. Innophys’ primary strengths are its light weight and affordability. Currently, the overall weight of the muscle suit is less than 4 kilograms, and it is priced between $1500 and $2000. With these advantages, Innophys’ muscle suits are sold in 17 countries, including China, South Korea, Germany, and France.

Iron Man is back?

We can all benefit from muscle suits, as they have the potential to expand into other industries beyond helping seniors move or enabling labor. For instance, we can imagine nursing assistants or caregivers wearing them to carry elderly or disabled individuals who are unable to move. This would significantly reduce worker fatigue when sorting heavy parcels, moving houses, or lifting work in factories. Additionally, farmers who have to bend down to pick cabbages or radishes would benefit from this technology.

This scenario is perfectly feasible. However, it gets even more intriguing when you consider that the story takes place in the sky. If we had exoskeleton suits, our physical capabilities would be augmented, enabling us to move quicker and become stronger. Additionally, we could travel through the air at great speeds, similar to Iron Man’s suit. Maybe in the future, we’ll use air pressure-powered exoskeleton suits to fly through the air for tasks such as package delivery. While it may appear to be an improbable notion, it’s not impossible given the advent of inflatable soft drones.(Arizona State University has designed and tested the first quadrotor drone with an inflatable frame.)

You are a Iron Man.