17.5 km range. So five miles out and five miles back. So like a three hour hike. Anyone should be able to do that without a friction-burn- causing Roboleg attachment.
I guess if it meant I could bring my paraplegic neighbor hiking it would be cool.
She was in a coma. Unlike the movies, you don't usually just "wake up" from a coma. She'll never recover, and she used to love to walk in the park rather than be wheeled around it. Now she can again.
I don't think you have to be paraplegic to have a condition that prevents you from enjoying an invigorating hike. If this gets more people who aren't in perfect health out and exercising, what an incredible win.
One of the positive results of having the option to engage mechanical assistance is pushing myself beyond what I thought I am capable of, and surprising myself by not needing the assistance at any point. It improves the safety of pushing the envelope, for example I'm not going to risk attempting 30 miles if I think my limit is 20 miles unless I have a way to safely return if I can't do so under my own muscle-power
Though the battery is only 400g, so you could easily carry 3kg of spare batteries and extend that range significantly (at the expense of payload). You'd still come out way ahead.
It means this kind of technologies used to have sky-high prices because it was primarily used in the medical field. Now, as a consumer product, it's available for just $799.00, a huge shift in accessibility.
It's supposed to allow you to carry 30kg more than you could without it. Not many people could carry somebody else for 10 miles, but a lot more could with 30kg of assistance.
I guess if it meant I could bring my paraplegic neighbor hiking it would be cool.