Company develops exoskeleton that can be controlled with Alexa voice control

Bionik Laboratories has developed an exoskeleton for people with paralysis, which can be controlled entirely by voice. The service works via Amazon’s Alexa, and is primarily intended to help people get used to their suit.

The ability to control the exoskeleton by voice is incorporated in the Arke, a harness developed by Bionik that, among other things, should help the wearer to remain upright and to be able to walk. Normally, the Arke is operated by detecting the wearer’s movements, but not everyone who dons the exoskeleton can handle it right away. The voice control via Alexa should therefore help to get the wearer moving while he or she gets used to the suit, explains one of the founders of Bionik in a conversation with The Verge.

Wearers of the Arke can, among other things, ask the built-in Alexa voice service to help with getting up or taking steps. The disadvantage is that the exoskeleton itself does not yet have a microphone; a link with a device that supports Alexa is therefore still necessary.

It is also still unclear when the Arke with Alexa can actually be used in the clinic; Alexa is not intended for medical use, and in order to get certification the whole will have to pass a series of tests. For now, it is a prototype, and Bionik has not announced when it plans to start clinical trials.

Several companies and scientists are looking at the possibilities of using exoskeletons for patients who can no longer walk on their own, for example due to a spinal cord injury. Although there are now several suits, very few have actually been put on the market; in many cases the costs are difficult to bear.