Super Suit, $590/Month

Here in the U.S., suits that give wearers super strength are locked up in military-funded labs. In Japan, however, researchers and entrepreneurs are teaming up to rent the exoskeletons out for "70,000 yen [$590] a month plus a maintenance fee," *Japan Times *reports.

University of Tsukuba professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, designer of the HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) "power-assist system," is the brains behind the robo-muscle operation, directed at the elderly and infirmed. His suit, which allegedly enhances leg-strength by 80 percent, has already helped a paralyzed man go mountain-climbing in Switzerland. Now, Sankai is going into business with Daiwa House
Industry Co., which has "started constructing a manufacturing facility recently to produce 400 to 500 suits annually starting in
2008."

If a wearer wants to move a limb, its motor, reading signals from the brain, will go into action, and the hands and legs will move together with the suit.

Its special feature is that the suit's hands and legs do not move on their own, but the person can move them at will, Sankai said.

A polio sufferer could walk, although with a limp, and even a person with a spinal disability could walk with its help, he said.

But there may be a military market for Sankai, yet. I bet soldiers wouldn't hate their Land Warrior wearable electronics quite so much, if they had some super-strength to help carry all that gear around. While he's at it, maybe Sankai could equip the exoskeletons with sewn-in stun guns.

(High five: Eric, Gizmodo)