Indian start-ups : Light robots for physically-challenged

There is so much talk of robots doing jobs more efficiently than us. But Eythor Bender feels that if robotics were combined with a person's brain, we could actually outshine robots! "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, or as we say, even wear them!" he said.

The company, Ekso Bionics - formerly Berkeley Bionics - that Bender is CEO of, does just that. It makes exoskeletans, or light robots that you can wear to increase your efficiency. for instance, soldiers - who often have chronic back injuries from carrying heavy loads across rough terrains - can carry a lot more. Ekso's exoskeletans could help a person carry up to 200 pounds on their back for 20 kilometres for up to six hours.

Stroke, paralysis and osteoporosis patients as well as anybody with mobility issues or in a wheelchair can walk. "When I'm 80 years old and want to go skiing or snowboarding, I can do so by just wearing a bionic device instead of undergoing surgeries," said Bender.

Most bionic devices today need to be surgically implanted, which bring their own complications. This non-invasiveness, and the fact that it can be donned like a piece of clothing, is what makes Ekso's product distinctive. The company spun out of the University of California (UC) Berkeley in 2005. Grants, including a $10-million DARPA grant, and a partnership with defence giant Lockheed Martin helped Ekso focus strictly on R&D and develop products for the US military. Now that its product is market-ready, it will launch in January 2012. "While it is revolutionary, the cost factor means it will not be a market that grows quickly," said Larry Fisher, a technology research consultant.

While he was at ABI Research, Fisher helped bring out a study which found that the overall market for exoskeletons, powered prostheses and optical sensory devices will exceed $877 million in 2020. Of this, exoskeletons will account for sales of just $292 million. Just 11,000 units will be delivered during this decade.

Ekso's product is indeed very expensive, costing approximately $130,000, plus an annual service charge of about $10,000. This is obviously unaffordable for a typical patient. But then, Ekso is not targeting them directly yet. In 2012, it plans to sell directly to 11 rehabilitation centres in the US, including the renowned Rehabiliation Institute of Chicago (RIC), where the world's first bionic man Jesse Sullivan got his legendary bionic arm.

Down the road, Ekso plans to do some more R&D and come up with products that specifically target end users by around 2014. These will be cheaper, and initially customised, but eventually will be available off the shelf. These will cost about $30,000 to $50,000, depending on the features, which is roughly what high-end wheelchairs cost today.

The market is huge: Bender said the US alone has over 1.5 million amputees and there are over 70 million people in wheelchairs. When Ekso brings out its consumercentric products in 2014, it also plans to focus on creating the requisite customer experience by setting up what it calls "exocentres".