New Designs for Elderly Care Offered

The Idea House displays a wide variety of groundbreaking technologies and designs, but perhaps the most remarkable was Cyberdyne's Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) device.

"Cyberdyne's device is a robotic suit that uses the bio-electric signals a person's brain and nervous system sends to muscles to activate an electromechanical limb, which is attached to the actual limb of the person," Alwan says. "It assists in the motion and can multiply the force of the limb by up to ten times."

HAL can be used as a temporary rehabilitation device, a permanent device for a disabled individual, or a device to help caregivers provide more support and weight-bearing assistance to the people they care for.

Although the Idea House was dismantled and packed away after AAHSA's Annual Meeting and Exposition ended, it will be available for viewing again at next year's meeting, where it will display new ideas and products.