Artificial exoskeletons and soft exosuits improve human mobility after a traumatic incident, serving as replacements for human limbs.

Advanced articulation mechanics and neurointerfaces are generating big strides in this field. The hard exoskeletons used today will soon evolve into smaller, more modular components and designs.

Researchers at the Robotics Institute at Beihang University are developing new lower-body mechanisms that are lightweight and respond to the wearer in real time.

Meanwhile, scientists at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering are researching how to transition from soft exosuits to implanted interfaces—think tiny sensors worn beneath the skin—which could someday help to control neuromuscular activity to help people with sever impairments regain mobility.