A soft, wearable device that mimics the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the lower leg could aid in the rehabilitation of patients with ankle-foot disorders. This is the claim of Yong-Lae Park, an assistant professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. He worked with collaborators at Harvard University, the University of Southern California, MIT and Massachusetts-based BioSensics to develop an active orthotic device using soft plastics and composite materials instead of a rigid exoskeleton.

Do you feel that life imitates art at times? Perhaps, and when it comes to the realm of science fiction, what we see in a futuristic movie like Minority Report and its touchscreen user interface has already made its way to the real world. Scientists over at CMU, Harvard, the University of Southern California, MIT, and BioSensics have worked together to come up with a robotic ankle which is capable of assisting those who suffer from injuries or illnesses that have affected their lower legs in a negative manner.