On Tue, 6 Oct 2009 07:14:12 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

I saw a video of something more interesting, a sort of device that
helps people with weak muscles such as from Parkinsons walk and climb
stairs. It can provide either a gentle push to cause the person to
walk on cue (with Parkinsons the cue from the brain gets scrambled) or
can provide a small amount of muscle boost too. It was being
developed by Honda and I would expect to see it on the market in 5
years considering the aging Boomer population.

Yep - a Doug Kamen invention I believe. He's advanced that to
prosthetic limbs and hands. Saw something on the news about his arm -
the guy, double amputee at the shoulder, could pick a grape off a
bunch, peel a tomato - pretty amazing stuff.