Robotic rehabilitation device developer Bionik Laboratories said today it integrated Amazon‘s (NSDQ:AMZN) Echo and Alexa voice technology into its Arke lower body exoskeleton.
With the integration users of the Arke exoskeleton will be able to control the system and its various activity modes, including standing and walking, through voice commands, the Toronto-based company said.
“We are excited to complete the integration of Amazon’s Echo and Alexa into our Arke exoskeleton, combining the power of Amazon’s voice-activated technologies with our powerful assistive robotic solutions for the next evolution in treating consumer immobility. In building Arke, we had one goal in mind – to empower the user to take back their mobility and regain the ability to complete tasks that the rest of us deem normal, like walking to the refrigerator or going to get the mail. This pairing of our robotic technologies with the power of Amazon’s Alexa further pushes the boundaries of what technology can do within the home healthcare industry, and we believe we will help many impaired individuals regain the mobility they once lost,” Bionik co-founder & COO Michal Prywata said in a prepared statement.
The company’s Arke system uses artificial intelligence to translate sensor information and intelligently respond to allow individuals paralyzed from the waist down to mimic movements to aid in walking, the company said.
The Arke is still in clinical development, with a focus on aiding individuals who’ve suffered spinal cord injuries or who are otherwise severely impaired as a result of stroke, traumatic brain injury or other incidents.
“The continued evolution of our Arke exoskeleton is important for our company, as the mArket for assistive mobility products continues to grow at a rapid pace across the globe. Aside from the large number of citizens who have suffered injury, the global population is also aging rapidly, and those citizens will be in need of a home-based assistive product that can truly provide them the mobility that a wheelchair, cane, or crutches currently can’t. We will continue to seek out partnerships and technological advancements that will enable us to serve that population on a mass consumer scale,” Bionik CEO Peter Bloch said in a press release.
In late June, Bionik Labs and tech service provider Wistron said they will partner to design, engineer and manufacture low-price lower-body assistive robotic technologies for the consumer medical device market.
Tell Us What You Think!