British telecom company teams up with maker of bionic suit

Vodafone just announced a new partnership with wearable robotics company Ekso Bionics. Ekso makes a robotic exoskeleton that can enhance natural endurance or strength in able-bodied people and enables people living with paralysis to stand and walk walk. The San Francisco Bay Area-based company, which has licensed its suit for military use, is now primarily marketing its signature product as a medical device to aid recovery from stroke or reduce the secondary effects of paralysis by getting people out of wheelchairs for a portion of each day. Computer vision and 3D imaging are helping robots find new uses outside the factory. The Internet of Things is finding its way into all kinds of hardware, and roboticists have been especially keen to employ IoT sensors--which is where the Vodafone partnership comes in.