Robotic tails for humans are here

A group of researchers from Keio University in Japan has created a robotic tail for humans. Called Arque, the robotic tail prototype was designed to do what a real tail does: balance out the rest of the body. The researchers, who are part of Keio's graduate school of media design, presented the work last week at the 2019 SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles, which focuses on graphics, gaming, and emerging technology. The appendage was inspired by a seahorse's tail, which is strong enough to withstand predators' bites but still flexible to grip things in its environment, like coral. The researchers' prototype was also designed to fit whoever ends up wearing it: the tail can be adjusted to the wearer's body by adding or removing modular "vertebrae."