human-augmentation
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Roam Robotics
Roam Robotics builds lightweight, air-powered wearable exoskeletons that augment human strength, endurance and mobility. Founded by Ekso Bionics veteran Dr. Tim Swift, the San Francisco company replaced the heavy metal of traditional exoskeletons with plastic, fabric and pneumatic actuators - making robotic assistance cheap and light enough to wear all day. Its products span consumer skiing (Elevate), medical knee osteoarthritis relief (Ascend), and military performance (Forge), with clinical data showing 46% average knee-pain reduction and up to 2x strength and endurance gains.
Tim Swift
Tim Swift is the founder and CEO of Roam Robotics, the San Francisco company building lightweight exoskeletons out of high-strength fabric and compressed air instead of heavy steel and motors. A UC Berkeley mechanical engineering PhD, he was one of the original three-person team that invented the Ekso exoskeleton at Ekso Bionics, then went to Otherlab before starting Roam in 2014. His bet: that wearable robots can weigh five pounds, cost a few thousand dollars, and be something a regular person buys to ski longer, hike farther, or move with less pain - not a tens-of-thousands-of-dollars hospital machine.