Japanese Researchers Developed A Tail To Help Us Stand Better

Saanvi Araav - Sep 18, 2019

The newly-developed tail will help wearers stabilize their gravity center of the body and prevent themselves from falling in some cases. In other words, it works as an anchor.

A group of researchers from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, is developing a wearable robotic tail which moves and animates according to our body movement. It helps us improve our general responsiveness and body balancing.

How would a tail help us?

Your body always needs to calculate the extra weight to stand up when you lift something. But, sometimes, when your body is not able to balance itself, you may fall. In a similar scenario, a tail will help you stabilize your gravity center of the body; it works as an anchor.

The tail's design (named Arque) takes its inspiration from sea horse's tail which is just tiny, but capable of driving powerful movements rapidly. Each wearer may have a different dimension of the tail and can adjust it to his liking. There are also options to add more weight or attach more segments for more stability.

wearable-tail-japan — The design of the tail.

This tail features pneumatic pressure pipes that have a connection with an air-compressor which goes through the device. It helps to change the tail's direction by sending pressure through the pipes. The product is still in an early stage, but they expect that the final product could become a portable solution.

Who will use it?

So where could we try this initiative? At the moment, the targeted users are warehouse workers who have to lift heavy loads. Other targeted users are senior citizens to help them avoid falling.

Arque comes with many haptic sensors which will send wearers haptic feedback in real-time. The researchers want to pair it with VR devices to offer a better experience of virtual worlds for wearers.

In other words, tails will soon come back to our life. Just hope that they will be handy, at least, to scratch our backs.