Faculty
Faculty of Social Science
Supervisor Name
Professor William J. Turkel
Keywords
Exoskeleton, Patents, Augmentation, Enhancement, Disability, Rehabilitation
Description
Human augmentation technology has numerous applications in rehabilitation medicine, disability management, military settings, workplace/industrial settings etc. Such technology can be studied through patent exploration, where the contents of each patent can highlight specific intentions and usage for the invention. This project uses a small sample of exoskeleton patents from China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, to demonstrate how similar technology is designed for different purposes. Three distinct patent categories have been identified: Disability & Rehabilitation, Prevention of Injury, and Enhancement. Disability & Rehabilitation patents describe exoskeletal devices that are intended for use in medical settings. These may be used indefinitely by disabled individuals or temporarily by those recovering from injuries. Prevention of Injury patents help users reduce the likelihood of becoming injured or disabled. Finally, Enhancement patents go beyond this scope, instead focusing on increasing the skills and abilities of non-disabled individuals who use an exoskeleton device. This most often manifests itself in workplace or military applications. The findings show that many patents do not fit neatly into one specific section, though every patent contains components of at least one of the three categories.
Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor William Turkel, who generously took me on for this summer project and allowed me to explore my interests freely. I’d also like to thank my sister, Rodela Debnath, whose creative input was invaluable to me in designing my final output.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Document Type
Poster
Human Augmentation Technology: Exploring Exoskeleton Patents
Human augmentation technology has numerous applications in rehabilitation medicine, disability management, military settings, workplace/industrial settings etc. Such technology can be studied through patent exploration, where the contents of each patent can highlight specific intentions and usage for the invention. This project uses a small sample of exoskeleton patents from China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, to demonstrate how similar technology is designed for different purposes. Three distinct patent categories have been identified: Disability & Rehabilitation, Prevention of Injury, and Enhancement. Disability & Rehabilitation patents describe exoskeletal devices that are intended for use in medical settings. These may be used indefinitely by disabled individuals or temporarily by those recovering from injuries. Prevention of Injury patents help users reduce the likelihood of becoming injured or disabled. Finally, Enhancement patents go beyond this scope, instead focusing on increasing the skills and abilities of non-disabled individuals who use an exoskeleton device. This most often manifests itself in workplace or military applications. The findings show that many patents do not fit neatly into one specific section, though every patent contains components of at least one of the three categories.