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2025 Week #40 Exoskeleton Report Newsletter Header – October 2, 2025

Episode 20: Art Meets Engineering, User-First Exoskeleton with Melissa “Blue Eye Queen”

An exo user with an engineering and an art degree: the perfect intersection of needs, skills, and experience! A one-hour discussion that includes the state of medical exoskeletons and mobility devices, and how they can be made more acceptable in the eyes of users and the public alike. 

Last week, we asked for success stories involving exoskeletons. Here is one from Plymouth, a leading protein distribution company in the USA, which has been using HeroWear Apex 2. If you have successfully implemented exos, please share some of your stories with us.

Effects of different implementation approaches on the acceptability of a passive exoskeleton for workplace health promotion: An intervention study using the MATE-XT®

The paper compares two methods of introducing a passive upper-limb exoskeleton (MATE-XT) to workers in a health promotion context: structured application training (AT; n = 9) versus a standardized briefing (SB; n = 9) over four weeks and a one-year follow-up. AT (which included 4.5 hours of comprehensive, theory-based training) led to higher perceived usefulness/usability, greater curiosity and lower skepticism, increased wearing time over the last two weeks, and better self-reported physical health.

Vilje Bionics closes 19 MNOK seed; total funding tops 60 MNOK (~$6 M).

Ascentiz, an interchangeable hip-only OR knee-only consumer exoskeleton, Kickstarter.com campaign already past $1M with more than 30 days to go.

Kinethreads: Soft Full-Body Haptic Exosuit using Low-Cost Motor-Pulley Mechanisms

An intriguing proof-of-concept full-body cable-driven exosuit to simulate forces for AR/VR games and simulations.

Applied Collegiate Exoskeleton International Competition – May 2026

Preliminary 2026 Rulebook and Inspection Protocols now available for download! 

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an [the next generation of an] innovative hand exoskeleton that helps persons after stroke re-learn how to grasp. Its accordion-like structure makes it light, robust and easy to integrate into everyday life.