The future is here. The future is now.
Imagine getting up off your couch got a little easier. Exiting your driver’s side door is no longer a chore. You feel more stable, you can navigate your world that much better.
All with the assistance of your very own robotic underpants!
But you ask yourself:
- Do I need them?
- What can they be used for?
- And really, what the heck are they?
The other day, I took a small journey down an academic rabbit hole and found out about this company: Seismic.
Seismic is a startup in Silicon Valley that integrates various gadgets and robotic parts into a leotard that helps you stand, sit, and otherwise move. They call them “electro-mechanical” muscles.
The “powered clothing”, as Seismic describes, are pretty slick, check’em out:
By slipping into one pair of these, you get a little oompf to everyday activity.
The company touts its rationale on an innovation of “Core Wellness”. With a better core (abdominal and trunk muscles), comes an improved quality of life.
I can get behind that. However, how we get there is another issue.
To wear or not to wear?
Concern #1 – Who is the product for?
The videos for their bodysuits are a little misleading. You see fit, beautiful people during their onstage demos. These Spring 2019 models do not look like they need help standing up from a chair.
I mean, look at the handsome, silvery fox, biceped-Dos Equis model.
If you watch the promo video on their homepage, you will notice how awful his life is with his kitschy modern apartment and vintage camera. If this guy can’t get out of bed to take a hike…I don’t know who can!?!?
All jokes aside, this product would make more sense if tailored to another consumer base. Think about if seniors, or those with medical conditions such as low muscle tone, wear the body suit. These folks are at a mechanical disadvantage because they not have the resting strength to get up and move in the first place. Maybe better target marketing is due.
(Seismic I am ready to accept your clinical director role.)
Would it be better to help those who can’t move very well, or give those people who can move well, an extra (albeit unnecessary) boost off the chair?
Concern #2 – Under what conditions do you wear the body suit?
Everyday? During a workout?
The big question here is: what is the functional use of the bodysuit?
What tasks can you perform better now that you have this suit on? The recent tech videos just describe the basics: sitting, standing, and walking. Will the suit help you sit, stand, and walk that much better? Can I use it to lift better in the gym? Throw a faster? Or should I just be worried if I can get off the toilet?
And how would you know the difference? What do the baseline data look like (your performance without the body suit)?
The videos show an interesting example of soldiers wearing exoskeletons that them to carry heavy loads. For the everyday urban warrior, I doubt most of us would engage in such physically demanding tasks as a part of our daily living. Even if we do, we would do the rational thing and use a moving dolly or ask a friend for help.
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This is a silly thought, but if you need help getting up, then how do you have the strength to put the suit on in the first place?
Concern #3 – How long do you wear the bodysuit?
All day? Half day? During a workout?
The fancy athletic material allows you to wear the bodysuit under clothes, or without…your normal clothes.
If you take the bodysuit off at bedtime, do you risk not being able to get out of bed in the morning?!?!
Concern #4 – What are the potential health ramifications?
This screamed at me the first time I saw this bodysuit.
Stay with me here…
- Our bodies are designed for movement.
- We use our muscles and bones to move around.
- Any time we use an artificial device to move, we use our bones and muscles less.
- Over time, the less we use our muscles and bones the weaker they get.
(For example, think about how when people are first paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, their legs get noticeable smaller within the first year).
Thus, this bodysuit appears that it may create a vicious feedback loop…
- Someone has weak muscles to begin with.
- Then, they put on the suit.
- The suit does some of the work for them.
- Over time, the muscles and bones lose strength because of the extra work that the suit provides, which then requires the suit to work even harder.
- With the bodysuit working harder each round, then the muscles and bones play less of a role and become weaker…
Seems logical right?
The videos and website never describe that the suit builds strength for the wearer. Rather, the bodysuit provides the strength FOR them. The individual puts on these “electro-mechanical muscles”.
Can you see how this becomes problematic?
In theory, once you get into a suit, you become more and more reliant on it. And indirectly, become less independent.
Concern #5 – Do you wear it forever?
This concern echoes a similar issue when wearing any device: when do no you longer need it?
I described this issue earlier (link) when people start wearing Fitbits and other activity trackers. Say you put on your device and average that golden 10,000 steps per day benchmark. Do you need to keep wearing your Fitbit? Is it still useful? Would you stop taking so many steps IF you took it off?
We’re not that dependent on technology, are we?
In my experience through research and practice, I never read in the fine print of any physical activity device this phrase,
“…and by the way, plan to wear this forever”.
This same idea applies for the suit.
With the goal of “core wellness”, the suit appears to replace certain core activities, and not actually build core strength. Without building core strength, it appears that you would need to wear your bodysuit forever.
And what about upgrades? Once you buy your Spring 2019 collection bodysuit, does it need an upgrade, every year, like the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy Note? Will your electro-mechanical muscles 1.0 be out of date, not strong enough, and need a software upgrade by Spring 2020?
And, if this product is successful, the long-term ramifications are scary. If grandma becomes dependent on her bodysuit and she loses it, it breaks, or it doesn’t stay charged, she may be worse off than she started.
Grandma’s bodysuit would need to be LifeAlert model (“help I’ve fallen and can’t get up”). Once the suit goes down for the count, help is on the way!
Now that’s an interesting clinical application!
Concern #6 – What’s the alternative?
The one real solution to “core wellness” doesn’t involve bodysuits.
What is it you ask?
…wait for it…
…wait for it…
IT’S CORE TRAINING!!!!
How about using the muscles and bones that you were born with?
22 million dollars in funding and they completely missed this one.
Join a gym, attend group classes, hire a personal trainer.
Enough said.
Concern #7 – Is it worth doing?
At the heart of applied behavior analysis, rests this notion.
Does an intervention, or piece of technology make a meaningful difference in someone’s life?
You can use Simon Sinek’s model, “What is your why?”
- Why do people need these bodysuits?
- Can they live without them?
- Can they NOT live without them?
- Why does it make their life better?
- And how could you tell?
This is a larger issue at is relates to the progress of technology embedded in humanity. Take it from a quote by Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum’s character) in Jurassic Park:
“…your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, but never stopped to think if they should”
A larger question becomes, are we better off because of these inventions
- Are we better off living with T-Rex?
- Are we better off with robotic underpants?
- Are we better off treating symptoms instead of the problem itself?
To wrap it up, I am sure there is more to Seismic’s powered clothing than the videos and websites let on, but it is hard to tell. As a consumer, it should be easy to navigate these concerns, but it really isn’t.
Power clothing seems like an interesting idea, but 22 million dollars? We need more coaching and individualized guidance to core goals.
Again, their mantra: strong core = better life. And if the bodysuit does simultaneously train the core somehow, then I retract this entire blog.
Keep moving (without powered clothing), it’s good for your core.
