Bionik Laboratories, Toronto, Canada, announced a joint development project with Wistron, Taipei, Taiwan, to design, engineer, and manufacture low-price, lower-body assistive robotic technologies for commercial sale in the consumer home products market. The companies plan to base the new exoskeleton products on Bionik’s ARKE lower-body exoskeleton, currently in clinical development for use within rehabilitation environments, as well as incorporating other intellectual property relating to Bionik’s acquired or licensed assistive robotic technologies. The exoskeleton will be sold under the Bionik brand name and will first be targeted to the Asian market, where the aging/elderly population is projected to hit 983 million by 2050, increasing the need for affordable assistive technologies.
