We might turn into cyborgs a lot sooner than anyone expects, and oddly enough, it might start with car factory workers… at least if Ford have their way. They have been working on exoskeletons for a while now in a bid to make their human workers more efficient and less weary. Their latest development is called the EksoVest, and it looks so cool, it makes us want to become a factory worker. 

Ford’a EksoVest is a brilliantly engineered piece of hardware designed to reduce the physical toll on employees during the vehicle assembly process, lessening the chance of worker fatigue, injury or discomfort. Before you say Ford is pampering their workers with this thing, what these guys have to go through putting together cars every day is, according to the manufacturer, equivalent to lifting a bag of flour or a watermelon over your head up to 4,600 times a day . You would agree a little bit of help is most welcome here. What’s more, the EksoVest is said to drastically slash the rate of incidents and injuries at Ford’s production plant, which of course translates into more profit.

The EksoVest is a flexible device, fitting employees from 5 feet 2 inches tall to 6 feet 4 inches tall. It is made from lightweight material so it’s comfortable to wear, and yet it’s sturdy enough to triple the strength of each arm. That is so cool. We would wear this thing everywhere if we had one!

“At Ekso, our mission is to augment human capability with wearable technology and robotics that help people rethink current physical limitations and achieve the remarkable,” said Jack Peurach, president and chief executive officer of Ekso Bionics. “Advancing our collaboration with a global leader like Ford, represents a major step forward in achieving our mission as our EksoVest is deployed around the world to enhance the well-being of its work force.”