Okay, so they don't make you actually look like a centaur - more like a quasi centaur/human halfbreed thing. The spring loaded, cloven hoofed leg extensions are designed to attach like stilts, increasing your height by 14 inches and allowing you to walk as though you had horse legs.
Kim Graham (the gadget's designer) says that it takes about 10-15 minutes to get used to walking in them. For snow boarders, apparently, the transition is smoother - requiring about 15 seconds to break the puppies in. After that, wearers should be good to go for around 5 hours.
The extensions apparently do cause some fatigue to the legs, as they force the wearer's feet into an abnormal position and are not meant for long term use. They also encounter a bit of difficulty climbing/descending steps and steep inclines.
But imagine how much more can be done with the design. If something like this could be applied to gadgets like Cyberdyne Corporation of Japan's HAL (Hybrid Assisted Limb) suit - AKA: The Ironman Suit - it could possibly ameliorate the legs' mobility issues and even make it possible to create a hind-quarter extension. Currently, there's no talk of such a collaboration in the works and because the HAL suit remains in the design and test phase (plus, still too cumbersome to be feasible for use by the general public) you probably won't be seeing it in the near future. But Graham and Digigrade are already planning the design for a "Victorian style mechanical satyr costume with moving gears". And seriously, how cool would that be?
More info can be found by following the links below:
Kim Graham Studios
Digigrade Mechanical Centaur Legs
 ReDValKyRiE13 · Fri Jul 03, 2009 @ 06:07pm · 0 Comments |
