The elegant design could be crucial for those who have an issue with mobility.

A team of engineers from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have come a step closer towards making a exosuit which could potentially help those afflicted with lower limb disabilities walk again.

The Wyss Institute has announced that it is collaborating with ReWalk Robotics to bring this soft wearable exosuit to the retail market.

The exosuit has been designed by Dr. Conor Walsh, who incidentally also happens to be the founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, along with a team of roboticists, software, mechanical and biomechanical engineers, as well as apparel designers.

What makes the suit stand out from the rest of the competition is its fabric form fitting, based design. Instead of relying on a heavy rigid frame, as traditional exosuits have done, the current design has extensively relied on small but powerful actuators which are cleverly tucked into the belt to assist the wearer’s legs move in a natural way.

While the soft exosuit may not be currently suitable to fight off Japan’s Xenopmorph’s, its elegant approach could provide the elderly who still have partial mobility with a never before seen solution.

“Ultimately this agreement paves the way for this technology to make its way to patients,” said Walsh.

According to Harvard, the exosuit’s development has already had a definite and a profound impact beyond just medical applications. In fact, the announcement itself makes it crystal clear when it described the team’s working to have “been the catalyst for entirely new forms of functional textiles, flexible power systems and control strategies that integrate the suit and its wearer in ways that mimic the natural biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal system.”