Technology

Wearable robotics are changing how we walk and run

Published

3 weeks ago

February 16, 2026

Wearable robotics are changing how we walk and run

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When you hear the word robotics, you probably think of factory machines or humanoid robots sprinting across a test track. That image makes sense. For years, robotics lived in labs and industrial spaces.

But a quieter shift is happening much closer to home. It is happening around your ankles, knees and hips. Wearable robotics are moving out of research labs and into everyday life. From powered shoes to lightweight exoskeletons, this new wave of assisted movement technology is becoming a real consumer category.

The goal is not to replace your effort. It is to support it. And that shift is bigger than any single brand.

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AI WEARABLE HELPS STROKE SURVIVORS SPEAK AGAIN

Wearable robotics are moving from labs to everyday life, with powered shoes and exoskeletons designed to reduce fatigue and support natural movement. (Xiao Xiao/Xinhua via Getty Images)

From elite athletes to everyday use: the shift in wearable robotics

For years, sports innovation focused on speed. Lighter foam. Carbon plates. Better traction. Most of those gains targeted elite competitors. Now the focus is expanding beyond race day. Nike’s Project Amplify, developed with robotics partner Dephy, is one example. The system pairs a carbon plate inside the shoe with a motorized cuff worn above the ankle. Sensors track stride patterns in real time, and the cuff provides subtle forward assistance designed to feel smooth and natural. Instead of forcing movement, it learns it.

Earlier attempts at powered footwear struggled because batteries and motors were too heavy to sit inside a shoe. The result felt awkward and unbalanced. Modern designs solve that problem by moving energy storage above the ankle or to the hips. By shifting weight higher on the leg, engineers reduce strain on the foot and improve balance.

Battery improvements and smarter motion sensors also play a role. Today’s systems adapt to your stride in real time, making assisted movement feel less like equipment and more like an extension of your body. The company has said it is targeting a commercial release around 2028. But Nike is not alone in this space.

Powered footwear and exoskeletons are entering the consumer market

If you have ever felt your legs get heavy halfway through a long walk, you understand why this category exists. Maybe it is a trip through the airport, a walk around the neighborhood or a few flights of stairs that feel steeper than they used to. Most people are not trying to run faster. They just want to move without feeling worn out. That is where wearable robotics are starting to show up. Companies are building products meant for real people, not just elite athletes or lab testing.

Early consumer exoskeletons for outdoor movement

The Hypershell X is one example. It is a lightweight outdoor exoskeleton designed for hikers and long-distance walkers. The system wraps around the waist and legs and uses small motors to reduce fatigue on climbs and uneven terrain. The goal is straightforward. Help you go farther without feeling drained halfway through the trail. Hypershell also introduced the X Ultra, a more powerful version built for steeper terrain and longer outings. It delivers stronger assist levels while staying compact enough to wear under standard outdoor gear. Both models are designed for recreational users who want endurance support, not medical treatment.

Dnsys has also introduced the X1 all-terrain exoskeleton. The hip-mounted system is marketed to hikers and outdoor enthusiasts who want help reducing fatigue on climbs and long treks. Unlike lab prototypes, the X1 has been sold through crowdfunding and direct online orders, making it one of the early consumer entries in this space.

Wearable robotics designed for everyday walking

Another example is WIM from WIRobotics. This wearable robot weighs about 3.5 pounds and supports natural hip movement while walking. It is meant for older adults, active adults and people recovering from minor injuries who want extra assistance without wearing something bulky or clinical looking.

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Medical exoskeleton makers such as Ekso Bionics and ReWalk paved the way for today’s consumer wearable robotics. (Wu Junyi/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

From medical exoskeletons to consumer devices

The medical side of wearable robotics has been evolving even longer. Companies like Ekso Bionics and ReWalk have developed powered exoskeletons that help people with spinal cord injuries or stroke stand and walk. These systems are used in rehabilitation clinics and in select personal mobility programs. They show how wearable robotics first proved themselves in medical settings before gradually influencing consumer designs.

These products vary in power, price and purpose. What connects them is a shared direction. Wearable robotics are beginning to actively assist movement, not just track it.

How wearable robotics help reduce fatigue and movement hesitation

Here is something people rarely admit. It is not always an injury that stops movement. It is hesitation. Many people worry about knee pain creeping in halfway through a walk. Others fear running out of energy before they make it home. Some quietly stress about slowing everyone else down.

Those doubts shorten walks and cancel runs long before physical limits do. Wearable robotics hopes to close that confidence gap. By reducing fatigue and supporting joints, assisted movement systems can make activity feel realistic again for people who might otherwise skip it. Effort does not disappear. The barrier to starting simply becomes lower.

Powered footwear and wearable robotics support natural movement

A better comparison might be e-bikes. Electric assistance did not eliminate cycling. Instead, it expanded who felt comfortable getting on a bike in the first place. Powered footwear and wearable robotics could have a similar effect on walking and running. In practical terms, that might look different for different people.

Some commuters could replace short car trips. Older adults might stay active longer without feeling as worn out. Casual runners could finish a workout with energy to spare instead of dragging through the final mile. In other words, this shift is not about creating super athletes. It is about widening the circle of people who feel capable of participating.

What this means to you

You may never strap on a powered exoskeleton. You may not be waiting for motorized shoes to hit stores in 2028. But this shift still matters. If walking a long trail leaves your knees aching, or if you skip runs because you worry about burning out halfway through, this kind of technology is being built with you in mind. The goal is not to turn anyone into a super athlete. It is to make movement feel more doable.

For some people, that could mean walking an extra mile without thinking twice. For others, it might mean keeping up with friends, staying active longer or feeling a little less hesitant about getting started. Wearable robotics are changing the conversation. Instead of asking how fast you can go, the question becomes simpler. How comfortable do you want to feel while moving? And that is a very different way to think about fitness.

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NEW EXOSKELETON ADAPTS TO TERRAIN WITH SMART AI POWER

Consumer exoskeletons like Hypershell X and Dnsys X1 target hikers seeking endurance support on long treks. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Kurt’s key takeaways

Wearable robotics systems are still in the early stages of consumer adoption. Most powered footwear and exoskeleton systems remain expensive and limited in availability. But the direction is clear. Technology is shifting from tracking your performance to actively supporting it. That is a meaningful change. If assisted movement becomes as common as smartwatches or fitness trackers, it could reshape how people think about aging, endurance and daily mobility. Walking farther may feel realistic again. Running may feel less intimidating. Staying active later in life could become more achievable for millions. The real question is not whether wearable robotics will improve. They will. The bigger question is how we choose to use them.

If wearable robotics can help you walk and run with less strain, would you try them, or would you rather rely only on your own effort? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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Technology

How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs

Published

9 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs

Soon after the Trump administration launched its war on Iran, I called up Reed Blakemore, director of research and programs at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, to talk about the consequences. While oil and gas prices were already on the rise, there was still more hope then that the impact of the conflict might be short-lived. At the end of our conversation, Blakemore said plainly: “Let’s have a call again [next week] … We’ll have a much clearer picture of what the conflict is going to look like and what the story really is going to be for energy moving forward.”

Energy infrastructure has become a key leverage point in the unfolding war

It’s a week later and the conflict has only escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Energy infrastructure has become a key leverage point in the unfolding war, with Israel hitting Iranian fuel depots and Iran targeting Gulf neighbors’ oil and gas infrastructure in its own strikes. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened on Tuesday not to “not allow the export of even a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice.” Iran has reportedly also started to lay mines in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global petroleum consumption and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade used to move.

I talked to Blakemore again today about what Iran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz means for energy costs and US tech companies’ rush to build out energy-hungry AI data centers.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s your outlook now on how the conflict is likely to affect oil and gasoline prices?

Reed Blakemore: The fundamental issue right now, in terms of the energy implications of the conflict, is how the market is reacting to the uncertainty around safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

At the outset of the conflict when we saw insurance premiums going up for these ships, we were largely talking about it in the context of, Hey, it’s just gotten much more expensive for a ship to traverse the Gulf and therefore they’re staying out.

We’ve moved from that to actual concerns around the security of passing through the straits in the first place, so this is no longer an insurance cost issue as much as it is a safety and security issue.

We have virtually no traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. A lot of countries are beginning to shut in production. So there’s already this ripple effect emerging purely because the market and basically tankers are fundamentally concerned about whether or not they will be able to safely pass through the strait.

“There’s only so much that US energy dominance can do to shield US consumers”

The other feature that I think we’ve seen the market react strongly to in the past several days is a sense of how long this conflict is going to last. And I think you can look to the comments from the president in the last 72 hours and the market’s reaction as a major piece of evidence to that end. Moving into the weekend where the campaign had clearly escalated, the uncertainty around how open the Strait of Hormuz would or wouldn’t be was beginning to reach a fever pitch. The response from markets when they opened in Asia on Sunday going past $100 a barrel to nearly $120 a barrel is really a function of the market not having a sense that this would be over anytime soon. That pullback that we saw over the course of yesterday was in response to the president saying fundamentally that Hey, we have an end in sight to this conflict.

The United States is a major oil producer. I think the strategy of US energy dominance played a significant role in terms of shielding US consumers from the initial market consequences of the decision to go to war with Iran. The price increases we’ve seen thus far would have been much more responsive to the market volatility. That has bought the administration a little bit of time as it relates to how long until we see the gasoline prices really begin to pick up steam domestically. But as this conflict persists and the volatility in the market continues, we will begin to see upward pressure on gasoline prices, regrettably, over time.

There’s only so much that US energy dominance can do to shield US consumers from what is a globally traded market in terms of oil. Because the United States is a major domestic oil producer, it has the ability to put some downward pressure on its own gasoline prices.

But because via its oil exports it participates in a global market, it has that exposure to global oil market volatility.

Can we expect electricity prices to go up also? Why?

For the United States, the gas story is a little bit better, but not immune from the global market as well. Natural gas is largely regionally traded within the United States. The US is a major producer of natural gas for domestic consumption in a way that further insulates it. That makes the case of the United States much different than the gas price sensitivity we’re seeing in Europe or in Japan or other parts of East Asia.

The problem is similar to the oil story because the United States is a major LNG exporter. As natural gas prices increase elsewhere, LNG exporters will be incentivized to export more gas because that’s where the arbitrage opportunity is, and that will create the upward price pressure domestically in the United States.

What risks does that pose to tech companies and this push to build out more AI data centers and related energy infrastructure?

In the United States, the majority of the data center buildout has begun to be powered by natural gas. We’re not going to see electricity prices reach a crisis point in the United States in the short term because of this conflict. The time horizon that we’re talking about with gas and therefore electricity prices is likely in the time horizon of months rather than weeks you’d expect with oil.

However, the longer this conflict lasts and the more tightness we see in the global gas market — that will eventually permeate the United States and create that upward pressure on gas prices in a way which then affects electricity prices and then that brings the data center question into play.

I think the unique thing is it doesn’t necessarily affect the ability of data centers to purchase energy. Electricity costs are a relatively marginal proportion of the cost of building and operating a data center. What it does do is it only further inflames the energy affordability challenges that are currently deteriorating social license in the country for data centers. So the impact on electricity prices likely won’t directly harm data center buildout. The ancillary affordability challenges it will create will further entrench popular discontent with data center buildout, because data centers are simply making consumer electricity bills much more expensive.

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Justine Calma

Technology

Burger King AI listens to workers

Published

10 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

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The next time you pull up to the drive-thru at Burger King, you may notice something different. The greeting might sound warmer. The thank you might feel extra intentional. That could be Patty. The company is expanding a new AI-powered assistant that listens to employee headset interactions and tracks how staff speak with customers. The goal, according to executives, is simple. Create friendlier restaurants and smoother operations. But the rollout raises a bigger question. When does coaching become monitoring?

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Burger King is rolling out an AI assistant named Patty to monitor employee drive-thru greetings and track customer interactions. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What is Burger King’s Patty AI assistant and how does it work?

Burger King’s Patty AI assistant runs on technology from OpenAI. In practice, it listens for key phrases such as “Welcome to Burger King,” “Please” and “Thank you.” It then compiles that information into reports so managers can measure how consistently staff use polite language. Although company leaders say it is not recording every conversation, they frame it as a coaching tool designed to reinforce service standards.

Beyond tracking manners, Patty also supports daily operations. For example, it can answer questions about how many bacon strips go on a sandwich or how to clean specific equipment. In addition, it flags inventory shortages and alerts managers when machines stop working. It even tracks how often employees tell customers an item is unavailable, which can highlight supply gaps.

As a result, that data has already influenced menu decisions, including the return of apple pie after its removal in 2020. Taken together, Patty functions as a manners coach, kitchen assistant and data analyst rolled into one.

From pilot program to nationwide push

Burger King began testing Patty at about 100 U.S. locations last year. Now the company plans to expand to roughly 500 stores, with a goal of rolling it out nationwide by year’s end.

And Burger King is not alone. Rivals like Wendy’s, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and KFC have all tested AI in some form. Some experiments focused on automated ordering. Others used AI to streamline drive-thru operations.

Results have been mixed. Customers have praised the faster service. They have also complained about glitches and awkward robotic interactions. Burger King’s version stands out because it focuses on employee behavior, not just customer convenience.

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Fast-food chains are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to streamline service and boost efficiency. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Coaching tool or digital hall monitor?

Burger King says Patty exists to help managers coach teams and improve hospitality. Executives argue that customers want a warmer experience. Data simply helps restaurants measure it.

Yet social media reaction tells a different story. Some critics say constant monitoring creates pressure. They worry about employees having a bad day and getting flagged for forgetting a single word. Others describe it as surveillance disguised as support.

This tension reflects a larger trend in the workplace. AI increasingly measures performance in warehouses, offices and retail counters. Now it is moving into fast-food headsets. The real debate is not about politeness. It is about power.

The bigger AI trend in fast food

Fast-food chains operate on razor-thin margins. Small efficiency gains matter. If AI reduces waste, speeds up service and improves customer satisfaction, companies will keep investing. At the same time, public opinion matters. Customers say they value authenticity. Employees want fair treatment. The companies that succeed will need to balance both.

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Burger King plans to expand Patty to 500 U.S. stores this year, with a nationwide rollout targeted by year’s end. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

What this means to you

If you are a customer, you may notice friendlier greetings and fewer out-of-stock surprises. AI can help restaurants restock faster and fix broken machines sooner. That could mean shorter lines and more consistent menus. If you are an employee, the shift feels different. Every please and thank you becomes part of a data stream. Managers can track patterns instead of relying on occasional observations. For workers, that may increase accountability. It may also increase stress. For the industry, this signals a future where AI quietly runs in the background of nearly every transaction.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Technology keeps moving into spaces that once felt purely human. The drive-thru greeting used to be about personality and mood. Now it may be part of a data dashboard. Some will see that as progress. Others will see it as overreach.

If AI can measure kindness, should it? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Technology

Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend

Published

21 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend

Slay the Spire II launched in early access last week, and it’s already an excellent sequel to one of the best roguelikes of all time. In many ways, it’s very similar to its predecessor. Like Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong, Slay the Spire II mostly iterates on an already superb foundation. But it does add online co-op with up to four players. While multiplayer changes the familiar rhythms of Slay the Spire just a bit, it’s still a great way to tackle the arduous climb up the spire.

A round of Slay the Spire II plays essentially the same as the original: In each run, you navigate three different acts across a winding map, slowly making a build by crafting your deck and picking up various perk-giving relics, and fighting enemies, elites, and bosses along the way. Slay the Spire II retains the deliberate, turn-based style of play, meaning that when it’s your turn, you have as much time as you want to decide what to do. Since you can see exactly what your enemies are planning for their next turn, there’s a lot of strategy in deciding how much damage to do and how much defense you might need to set up. Multiplayer adds a slight twist: When it’s your turn, everyone can play simultaneously. That opens up all sorts of new opportunities for planning, but it also requires communication to make sure everyone is using their cards effectively.

My multiplayer partner was my wife, the biggest Slay the Spire fan I know, and on our second run we got a thrilling victory. I played the new Necrobinder character, a necromancer, while she played as the returning Silent, which can make decks built around flurries of shivs. Over the course of the run, we accidentally settled into a strategy where I focused on applying the Vulnerable status to as many enemies as possible before my wife would rain down shivs upon our foes.

Slay the Spire II doesn’t encourage teamwork only in battles. At a campfire rest stop, you can choose to mend a friend’s health to help them out. (Some of the new enemies are tough, so I’m glad this is an option.) You each get a vote on which path to take next on the map. Everyone can draw on the map, too — as I learned many times after seeing the doodles my wife made when I would spend too long in the shop.

Since we had to communicate so much, our winning run took about an hour and a half, slower than how fast I could blast through runs in the first game. When we finally defeated the Act 3 boss, though, it was even more satisfying than most of my solo wins because we did it together. My one complaint is that co-op requires you to each play online on your own copy of the game, and that, because there’s no couch co-op, we each had to play on separate devices even though we were sitting on the couch right next to each other.

Those are annoying tradeoffs, but multiplayer is such a fun addition to Slay the Spire that I don’t mind. I can’t wait to try another multiplayer run and see what challenges — and doodles — are in store for me.