Exoskeletons, powered prostheses and optical sensory devices market to exceed $877 million in 2020: Study

Lockheed Martin announced recently that it has received a $1.1-million contract from the US Army for human trials and evaluation of its advanced ruggedized Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton, "designed to augment soldiers' strength and endurance, as well as reduce load carriage injuries." This development was anticipated by ABI Research in its market study "Exoskeletons, Powered Prostheses and Optical Sensory Devices: The Global Market for Human Enhancement/Augmentation Systems" (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1004686).

“Exoskeletons, Powered Prostheses and Optical Sensory Devices: The Global Market for Human Enhancement/Augmentation Systems”

The ABI Research study examines the development of powered exoskeletons as one facet of the burgeoning sector of Human Augmentation Systems that can supplement human strength and durability, or which allow people to reclaim bodily capabilities lost to illness or injury. In addition to exoskeletons, the study also considers the outlook for advanced powered upper-limb prostheses, which substitute for arms, and ocular sensory substitution devices, which can restore some level of sight to the blind.

Says Larry Fisher, research director of ABI Research's NextGen practice, "We anticipate that completion of the Army's field tests and trials, probably in 2014 or 2015, will be followed by widespread commercial production of powered exoskeletons. Deployment of exoskeletons in commercial sectors will probably remain quite limited for another decade or so, due to their high cost (more than $25,000 per suit)."

Further, Fisher observes, "We project the overall market for exoskeletons, powered prostheses and optical sensory devices to exceed $877 million in 2020. Exoskeletons will make up roughly a third of the market by 2020 on a revenue basis, accounting for sales of $292 million, and slightly more than a third on a unit basis, with more than 11,000 to be delivered between now and 2020."

The study is published under the Human-Technology Research Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/product/service/Human-Machine_Technology_Research_Service), which is part of NextGen, the ABI Research emerging technology research incubator.