Exoskeletons in a disabilities context: the need for social and ethical research

Abstract

The potential of exoskeletons – defined as powered, wearable robots that can enhance the user's strength and endurance – has many groups excited. While they receive some attention in military-focused research, exoskeletons are also garnering attention in the civilian world, in particular for people who have disabilities. This article describes some of the technical, social, and ethical aspects of exoskeletons in a disabilities context. The paper's main purpose, though, will be to shine light on the dearth of social scientific and ethical analyses of this subject and, in doing so, show that these technologies – which are quickly moving from “emerging” to available – can no longer be overlooked as a subject of study.

Keywords:

• exoskeletons
• disability technologies
• politics of ableism
• mobility

Acknowledgements

Thanks to two anonymous reviewers for comments. And to Denise Baker, Josh Klein, Lisa Lacy, Clark Miller, and Sara Hendren (@ablerism, who writes the Abler blog at Gizmodo), for helpful conversations – both, directly and indirectly – about this paper. All views and mistakes are, of course, my own.

Notes on contributor

Jathan Sadowski is a Ph.D. student in the Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology program, which is in the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University. He is also affiliated with the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU. He has a masters degree in Applied Ethics, and his research focuses on social justice and political economy of technologies. In addition to scholarly publishing, he has written widely for a public audience in outlets such as The Atlantic, Slate, Wired, and Al Jazeera America. (@jathansadowski).

Notes

1. For more information and images see: http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/research/exoskeleton/bleex

2. Retrieved on November 25, 2013. http://eksobionics.com/ekso

3. I thank an anonymous reviewer for raising the issues of withdrawal and dependency, and the question of health insurance.