Japan is one of the leaders in the scientific world when it comes to lifetime. As its population grows older, scientists and researchers look for new ways to keep them alive. A research team in Japan has worked to develop a man-made, robotic tail that could help old people keep their balance*.
Students and searchers at Keio University of Japan have made a new invention called Arque. About 1 meter long, it closely follows the movements of a seahorse's tail*. Junichi Nabeshima is a researcher and graduate student at the school's Embodied Media Project. "When a person is going to fall towards one side, the tail moves to the opposite side to help him keep balance. For example, if a person is going to fall to the left, it will move to the right," Nabeshima said.
The advantages are that the man-made tail could not only help the old, but also younger people who may have some problems with their balance. Here's how it works. The tail uses air to move four man-made muscles* in eight different directions*.
But sometimes it begins to work several seconds after it feels the human losing balance. So the tail is still at the test stage, and researchers are trying to find other ways to make the tail move better.
The researchers are also studying ways their invention can help the working population. For example, they're looking for ways to help factory workers who often do heavy lifting and carrying.
A robotic tail is far from the first inventions developed for the human body. Scientists have created robotic arms and hands that use muscle memory to pick up things. Mechanical legs have been developed to help people who lost legs.
