Wandercraft Launches Clinical Trials for AI-Enhanced Personal Exoskeleton to Aid Mobility

Nicolas Simon, an engineering student and robotics club chair at France’s École Polytechnique, embarked on a personal mission to advance robotics and improve the lives of his family members. Two-thirds of his family use wheelchairs due to Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a genetic condition affecting mobility. Inspired by this, Simon co-founded Wandercraft in 2012 alongside Matthieu Masselin and Jean-Louis Constanza, both of whom have relatives with similar conditions. Wandercraft's mission is to develop mobility solutions for individuals with spinal cord injuries, strokes, and other neuromuscular disorders. Wandercraft's first exoskeleton, the Atalante X, received FDA clearance and is already used in over 100 clinical and research settings worldwide. Since its approval by the European Union in 2019 and the United States in 2022, the Atalante X has helped hundreds of patients take over one million steps per month, significantly enhancing their mobility through physiotherapy. Building on this success, Wandercraft is now developing the Personal Exoskeleton, designed for everyday indoor and outdoor use. The Personal Exoskeleton integrates AI to continuously adapt to a user's movements in real time, ensuring smooth and stable walking across various surfaces like concrete, carpet, and tile. This adaptability is crucial for making the device practical for daily life, allowing users to walk at a natural pace, cross roads, and navigate stairs. Additionally, using the exoskeleton can potentially help reduce the health risks associated with prolonged sitting, such as cardiovascular issues, skin problems, and digestive ailments. To accelerate its development, Wandercraft is leveraging NVIDIA technologies, including NVIDIA Isaac Sim, a simulation tool built on NVIDIA Omniverse for AI-driven robotics solutions. The company is also exploring NVIDIA Isaac for Healthcare, a developer framework for AI healthcare robotics, and NVIDIA Jetson Thor, an advanced on-robot edge computer. By integrating these systems, Wandercraft aims to have a comprehensive three-computer setup for its robotics workflow, from physical AI training to real-time operation. At the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference in March, Wandercraft showcased its prototype Personal Exoskeleton with the assistance of Caroline Laubach, a spinal stroke survivor and full-time wheelchair user. The demonstration highlighted the device's potential to transform users' daily lives. The exoskeleton system was also featured in last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relay, further emphasizing its impact and potential. Wandercraft plans to apply for FDA clearance for the Personal Exoskeleton once the clinical trials are completed, aiming to make it available to millions of wheelchair users in the U.S. The company is actively recruiting more participants for the trials, with the goal of finishing them by the end of the year. Simon is optimistic about seeing the exoskeleton in the streets, starting with New York and eventually expanding to every city in the U.S. His vision includes Medicare coverage, making the device accessible and affordable for a broad audience. Industry insiders are excited about Wandercraft's progress. The integration of AI and advanced simulation technology represents a significant leap forward in exoskeleton development. It offers the promise of more intuitive, responsive, and user-friendly devices that can seamlessly integrate into users' lives. Wandercraft's commitment to using cutting-edge technology and rigorous clinical trials underscores its dedication to producing reliable and effective mobility solutions. NVIDIA's support in providing powerful simulation and edge computing platforms is crucial for Wandercraft's success. The company's innovative approach to combining humanoid robotics technologies with exoskeletons opens up new possibilities for addressing mobility challenges. As Wandercraft continues its trials and works toward FDA clearance, the tech community watches with keen interest, hopeful that this device could mark a transformative moment in mobility assistance technology.