Power-Suit Geek-Out
The XOS 2 power-suit by Raytheon Sarcos Research Labs
As far as windows into the future go, the XOS 2 power-suit by Raytheon Sarcos Research Labs draws its inspiration directly from the archives of science-fiction history.
According to Jerry Taylor of TechRepublic:
Powered armor has a long history in science fiction, beginning with The Lensmen series in 1937, brought to the masses with Heinlein’s Starship Troopers in 1959; and, later in Haldeman’s Forever War, Niven’s Known Space series, and not to be forgotten, out stalwart hero Tony Stark in the comics series and film Iron Man. So how close are we today to this dream (or nightmare) of people in suits? The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other organizations have researched exoskeletons for combat for decades with little progress. While the military research budgets have been slashed due to constraints caused by ongoing military combat operations, planners still are working on the Land Warrior project.
Comparisons to Iron Man are inevitable, and it’s fitting that Clark Gregg gets to explore the new technology (which has apparently cut Power requirements by 50%). We know him as Agent Coulson of Marvel Studio’s Iron Man films – last seen starring down at the mysterious Hammer of demi-God Thor then next character in the line-up to 2012′s eagerly-awaited super-hero team-up, “The Avengers”.
But for me, it is not Iron Man that screams out at me from science fiction film history when I think of the exo-suit. No, James Cameron comes to mind. He has adores this technology long-before it was a reality, and it makes it’s appearance in his very first film as well as his most recent. It first shows its face in 1978, as a four-legged contraption driven by the female lead as she battles a Robot in the hand-made Xenogenesis. Incidentally Cameron built the model himself with the help of bill Wisher, and shot it in stop-motion. In Aliens (1986), Sigourney Weaver rids us of the Mother Alien while fighting in a bright yellow “Power-Lifter”. Finally, Cameron’s vision places an army of Marines in the suits – necessary to survive the unfriendly habitat of Pandora.
I have geeked-out enough… check out these screenshots from the films.
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