Other uses for such devices of course would be in extreme sports of various kinds.

Everyone should see the demonstration video of this machine.

As of early 2001 an iBOT weighed 250 pounds and cost $25,000. Though tech advances and manufacturing economies of scale might reduce both the weight and cost of the consumer version over time, a militarized version would doubtless weigh and cost considerably more than this, even in 2011.

Health care company Johnson and Johnson is planned to be the commercial vendor of iBOTs.

-- BusinessWeek Online:Introducing the All-Terrain Wheelchair; APRIL 11, 2001; ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY By John M. Williams; Edited by Alex Salkever; The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2001/nf20010411_972.htm

DARPA wanted the equipment to increase the carrying capacity of soldiers in terms of on-person gear (heavier armor and bigger weapons), as well as extend the distance they could travel in a given period of time. They also wanted the suit to provide added combat protection and lethality to the wearer in short range operations. Extraordinary leaping abilities were another item on the laundry list.

-- EXOSKELETONS FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE AUGMENTATION ["http://www.darpa.mil/baa/baa00-34.htm"], (EHPA) SOL BAA00-34 DUE 063000 POC Dr. Ephrahim Garcia, Fax (703) 696-3999 EXOSKELETONS FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE AUGMENTATION (EHPA)PROGRAM; SOL: BAA#00-34; DUE: 30JUN00; POC: Dr. Ephrahim Garcia, DARPA/DSO;FAX: (703) 696-3999; EMAIL: BAA00-34@DARPA.MIL;URL: http://www.darpa.mil/baa/baa00-34.htm; SPONSOR: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract Management Directorate (CMD), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714 SUBFILE: PSE (U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS, SERVICES) SECTION HEADING: A Research and Development PUBLICATION DATE: March 21, 2000 ISSUE: PSA-2561

Powered armor for future solders is in development by the US DARPA. Goals include adding at minimum two horsepower to an individual soldier's powers of endurance and strength.

An exoskeleton limited to leg supplementation should be in testing by 2003, with a full body suit undergoing tests by 2005. In theory such a suit could even bring an unconscious or incapacitated soldier back to friendly forces on its own.

Such suits could also be useful in the construction industry, for the disabled and elderly, and other purposes.

The energy efficiency of the driving parts and a way to generate or store sufficient energy in such suits remains the biggest obstacle to their development.

Roughly 3% of the world is accessible to wheeled transport, while 85% is accessible to legged mobility.

There could be many different form factors of exoskeletons, including partial suits, full body suits, and chimera type suits like centaur configurations.

-- Future Tech: Really Special Forces By Brad Lemley; DISCOVER Vol. 23 No. 2; February 2002 ; The Walt Disney Company

On-person power generation equipment for individual soldiers incorporating a micro-scale fuel cell and running off readily available types of fuel to produce up to 25 watts of power may be ready for testing by 2003. These types of generators may weigh just two pounds when completed.

-- Small Fuel Processor Powers Light-Weight Soldiers' System ["http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010415223337.htm"]; ScienceDaily Magazine; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; http://www.pnl.gov/news/2001/01-13.htm; 4/18/2001

By 2009 USAmerican troops in the thick of combat are expected to possess a new weapon which shoots 5.56mm NATO ammo and 20mm calibre grenades. It will possess a built-in fire control computer with laser range finder and night vision capabilities. The grenade can be fused to detonate at a certain range rather than on impact, for greater flexibility in kills. The computer automatically leads moving targets. The new gun is supposed to have twice the effective range and five times the lethality of an M-16, but weighs twice as much in prototype form. It also costs at least around 14 times per gun that of an M16A2, at $8000 (this is an optimistic estimate).

An on-person electronic 'fear extinguisher' which defuses fear, stress, and anxiety by 'tuning' the brain electronically via electrodes clipped onto earlobes may prove useful for soldiers in combat, students with test anxiety, fearful air travelers, and insomniacs.

-- Fear fighter 'extinguishes anxiety', BBC News Health, http://www.bbc.co.uk, Tuesday, September 14, 1999

A protein named "downstream regulatory element antagonistic modulator" (DREAM) might be modulated in mammals to increase or reduce the impact of pain on behavior, with little or no other effect on a body's mental or physical capacities. Thus, the technique might be used to either increase a soldier's pain tolerance, or (in evil hands) increase the effectiveness of torture. The finding of cource could also be benefit medical treatments where pain is present.

Vision and hearing amplification, and 360 degree expansion in both might be included among the warrior's combat uniform specifications.

The soldier's display visor, which offers one of several different interfaces to his onboard computer and remote link to others (including links to miniature robots of various sorts such as microspy planes), may include carbon nanotubes in its composition stronger than steel (for bullet and shrapnel protection) which will also flash to plasma to protect from a blinding laser beam.

Soldiers might also be expected to wear active camouflage-capable clothing (which electronically changes coloring to match background scenery according to known positions of friendlies and enemies; even the physical configuration of the individual wearer in realtime might be considered in the camouflaging pattern; note we're not talking invisibility here-- merely greater difficulty in noticing a soldier's form against a suitable background).

Semi-conducting carbon composite serves as both the outer ballistics layer and inner power conduction and information processing layer of the soldier's body armor (two separate layers). It is very lightweight but tough, highly resistant to penetration by stabbing weapons, small caliber arms, and shrapnel. It possesses highly redundant circuitry, with automatic re-routing, so that it can sustain heavy damage and still function in critical tasks like communications. It can also offer regions conducive to reserve electrical power storage (low power batteries).

A five pound, 100 watt on-person central heat and air conditioning may be present in the system. A network of bodily injury and health sensors embedded in the 'long johns' of the warrior will allow headquarters to monitor a soldier's vital signs, and accelerate the diagnosis and treatment process by medics. Sign language and hand signals from one soldier is automatically converted by glove sensors to recognizable icons or words displayed in the visors of his companions, even if he is out of sight. The sound of incoming personal radio communications travel via bone conduction so only the intended recipient hears it.

The power source for the combat uniform may be a hydrogen-fueled micro-turbine mechanism with the capacity for six days operation without refueling. Reserve power may be available in small, thin, and flexible rechargeable battery gel-packs making up part of the shock-absorbing liner in the helmet, or kept elsewhere on person.

A weapons module mounted on the soldier's forearm might respond to spoken commands and fire bullets or miniature rockets with ranges spanning 300 to 1000 m.

In 2000 the goal was for the above gear and more to make up not more than 15% of the soldier's body weight. Fine customization of all the above to each and every individual soldier would also be performed, in order to maximize efficiency and capability as a whole (not to mention the comfort and potential endurance of the wearer).

Important breakthrough in detoxifying clothing

Folks, as you read the following, keep in mind that pesticides are closely related to various nerve gas agents developed for war and terrorism. So items and techniques which protect against pesticide exposure may also be applicable to protection against certain biochem weapon agents too.

The vast majority of harmful pesticide absorption occurs through the skin. Now we are on the verge of having clothing which can detoxify such agents before they can enter the body. The protective clothing may also be 'recharged' with simple applications of bleach in the wash.

A compound called hydantoin is embedded in the clothing, and in tests successfully broke down carbamate pesticides into harmless components which could be washed away with bleach later in the laundry-- at which time the hydantoin becomes 'recharged' and ready to do more decontamination. An added bonus is the hydantoin acts as an antibacteriological agent too.

The hydantoin will process up to 99% of such pesticides encountered into harmless byproducts in under 5 minutes.

Any downsides? Yes. There's another major category of pesticides called "organophosphorus" against which the new technique has not yet been tried.

The technology patent for the above is now in the possession of Halosource Corporation in Seattle, Washington. Hopefully we'll see widespread and reasonable cost availability of this clothing within only a few years. This has implications not just for less stressful and more comfortable but better protective garments for agricultural and industrial workers, but soldiers on the battlefield as well.

And as biochem agents are more frequently used in warfare and terrorism in the future, pesticide residue builds up in the environment, and industrial pollution also accumulates, even the clothing worn by average citizens in the streets will eventually incorporate such measures.

-- "Treated Clothing Detoxifies Pesticides", 23 MARCH 1999, 202-872-4445, American Chemical Society

Similar cheap treatment methods for clothing can protect from both bacteria and some viruses too.

-- "Clothes that kill: New cotton additive kills odor-causing and pathogenic bacteria and viruses within minutes", EurekAlert!, 23 AUGUST 1999, Contact: Charmyane Marsh, y_marsh@acs.org, 202-872-4445, American Chemical Society, http://www.acs.org

-- "Treated cotton clothing looks to kill", Reuters Limited/Yahoo! News Health Headlines, August 23 1999

The synthetic rubber already being used to produce some products like condoms and medical gloves (circa 2000) can also be modified to kill germs which come into contact with it. The new capability comes from altering the rubber's composition rather than adding a coating which may be easily lost.

Adding N-halamine and chlorine to synthetic rubber containing polystyrene is the trick. The killing process requires no longer than 30 minutes. The rubber's store of chlorine does run out eventually, but can be replenished via dipping in regular chlorine bleach. In 2000 it was expected the regulatory process would delay the new material's introduction into the market by perhaps several years.

-- Synthetic rubber kills germs on contact By Karla Harby, Reuters/Yahoo! Health Headlines, Mar 28, 2000

Important breakthrough in minimizing the risks of influenza epidemics

-- Scientists develop lifelong flu vaccine, Health, BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk, October 5, 1999

Across-the-board protection against many infectious agents

A wave of cheap and easily mass produced medicines based on monoclonal antibodies (MABs) is coming which will specifically target the body's main avenues of interaction with infectious agents from the physical world-- mucosal surfaces, like the mouth, nose, and vagina. The entire gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urinary tracts could be protected with these substances. The strategy is to kill off pathogens before they can get past these interfaces into the main body itself and begin reproducing.

MABs could be produced, distributed, and applied far more easily and cheaply than vaccines, yet do the same jobs, and often faster.

Sexually transmitted diseases, tooth decay, stomach viruses, colds, and many more afflictions might all be preventable with MABs.

Monoclonal antibodies are also being referred to by some as "plantibodies", as they might be produced in standard agricultural settings for under $1.00 per gram.

-- Antibody Revolution Targets STDs, Stomach Viruses, Common Cold, 29 DECEMBER 1998, Contact: Gary Dorsey gdd@jhu.edu 410-516-7906 Johns Hopkins University

Un-natural anti-microbial agents

A new man-made beta-peptide molecule may pave the way to a new field of un-natural anti-microbial agents which contagions may have a tough time surviving against, much less developing a resistance to same. Natural peptides are too toxic to human cells (as well as degrade too easily) to use this way. This represents nothing less than a designer anti-biotic. The first experimental molecule seems to break down the protective membrane wall of a bacterium, which essentially spells the end for that bacterium.

Important breakthrough in the containment/clean up of locations/victims suffering exposure to biochemical/biolological terrorism/weapons use: "Decon Foam 100"

Remarkably, the decon foam is made from materials similar to those found in common household products like hair conditioners (surfactants) and toothpaste (mild oxidizing substance), working to destroy dangerous chemicals like detergent does stains in laundry. Somehow the mixture also kills dormant but usually tough bacterial spores.

The foam is non-toxic, non-corrisive, generally applicable to a wide variety of threats, and cheap to produce ( estimated at "about 15 cents a pound") unlike many present-day remedies for biochem attacks.

The foam will bulk up to a hundred times its fluid volume if deployed through the appropriate dispenser, filling in virtually every cubbyhole available in a given room or other space, automatically eradicating toxins as it goes (including airborne). Within a few hours it breaks down into compact liquid form again, and may be safe to simply wash down the drain like normal cleaning agents.

Important breakthrough in detoxifying fragile but valuable equipment (and maybe even people too) which have been contaminated by biochemical warfare agents

Up to now making contaminated equipment safe to use again has been problematic, as the cleaning processes themselves often did damage to the articles. Now though a new "cold flame" process may greatly improve our techniques. It uses atomic oxygen (resulting from a mix of helium and oxygen gases subjected to several hundred volts of electricity) to burn contaminants off of surfaces with little or no harmful effect to the surfaces themselves. The atomic oxygen created is highly reactive with biochem agents, thereby essentially turning them into something else when the 'cold flame' washes over such substances.

Surprisingly, the surface being cleaned is subjected to relatively little heat by this process.

In the early tests the heat produced was low enough to be safe for paper, but still too hot to be so for cleansing human skin. Therefore efforts are now underway to reduce the heat to human tolerances/comfort levels, so that 'cold flame' showers might be used by future soldiers for decontamination in biowarfare environments.

-- "Cold Burn Takes Sting Out Of Bioweapons" Author: Jeff Hecht, New Scientist issue 27th March 99, Contact: Claire Bowles, claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk, 44-171-331-2751, New Scientist Washington office: newscidc@idt.net, 202-452-1178, New Scientist

Star Trek style deflector fields were already in the prototyping stage in 2000 AD. The technical term for them is "cold plasmas", and they could be applied to a wide variety of uses, from cloaking technologies to non-destructive decontamination of objects and food in just minutes, to more efficient lighting for homes and businesses, to deflection or buffering of energies from microwave, laser, or particle beam weapons.

Cold plasmas are low to medium temperature ionized gases. They can be adjusted to fit different requirements by changes in their frequency, which modifies the density of the plasma. However, higher densities require higher energy inputs.

-- Force Fields and 'Plasma' Shields Get Closer to Reality ["http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/cold_plasma_000724.html"] By James Schultz, Special to SPACE.com, 25 July 2000

360 degree vision, delivery of non-lethal intoxicants to target groups and surveillance of same by insect-like robots, and on-person injury and illness sensors for soldiers, are all expected to be online and working in the real world by 2025.