Development of 'Iron Man' in Movies... "Korea Could Be the First Country" [Reading Science]

Robert Downey Jr., who plays Iron Man. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "I was lying in bed trying to sleep, but tears came out. Although I used a robot, the fact that I stood up was very meaningful."

Kim Byung-wook (47, photo), a paraplegic, recalled this moment in a media interview when he first succeeded in walking wearing a wearable robot in 2015 upon the recommendation of medical staff. After becoming completely paralyzed in the lower body due to a sudden hit-and-run accident in 1998 when he was in his twenties, he had lived relying on a wheelchair for over 20 years. The wearable robot he encountered then gave him the strength to stand up again like a savior from a myth. Eventually, in late November last year, Kim achieved a "miracle" by winning the international wearable robot competition "Cybathlon" with an astonishing walking speed of 3.2 km/h. Kim said, "The day I first stood on two legs wearing the robot felt like being reborn. That night, I secretly shed tears lying in bed without my wife knowing."

With advances in cutting-edge robotics, ICT, materials, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the "future" has already come close to us. As one writer said, "It just isn't widely spread yet." In Kim's case, the 'Iron Man' from movies, which once felt like a distant future, is no longer just imagination but becoming reality. Especially, Korea is considered a global leader in the field of wearable robot manufacturing, a core technology of Iron Man. The hologram technology that Iron Man uses to operate the AI 'Jarvis' is also at the forefront of research by Korean scientists. Among experts, there is confidence that "Korea might be the first country to complete the real Iron Man." Let's take a look at how domestic core technology development is progressing.

Wearable Robot AngelX M. Photo by Angel Robotics

◇ Status of Wearable Robot Development at Home and Abroad

Wearable robots, also called wearable or donned robots, refer to all robots worn or attached to the human body that assist or augment human motor abilities and muscle strength, working together with humans. Recently, the wearable robot market has been rapidly growing, focusing on assistance and rehabilitation for the disabled, neurological and musculoskeletal patients, the elderly, as well as logistics, manufacturing, construction, and service sectors. There is fierce competition to develop lightweight and low-cost wearable robots in response. The Korean government announced a vision last October to become one of the world's top four robot industry powers by 2023, focusing on fostering the wearable robot sector.

In particular, Korea is leading technology development in medical wearable robots. A representative example is Kim, who won a gold medal at the Cybathlon competition last November with an astonishing record of 3 minutes 47 seconds wearing the 'Walk On Suit,' jointly developed by Professor Gong Kyung-chul's KAIST Mechanical Engineering team and Yonsei University through industry-academia collaboration. The Walk On Suit weighs 25 kg with high-strength materials but uses special design and technology to make the user hardly feel the equipment's weight. It can maintain an upright posture for over a minute without using a cane. It also applies a walking control algorithm based on normal gait patterns, enabling walking speeds up to 3.2 km/h. This speed is comparable to the walking speed of ordinary people (2-4 km/h) and is the fastest recorded walking speed for people with complete lower body paralysis worldwide. Moreover, it is designed to handle common daily activities such as sitting down and standing up, climbing stairs, and walking on rough terrain without difficulty.

Professor Gong founded a startup called Angel Robotics using this technology and has been actively pursuing commercialization, including receiving investment from LG Electronics in 2017. Some products, such as the 'Angel Rex M' for incomplete lower limb paralysis, have already been released and are used for patient gait training and treatment at Yonsei University Severance Hospital. Professor Gong said, "Many people suffer because they cannot walk, and nowadays it is also difficult to go outside. We will complete a home-use walking rehabilitation robot as soon as possible and distribute it to many people."

Currently, leading companies from Israel, the United States, and Japan dominate the global medical wearable robot market. However, experts express confidence that Korea can soon lead the medical wearable robot market based on its technological capabilities. In fact, Samsung Electronics unveiled its self-developed wearable walking assist robot 'GEMS HIP' last September. Hyundai Motor Group also showed its intention to enter the robotics industry in earnest by acquiring the U.S. robotics company Boston Dynamics at the end of last year. Alongside, Seoul National University, Korea Institute of Robot Convergence, and Sogang University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation are developing wearable suit technologies to support walking for paraplegics and the elderly.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The industrial wearable robot market is even more active. Global demand is surging, showing high growth rates. In particular, Japan, facing severe aging, has reported numerous empirical cases where robot introduction significantly contributes to labor assistance for workers. In Korea, Hyundai Motor's Uiwang Research Center developed a 'wearable muscle strength augmentation robot for industrial labor support' in 2015, and related technology development and research are active.

◇ Hologram Interactive Technology

In the movie, Iron Man communicates with the AI 'Jarvis' through holograms. Virtual screens and keyboards appear in empty space, allowing futuristic interactive and haptic hologram technology to input commands and information. Although this futuristic technology may seem far-fetched, Korean researchers are leading the way in making it a reality. Last November, Professor Noh Joon-seok's team at Pohang University of Science and Technology announced research results on 'Metasurface-based flat lenses and complex holograms for augmented/virtual reality implementation.'

Schematic diagram of an ultra-small variable holographic device. Image courtesy of the National Research Foundation of Korea.

Worldwide, research is active to implement futuristic display technologies using 'metamaterials,' known for new optical functions such as invisibility cloaks and super lenses. The problem is that current metasurface-based flat optical devices cannot change the characteristics of the device once fabricated. In other words, they are passive metamaterials that can only display the initially input image. Professor Noh's team came up with the idea of integrating liquid crystals, a variable optical material, into flat optical devices to solve this problem. The metasurface-based flat optical device produced this way is designed to reproduce different hologram images depending on the incident polarization.

In particular, by simultaneously using the geometric phase (phase of light transmitted or reflected from nanostructures depending on their geometric properties) and the retardation phase (phase acquired as light slows down when transmitted or reflected through nanostructures with specific refractive indices), it can reproduce high-definition different images according to right- and left-handed circular polarization of incident light.

Schematic diagram of a device that modifies holographic images with just a finger touch. Image courtesy of the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The research team also combined a specially designed liquid crystal-based optical modulator (a device that can control light intensity, phase, and polarization information through external stimuli) with the metasurface device. Depending on the materials used and the design of this modulator, it responds to various external stimuli. They fabricated liquid crystal cells responsive to electricity, temperature, and touch, demonstrating for the first time in the world a technology that can modulate hologram images in real time according to various external stimuli.

Professor Noh explained, "The touch-responsive meta-hologram device can change hologram images with a light finger touch, making it a fundamental technology to realize futuristic interactive and haptic hologram technology seen in movies. It can also be used as an impact detection sensor attachable to high-value artworks and products sensitive to shocks."