Robot suit trial in Japan to revitalise hikers and pilgrimage tourism

Japan's oldest pilgrimage route is an unlikely test site for cutting-edge technology. Last week a robotic suit took its first steps around the Japanese Island of Shikoku.

At 1200km long, the 88 Temple Trail is one of the most daunting long-distance hikes in the world. It's a distance that could be a lot easier with the help of a robotic exo-skeleton.

In collaboration with All Nippon Airways Holdings and the WalkMate robotic suit was taken on a proof-of-concept outing on the ancient walkways.

Developed in the Miyake laboratory of Tokyo Tech, the powered suit looks like it has just walked out of a sci-fi film. Designed to help tourists with muscular or balance impediments, it optimises their walking and gives strength to hikers to help them make challenging walking journeys.

The Walk-Mate robotic suit at Mount Koya. Photo / Walk Mate Lab, All Nippon Airways

Learning the wearer's gait and adding strength and power to the walker's arms and legs - the robotic suit adapts to the walking habits of the user.

It is a technology that could help hikers recovering from strokes or with Parkinson's disease get back on the trails.

The Buddhist pilgrimage route from the 1100AD was seen as a fitting proving ground for the suit.

Designers say they were inspired by the Buddhist phrase "Dogyo Ninin"which is "the idea that the spirit of the ninth-century monk Kobo Daishi (Kukai), the founder of Shingon Buddhism, journeys alongside pilgrims to protect them."

Last Wednesday six participants took part in the walk from Mt Koya to the central temple complex of Danjo Garan and Oku-o-in - a journey of around 5 kilometres. Joining other pilgrims on the popular walking route, they took part in prayers at the Osunafumi event.

The 88 Temple Trail is a popular 1200km pilgrimage route around Shikoku, Japan. Photo / Walk Mate Lab, All Nippon Airways

As well as the futuristic suits, the hikers also wore the traditional white hakui vest and the sugegasa conical hat. It's a garb pilgrims have worn for the past five hundred years

"We are rethinking the idea of a walking journey from the perspective of 'well-being,' a realignment not just of the own body, but, through synchronising pace with the robot as a Kobo Daishi."

The full pilgrimage takes around six weeks to complete, covering 30km a day. It's widely considered one of the world's finest long-distance hikes, alongside New Zealand's Te Araroa trail or the Via Alpina.

Representatives of the Walk-Mate robotic suit and ANA at Mount Koya. Photo / Walk Mate Lab; All Nippon Airways

The initiative which was supported by the airline ANA the developers hope that it will open up the routes to new hikers, who might have thought their tramping days had passed them by. Dubbing the concept "pilgrimage through robot", the company hopes it will help revitalise rural economies and an ageing population through hiking tourism.