Have you ever had a problem where you’ve had too much cash to the point where you could barely lift it off the ground? No? We’re sure that’s not really an issue for most people as well, but over in Japan bank employees are expected to deal with cash on a daily basis. In some instances they are also required to transport said cash and because it can get pretty heavy, these bank employees have been given robotic exosuits that will help make their job easier.These exosuits are made by Cyberdyne and eight of them have been rented by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to help ease the burden on their senior employees who might be required to lift heavy parcels of notes and coins. According to Tomoyuki Narita, a spokesman for SMBC, “There have been many cases when a physical burden was placed on senior employees carrying heavy parcels of bank notes and coins. By adopting Cyberdyne’s robotic suits, we can help reduce that burden.”
By employing these exosuits, it is estimated that it should be able to help reduce the weight of an object by as much as 40%, meaning a 10kg parcel would feel like a 6kg parcel which might be more manageable for the bank’s older employees which according to the bank’s estimates, accounts for about 16% of their employees who are aged over 65. At the moment the suits are being trialed at four outposts but more could be rented in the future in other branches if the program is well-received.
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