“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, July 27 — Recently, Skip, an X Labs incubator under Google's parent company Alphabet, announced that it has reached a cooperation with the Canadian outdoor clothing brand Archaeopteryx to jointly launch the “robot sports pants” MO/GO. MO/GO stands for the best mountain climber goat in the world. This is the first commercial attempt at the rigid and flexible hybrid exoskeleton robot technology developed at Alphabet's lunar landing factory.

MO/GO is modeled after Archaeopteryx Gamma trekking pants. The motor at the knee is inconspicuous, and you can't even see how they are different from ordinary hiking pants without looking closely.

MO/GO does not actually replace human walking; it enhances the wearer's strength when walking, provides 40% strength support to the wearer's quadriceps and hamstrings, and reduces the burden on the knees, thereby helping the wearer move forward or climb the mountainside.

People need to do knee bending exercises during climbing. When bending the knee, the knee joint bears the main weight of the whole body. If you climb a hill for a long time, the knee is overburdened, which will have a big impact on the knee joint. This is exactly when MO/GO is most useful, and the higher the slope and the longer the time, the less effort the wearer will have.

Skip began accepting pre-orders for Mo/Go this week, with plans to begin shipping later this year. Mo/Go is priced at $5,000, and early bookers get a $500 discount.

Unlike exoskeleton robots that target people with disabilities or injuries, Mo/Go has a wide range of applications, including hikers and people from all walks of life, with the ultimate goal of everyday wear.

Skip will also provide an $80 daily rental service at hiking resorts such as the Grand Canyon and test MO/GO usage in rugged real-world scenarios through anonymous data collection.

Additionally, Skip is currently undergoing clinical trials for adjuvant curative effects on diseases such as Parkinson's disease, but the possibility of classifying Mo/Go as a medical device may take years.

According to reports, Alphabet began cutting X Lab resources at the end of last year and reorganized X Lab so that its project can be divested into an independent startup with support from Alphabet and external supporters.

Skip founder and CEO Kathryn Sealand said, “At the end of last year, we began to realise that this project wasn't a good choice within Alphabet, and we had to start fundraising.” Currently, Skip has been divested from Alphabet and raised 6 million dollars through financing and other channels.