A new Fast Company feature has highlighted how the future of healthcare technology will depend not only on engineering performance, but also on whether people actually want to use the devices being created for them.
The article, based on a Fast Company World Changing Ideas Conversation at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, explored prosthetic limbs, wearable robotic devices and digital health tools. A central theme was that healthcare technologies must feel like a personalised upgrade rather than a visible intervention or reminder of limitation.
For the prosthetics and orthotics sector, this point is particularly important. Prosthetic limbs are among the most personal forms of human-machine interaction. Jeremy Brown, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, described prostheses as an intimate interface because they are intended to replace a biological counterpart and become part of how the user moves, functions and sees themselves.
Fast Company reported that future prosthetic limbs are expected to become more individualised, with 3D printing helping to create devices that look more lifelike and AI-driven systems enabling prostheses to learn from user data. Brown noted that data and AI could allow a limb to be trained around what the user wants it to do, moving prosthetic control closer to the person’s own movement intent.
This reflects a wider trend already visible in upper-limb prosthetics research: the shift from standardised device fitting toward more personalised combinations of socket design, sensing, software, control algorithms and user training. For prosthetists and rehabilitation teams, this means that future clinical practice may increasingly involve both mechanical fitting and digital tuning.
The Fast Company discussion also covered wearable powered exoskeletons, including the MO/GO pants developed by Skip and Arc’teryx. The device, described as being like an e-bike for walking or hiking, is designed to provide additional power when moving uphill and support the knee joint when going downhill. While not presented as a medical device, it shows how wearable robotics may influence future thinking about mobility, ageing, outdoor activity and assistive technology adoption.
Anna Roumiantseva, chief product officer and co-founder of Skip, emphasised that wearable technology must become lighter, smaller and more desirable if people are going to adopt it. Her comment that these products should feel like “an upgrade, not an intervention” is highly relevant to orthotics, prosthetics and rehabilitation.
For IMEA CPO readers, the article raises an important challenge for the region’s assistive technology ecosystem. Advanced devices will not succeed simply because they contain AI, robotics or 3D printing. They must also be comfortable, culturally acceptable, repairable, affordable and supported by trained clinicians who understand the user’s daily environment.
In the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and South Asia, where access to advanced prosthetic and orthotic technologies can vary widely, user-centred design is not a luxury. It is essential to long-term device use. A prosthetic limb or wearable assistive device that is too heavy, too expensive, too difficult to maintain or too visibly medicalised may be abandoned, even if the engineering behind it is advanced.
The Fast Company discussion also points to a broader future where prosthetics, orthotics and wearable robotics may overlap more closely. Prosthetic limbs may become more adaptive and data-driven. Orthotic systems may become more dynamic and powered. Consumer wearable robotics may influence expectations for comfort, aesthetics and usability in medical devices.
For regional clinicians, manufacturers and rehabilitation providers, the message is clear: the next generation of assistive technology will need to combine engineering, clinical skill and human-centred design. The future of mobility technology will not only be measured by what a device can do in a laboratory, but by whether users choose to wear it every day.
- Fast Company: From lifelike hands to gamified nudges, how technology is reshaping the future of healthcare
- Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering
- Johns Hopkins Haptics and Medical Robotics Laboratory
- Skip official website
- Arc’teryx MO/GO powered pants
- PSYONIC Ability Hand
- WHO: Assistive technology
- WHO: Rehabilitation
- ISPO: International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics