What I learned by shoveling my sidewalk in an exoskeleton

The first mainstream exoskeleton is surprisingly easy to use, but it might not make you feel like Iron Man.

The device arrived in a small styrofoam suitcase. It plugs into the same USB-C cable I use to charge my Macbook, and syncs with my phone as easily as Airpods. And yet, the Hypershell exoskeleton promises something no consumer device released has before: to increase my leg strength by 40% and reduce exertion by 30% for up to 10 miles at a time.

Hypershell was founded by Kelvin Sun, an engineer who launched several robotics projects and founded Lattepanda, a company that produced tiny motherboards for computers. In 2022, Hypershell graduated out of China’s Y Combinator, and the company now employs about 100 people across Beijing and Shenzhen. By 2023, the idea raised $1.3 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, alongside “several million” in angel investing, followed by an undisclosed Series A in 2024.