On June 12, 2014, the opening match of the Brazil World Cup drew the attention of the entire world. Juliano Pinto, a 30-year-old Brazilian man paralyzed from the waist down, entered the field. He stood firmly on the ground and kicked off the ball with strength. This remains a miraculous moment often cited in the scientific community.

At that time, Pinto was wearing an exoskeleton robot suit created by Miguel Nicolelis, a professor at Duke University in the United States. The helmet he wore detected his brainwaves and recognized his commands. These signals were transmitted as a message to his legs to "move," enabling him to kick the ball.

The Korean robotics startup 'Hurotics' is dedicated to research and development to create such miraculous stories. Hurotics develops wearable robots to assist with rehabilitation therapy for the elderly, people with disabilities, and athletes who have difficulty walking due to accidents or illness. At CES 2025, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on the 7th (local time), Hurotics was recognized for its technology by winning Innovation Awards in two categories (Aging & Accessibility and Robotics). This marks their second consecutive year of winning since last year.

On the 8th, at the Hurotics exhibition booth at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, CEO Lee Giuk told us, "Although a lot of research is being done to have robots replace human tasks, there are things that can and cannot be replaced. Health is something that cannot be replaced. If your legs hurt or do not move, you don't just amputate and replace them with robots. That's when advanced devices are needed, and wearable robots can be the answer."

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Hurotics showcased two robots at CES 2025. 'H-Medi' is a robot used for rehabilitation therapy for hospital patients, while 'H-Feet' is mainly used by athletes for injury recovery. Both robots function according to the user's therapeutic needs but are similar in structure. The user wears the robot like a backpack, puts on braces connected to the robot on both knees, and wirelessly connects to an electronic device that controls the robot. The robot then sends electrical stimulation to the gluteus maximus, the muscle that powers walking, enabling both legs to walk properly. At the event, visitors participated in hands-on experiences, and those who wore the robot noticed that their walking speed increased the more they walked.

Rehabilitation robot H-Medi developed by Hurotics. It mainly assists the walking of elderly people, patients, and individuals with physical disabilities. Photo by Hurotics Official Instagram

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CEO Lee said, "As our country becomes a super-aged society (where people aged 65 and over make up more than 20% of the population), there will be more people with mild mobility difficulties. Our robots can be a solution for them." In fact, as the population ages, the number of people suffering from degenerative diseases such as stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson's disease is expected to increase, making rehabilitation therapy even more important. According to market research firm Kings Research, the global rehabilitation robot market, which was valued at $239.1 million (about 348.9 billion KRW) in 2022, is expected to grow to $1.026 billion (about 1.4974 trillion KRW) by 2030. Shin Hyuni, a professor of rehabilitation medicine at Chung-Ang University who participated in Hurotics' robot development, said, "Rehabilitation may not be a matter of life and death, but it is important because it can improve quality of life. In the past, wearable robots were large and heavy like Iron Man suits, but recently they have become much lighter and more wearable, making it easier for people to do rehabilitation therapy at home."