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Move Over, Star Trek: Iron Man is Coming to Life

By Rachel Ramsey January 02, 2014

With the growth of wearable technology, I hear a lot about the future finally arriving, and with that comes a lot of Star Trek references. But there are plenty of other movies that hint at the potential of technology, including the series based on Marvel Comics’ Iron Man. One thing Iron Man is known for is his armor, which has seemingly limitless capabilities: He can fly with his boot jets, access JARVIS (the artificial intelligence interface), blast bursts of energy out of his palms, protect himself against bullets and atmosphere conditions and more. His character is a superhero because of these capabilities, which enhance his strength to super-human levels – capabilities that seem more far-fetched than Star Trek’s Communicator wearable mobile device. Iron Man fans, you’re in for a treat, because the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is making Iron Man a reality.

SOCOM is developing a suit that’s been likened to the one worn by Iron Man. Named the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), the suit aims to provide operators with lighter, more efficient full-body ballistics protection and super-human strength.

Embedded sensors will monitor the operator’s core body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, body position and hydration levels to regulate the temperature inside the suit. In the event that the operator is wounded, the suit could feasibly start administering the first life-saving oxygen or hemorrhage controls, according to the U.S. Department of Defense

Image via IBNLive

“The intent is to have this fully integrated system so you can provide the most capability at the lowest impact to the soldier,” said Michael FIeldson, the TALOS project manager, in a statement. “We think there is some efficiency to be gained if all the equipment is fully integrated as opposed to different components that are simply assembled on the human.”

The suit would have an on-board computer that would enable users to instantly respond to certain situations and enhance their situational awareness. The suit may also use liquid armor, which is under development at MIT, that could transform from a liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic fiels or electrical current is applied.

Although Iron Man is able to fly, TALOS is not expected to – Fieldson says some parts, like flying, are stretching the Iron Man analogy. In October 2013, he admitted using the Iron Man reference is partially used to attract the attention, imagination and excitement of industry and academia.

SOCOM aims to have a TALOS prototype within the next year and have the suit ready for full field testing within five years. Although the TALOS is initially intended for special operators involved in high-risk missions, it has implications for the conventional force as well, such as Homeland Security and firefighters.

“We have a long history at Socom of developing things first and then the technology moving out to the broader force,” Fieldson said. “We fully expect that to happen with this one as well. I think there will be a lot of spinoff technologies that the broader force will be able to use.”

Besides defense applications, others have attempted to bring Tony Stark to real life. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, created a lab similar to the Iron Man laboratory. He uses a Leap Motion Controller, an oculus Rift and a projector to make the setup – which is basically a virtual reality workspace -- work.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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