Peoples' walking efficiency declines as they grow older, posing constraints on mobility, and affecting independence and quality of life. Although wearable assistive technologies are recognized as a potential solution for age-related movement challenges, few have proven effective for older adults, predominantly within controlled laboratory experiments. Here we present WalkON, a pair of soft robotic shorts designed to enhance walking efficiency for older individuals by assisting hip flexion. The system features a compact and lightweight tendon-driven design, using a controller based on natural leg movements to autonomously assist leg propagation. To assess WalkON's impact on daily walking, we initially conducted a technology assessment with young adults on a demanding outdoor uphill 500 m hiking trail. We then validated our findings with a group of older adults walking on a flat outdoor 400 m track. WalkON considerably reduced the metabolic cost of transport by 17.79% for young adults during uphill walking. At the same time, participants reported high perceived control over their voluntary movements (a self-reported mean score of 6.20 out of 7 on a Likert scale). Similarly, older adults reduced their metabolic cost by 10.48% when using WalkON during level ground walking, while retaining a strong sense of movement control (mean score of 6.09 out of 7). These findings emphasize the potential of wearable assistive devices to improve efficiency in outdoor walking, suggesting promising implications for promoting physical well-being and advancing mobility, particularly during the later stages of life.

随着年龄的增长，人们的步行效率下降，限制了行动能力，影响独立性和生活质量。尽管可穿戴辅助技术被认为是解决与年龄相关的运动挑战的潜在解决方案，但很少有技术被证明对老年人有效，主要是在受控实验室实验中。在这里，我们推出了 WalkON，这是一条柔软的机器人短裤，旨在通过帮助髋部弯曲来提高老年人的步行效率。该系统采用紧凑、轻便的肌腱驱动设计，使用基于自然腿部运动的控制器来自动辅助腿部传播。为了评估 WalkON 对日常步行的影响，我们首先对年轻人在要求严格的户外上坡 500 m 远足步道上进行了技术评估。然后，我们让一群老年人在平坦的室外 400 m 跑道上行走，验证了我们的研究结果。 WalkON 使年轻人在上坡行走时的交通代谢成本显着降低了 17.79%。与此同时，参与者报告称他们对自己的随意运动有很高的控制力（李克特量表的自我报告平均分为 6.20 分（满分 7 分））。同样，老年人在平地行走时使用 WalkON 时，代谢成本降低了 10.48%，同时保留了强烈的运动控制感（平均分为 6.09 分（满分 7 分））。这些发现强调了可穿戴辅助设备在提高户外步行效率方面的潜力，这表明对于促进身体健康和提高行动能力（特别是在生命的后期阶段）具有良好的影响。