This Exoskeleton Lets Wheelchair Users Stand at Home
Eve is a hands-free exoskeleton cleared by the FDA, letting people with spinal cord injuries stand, walk and turn at home without crutches or a walker.
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Eve
This Exoskeleton Lets Wheelchair Users Stand at Home
Wandercraft,
a robotics company based in France, has spent more than a decade building
self-balancing exoskeletons for medical use, holding more than 30 patents in
the technology. Its rehabilitation device, Atalante X, is already deployed
across more than 150 centers worldwide, and Wandercraft says its systems have
logged more than 25 million real-world steps from users, data it uses to train
the company's AI systems. On September 17, 2026, the company launched Eve,
which it describes as the world's first self-balancing personal exoskeleton,
after the FDA cleared the device on August 11, 2026, for adults with spinal
cord injury at any neurological level. Wandercraft points to more than 5
million Americans living with paralysis, including hundreds of thousands with
spinal cord injuries specifically, as the population the device is meant to
serve. Wandercraft co-founder and CEO Matthieu Masselin called the clearance
"one of the most important moments in Wandercraft's history,"
describing it as a step toward offering users "a pathway from walking
during rehabilitation to upright mobility at home."
Standing and Moving Without Crutches or a Walker
Eve
is a Class II medical device that requires a prescription and is built for
wheelchair users to stand, walk, bend and turn without crutches or a walker.
The device moves using 12 motors that give it multiple degrees of freedom, and
its self-balancing system works even for users without trunk control. A person
operates Eve through a remote control, and the device runs for up to four hours
on a single charge. It supports users up to 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and up
to 6 feet 4 inches (1.94 meters) tall, and both its hardware and software are
customized to the individual wearing it, fitted to specific ranges for thigh
length, leg length, pelvis width and joint mobility.
Freeing the Hands While Standing
Because
Eve balances on its own, a user's arms stay free during movement instead of
being needed for support, which Wandercraft says opens up daily activities that
are normally difficult from a wheelchair. Wandercraft test pilot Caroline
Laubach described the change as being able to have "conversations
eye-to-eye" and reach "the highest kitchen cabinet" for a cup.
The company designed Eve to complement a wheelchair rather than replace it,
intended for use on firm, dry and smooth surfaces such as tile, low-pile carpet
or concrete, indoors or on adjoining outdoor areas such as patios and terraces,
and not for stairs, slopes, ramps, curb cuts, wet or icy ground, crowded areas,
parking lots, roadways, sports or crossing a public street.
A Trained Companion Is Required Every Time
Wandercraft
requires anyone using Eve to have a specially trained companion present each
time, staying within arm's reach while the person walks, since no session runs
without one. Getting fitted for the device starts with a clinical assessment
and an individualized fitting, followed by five training sessions of about two
hours each, completed in as little as one week or spread out over 30 days.
Training covers transfers in and out of the device, operating the remote
control, walking on level surfaces, moving through tight spaces, daily
activities and safety procedures.
What the Clinical Testing Found
Eve's
clearance is backed by testing at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the
Bronx, the Kessler Foundation in West Orange, New Jersey, and Wandercraft's own
Walk in New York location, involving participants with varying degrees of
spinal cord injury. Wandercraft reports the studies found improvements in
health status, psychological well-being, endurance, lower-limb spasticity,
sitting balance, sleep quality, and bladder and bowel function. Kessler
Foundation director Gail Forrest, PhD, said the findings showed how users and
their companions could safely bring Eve into real-world activities, calling the
results of "substantial clinical relevance."
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