What We Know

10. The Apex fits into work & is well-accepted by workers.

Because of its form factor and design, the Apex has repeatedly been found to fit well into different work environments and to be well-accepted by diverse users.

In one field study with international logistics and retail companies, 100% of workers reported that the exosuit could fit into their daily work without interfering with other aspects of their job (Yandell 2020). An independent, third-party field study by Pennsylvania State University found the Apex fit well into work at a foundry (Slavin 2021). A series of field studies led by SAIF insurance company concluded that the Apex was a good fit for jobs involving prolonged bending, ground-level work, heavy lifting, and repetitive lifting (SAIF 2021). However, they noted that the Apex may not work with all PPE or other worn gear, so this compatibility needs to be checked beforehand. Similarly, a Vanderbilt University study tested U.S. Army Soldiers wearing exosuits during a highly dynamic field artillery exercise and found that the exosuit “could be used in realistic operational environments without interfering with other tasks, gear or equipment” (Slaughter 2023).

Finally, based on HeroWear-led field studies (N=408), 88% of Apex 2 users have reported being able to perform all job tasks while wearing the exosuit. HeroWear routinely sees worker acceptance rates on the order of 80% (Zelik 2023) and has developed a roadmap and support services that help organizations achieve successful deployments and high user acceptance rates (The Road to Exosuit Success).

exosuit-workers-being-trained-insturction-exoskeleton-warehouse

Multiple thought leaders in the exoskeleton field have also made public statements about soft exosuits, like the Apex, generally being preferred over rigid exoskeletons due to comfort and movement interference differences. For instance, in a recent keynote presentation on occupational exoskeletons, Dr. Maury Nussbaum, a leading ergonomics researcher from Virginia Tech remarked, “I also think the future is soft. We do lots of demos for people in different occupational sectors (construction, mining, etc.) and a clear message I hear is that [for] these exosuits that are mainly soft materials, people are much more receptive to them… [they’re] much more comfortable over time” (Nussbaum 2022).

These remarks are consistent with the feedback we hear from our own Apex field studies. Many Apex clients either trialed rigid exoskeletons before contacting us, or performed head-to-head comparisons of multiple exoskeleton products before selecting the Apex as their preferred exosuit solution.