Exoskeletons for human motor performance assessment in older adults – Critical reflection on challenges and solutions

To date, exoskeletons are mainly used to provide (mobility) support to workers or persons with physical impairments. However, integrated sensors may also make exoskeletons suitable for assessing human motor performance, e.g., abilities and skills related to the lower limbs that decline during normal aging such as gait, posture, muscle strength, and proprioception. To this end, we postulate three different approaches: 1) Adapting/adjusting traditional (e.g., clinical or lab-based) testing protocols for exoskeleton-based assessments; 2) developing new testing protocols specifically tailored to the characteristics of exoskeletons; and 3) continuous monitoring of exoskeleton-recorded data to determine motor performance parameter variations over time. We hypothesize that human motor performance assessment using exoskeletons is possible and could have important implications for future mobility solutions as well as health and well-being in old age.