new york superman may not need a red cape and underpants for his super strength but a power suit being developed in japan may do the job for you livescience reported on fridayengineers are perfecting a wearable power suit that amplifies human strength to help lift hospital patients or heavy objects driven by portable batteries micro air pumps and small body sensors that pick up even the slightest muscle twitch the standalone wearable power assist suit is designed to help nursing home workers lift patients of up to 180 pounds while cutting the amount of strength required in half project researcher hirokazu noborisaka told livescienceat wired magazines nextfest newtechnology forum here researchers demonstrated walking and lifting weights in the 66pound suit which was developed at the hightech research center of japans kanagawa institute of technology when i wear it i dont feel that its heavy at all said project team member hiroe tsukui after stepping out of the power suit the sensors can tell the muscle power needed to lift an objecta network of sensors track the wearers upper arms and legs and waistmuscle activity then relay the data to an onboard microcomputer that regulates air flow into a series of inflatable cuffs which expand to amplify lifting strength the suit supports its own weight and carries a battery lifetime of about 30 minuteswe think that 30 minutes is enough time to lift a patient from one place to another said noborisaka who engineered the sensor computing system used in the suit adding that future versions could help the elderly or disabled walkthe current modelknown as the 2nd standalone power assist suitis stronger and more compact than its predecessor researchers said designer mineo ishii said that the next step is to further reduce the size of the power assist suit to make it more practical for use by hospital staff it needs to be more flexible so for more easy movement ishii said adding that a protective cover that shrouds the suits sensitive or sharp areas is also required