Climbing and striding in Las Vegas

There were plenty of robots on display at CES 2026 promising to relieve humans of various burdens, from mowing lawns and sucking debris out of pools to folding laundry and vacuuming stairs.

But what about robotic tech that just helps us—actual humans—keep moving?

That’s what I sought last week in Las Vegas, for somewhat selfish reasons: I have multiple sclerosis, and although I have some gait disability, I get around just fine now. But I know that might not be the case in the future, so I hoped to hunt down tech that could preserve my mobility long term.

I pounded across convention floors to the tune of well over 10,000 steps a day, and I found it.

Morning Brew tested several consumer-oriented devices that promise to aid mobility: the Dephy Sidekick, two models from exoskeleton purveyor Dnsys, and one exoskeleton from Ascentiz. The co-founders of all three companies cited similar motivations for their products: Armed with backgrounds in creating medical devices, they wanted to create something that would help a broader cohort of people.

A leg up. My first test was a robotic wellness device called the Dephy (pronounced “defy”) Sidekick, which Luke Mooney, Dephy’s co-founder and CEO, described as “an ebike for walking.”

I laced up thick-soled sneakers and Mooney attached the Sidekick to each shoe with a magnet, explaining the design ensures individuals with limited flexibility can still quickly put on the device. He wrapped a strap around my calf and said I’d feel the device hug my calf as it initialized. Once I had one on each foot, Mooney instructed me to walk about 20 steps at my normal pace so the Sidekick could assess my gait.

When the Sidekick powered on, I felt what can best be described as a spring in my step. Walking was instantly easier, and my legs felt lighter. I walked for a bit and then Mooney pitched “an A/B test.”

“So what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I’ll let you tell me,” he said.

“It feels like they’re off,” I reported, and he asked what my legs felt like.

“They feel like I have MS,” I responded. The A/B test was turning them off; when they were on, the Sidekick had extinguished the heaviness and unsteadiness from my legs.

Mooney said that in the future he hopes to attach the Sidekick to different types of footwear. Dephy is also the robotics partner for Nike’s Project Amplify, which aims to help athletes “go a little bit faster and farther.” Nike and Dephy clearly envision a big tent: Nike defines an athlete as anyone with a body, and Mooney noted the Sidekick is suitable for “folks that have discomfort or fatigue or just general lack of fitness.” In its current configuration, it retails for $4,500, and while not covered by insurance, it is HSA/FSA eligible, he said.

“The reason it’s not a medical device and it’s a wellness device is because there are so many conditions and issues that affect your walking,” Mooney said. “It wasn’t about targeting walking. It’s about, let’s get this tool out into the world and understand how it gets used and who adopts it first.”

Better, faster, stronger. Next up, I tested exoskeleton devices from Dnsys and Ascentiz. I did laps around the convention floor in both, and took a Dnsys exoskeleton up and down multiple flights of steps. These futuristic battery-powered devices strap around your hips and are connected to your thighs (and, depending on the model, knees) to offer a boost while walking or running or provide resistance as a training aid.

“This product is very suitable for people who want to walk long distance and…help people to go up stairs,” Jojo Li, co-founder of Dnsys, told me.

The Ascentiz model was sleeker than the Dnsys ones—when I pivoted in the Dnsys devices, I could feel the device around my hips swivel. But the longer I wore the exoskeletons from both companies, the more they felt “normal.” The assistance was subtle. It wasn’t until I took them off that I realized how much they were helping to alleviate the heaviness in my legs. 

Don Whiting, the chair of Allegheny Health Network’s Neuroscience Institute in Pittsburgh, said his paraplegic patients use larger exoskeleton devices in rehabilitative settings, but for general patient populations, he sees devices like the ones I tested at CES as “more of a facilitator.” He praised recent developments in AI that allow these devices to better anticipate a person’s next movement, as well advancements that are making them smarter, smaller, and more affordable.

“I think the right device in the right situation to augment activities can be very valuable, and I just don’t think we had much of that up until recently,” he told me. “As technology advances, organized medicine is very interested in having patients get to their peak performance, and anything that helps do that and isn’t harmful is in play as new to add to the armamentarium.”

At the moment, Dnsys exoskeletons range from around $1,000–$2,000, and Ascentiz models go for $1,500–$2,000, but the goal is to make this tech more accessible.

“We see the technology is maturing, both for AI algorithms, also for hardware, motors,” Feng Sha, Ascentiz’s co-founder and chief explorer, told me. “They bring the cost down to the level that everybody can accept.”