One of the cool uses of robotic technology is to make wearable exoskeletons for human use and enhancement.

A professor at Tsukuba University in Japan has done just that: made an exoskeleton called HAL that supplements the wearer's natural body strength. Bottom line? Wear HAL and you can pick up twice the weight of a normal person, walk twice as far ... maybe even fight twice as hard.

Anyway, the usage the inventor in Japan has in mind is a little more benign than creating ultimate warriors or tireless workers (although those things might come too). Right now, it's being looked at as a way to help older people and paralytics walk again.

Here's an article about a guy they have testing it who is paralyzed from the neck down, but with HAL is planning to scale a mountain peak: http://www.theage.com.au/news/breaking/robot-suit-will-help-quadriplegic-scale-the-heights/2006/04/04/1143916503382.html

And here's the official website for the professor's university page: http://sanlab.kz.tsukuba.ac.jp/indexE.html