Representatives from Paramount Home Entertainment and Iron Man 2 actor Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson) trekked to Salt Lake City over the weekend to try on a real-life exoskeleton suit, created by defense technology company Raytheon Sarcos.
Raytheon showed off the suit, and let Gregg try it on, to help promote the Sept. 28 DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases of Iron Man 2, which pulled in more than $312 million at the domestic box office.
In April "Popular Science" magazine made the comparison between Raytheon's XOS 2 suit and the popular Marvel comic character, and Dr. Stephen Jacobsen, head of the XOS 2 project, called the exoskeleton a combination of art, science and engineering.
"People call it different things," he said. "Sometimes they call it inventing; sometimes they call it engineering. Sometimes they call it being a mad scientist. To us, it's the process of getting together, understanding the problems, goals and then designing something to satisfy the need."
Just like billionaire genius Tony Stark and his Iron Man suit, the XOS 2 amplifies the strengths of its wearer, letting him or her lift hundreds of pounds without tiring, and punch, kick and climb with ease. Raytheon hopes to have the suit used by soldiers in the field by 2015.
Iron Man 2 will be released as a three-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with digital copy, a two-disc DVD set with digital copy and as a single disc DVD option Tuesday.
Article written by Chris Tribbey | ctribbey@questex.com
