VentrAssist is a type of left ventricular assist device (LVAD).

BBC: Image of heart failure

Unlike the earlier Walking Assist Device, which is intended just to help patients re-learn how to walk, the new (and cunningly named) Walking Assist Device with Bodyweight Support System is for anyone who needs a lift -- even those who are perfectly healthy.

ENGADGET: Honda introduces new walking assist machine, doubles as bionic wedgie maker

What matters is that the hardware works, and it works to an incredible degree -- the feeling of Epic Citadel's world simply serves to assist in selling the device.

ENGADGET: Hands-on with the newer, larger Oculus Rift prototype (video)

The 57-pound device is a robot that a human could wear over his or her body either to assist or inhibit movement in leg joints.

ENGADGET: NASA and IHMC building X1 exoskeleton to give us a lift, keep us fit in space and on Earth