Skip
Supporting human movement and mobility with powered clothing
Skip creates wearables that make movement effortless and enjoyable for everyone. While incubating at The Moonshot Factory, the team built dozens of prototypes at the cutting edge of exoskeleton technology to understand, predict, and support human movement in new ways. Now as an independent company, Skip is creating powered clothing to increase mobility and joy.
Mobility Issues Affect Everyone
Skip began when a group of designers and engineers were exploring a range of solutions to help address problems related to aging. Their investigations led them to look at how physical movement enables a better quality of life. As they dug deeper into their research, they realized that mobility issues don’t discriminate based on age.
According to the World Health Organization, around the world, one in seven people struggle with musculoskeletal conditions, while one in four Americans 45 and over have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. Reduced mobility leads to a cascade of negative physical and mental health challenges, and contributes to around 5% of global healthcare costs.
Through extensive interviews, the team discovered that even small interventions —like making it easier to get out of a chair or walk up stairs—could significantly improve daily life.
Pants with Built-In Power
Guided by their research, the team set out to design a new kind of wearable: lightweight, affordable pants that anyone could easily slip on. They started out experimenting with various design iterations by creating 3D-printed models in X’s Design Kitchen.
Advancements in sensors, batteries, and materials meant that the team could create pants that were exponentially more lightweight, comfortable, and responsive. They also developed a first-of-its-kind actuator capable of compensating for up to 40 percent of a healthy person’s biological forces. They combined these hardware breakthroughs with machine learning models, coding them into sensors to detect specific human movements like hiking uphill or walking down stairs.
The team tested a range of prototypes with hundreds of people — and almost broke a world record for stair climbing along the way. They honed their design to make wearable mobility technology practical and powerful.
Skip Today
Skip became an independent company in 2023 and in 2024 launched its first product, MO/GO powered pants, in partnership with outdoor gear brand Arc’teryx. Described as an “e-bike for walking” MO/GO pants are designed to reduce exertion, muscle fatigue, and joint discomfort. The Skip team ultimately aims to create an entirely new category of clothing— “movewear,”—to help more people move joyfully.
