Did anybody else ever watch Deadliest Warrior? If not, it was a show that pitted two very different types of fighters and weapons against each other: the only downside being that the fight was a computer simulation. Sadly, it would be far too dangerous for weapons masters in real-life to hold such competitions, making the actual viewing experience of such a battle impossible. Or is it?
Australian company Unified Weapons Master, who have created high-tech suits of armor for just such an occasion, tough enough to allow mixed martial artists to actually use weapons against each other in an actual fight.
The suit, called Lorica, is outfitted with all the latest tech: a point-of-view camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (of course), a microphone, and 52 pressure sensors that relay data back to an external program. While the armor is composed of very flexible and lightweight material, it can stand up to anything. Unified Weapons Master took the name Lorica from the armor worn by the Roman Legions, and the armor certainly is not disappointing its legacy.
According to company CEO David Pysden, martial artists are thrilled about the suit: after training for decades in weapons-based fighting, martial artists of that caliber who very rarely get the opportunity to actually test those skills without causing severe injuries, if they get the opportunity at all But with the Lyrica armor, these fighters can finally safely use those skills, not just because of the armor’s protective sources but because of its network of pressure sensors.
“We know the damage that would have occurred to an unprotected competitor if they weren’t wearing the suit, and we can display that in real time,” Pysden said of the sensors on Discovery, which are designed in order to transmit impact statistics of where, how, and how hard a blow lands.
Using these impact sensors, fighters would be able to score points with successful blows without the need for referees of judges, while spectators could use the system to have a more connected experience when watching the fight.
Pysden’s company is currently in negotiations with several production companies about broadcasting a weapons masters tournament where competitors would wear the Lorica armor, one that could happen as early as the end of this
year.
Source Discovery
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