Exoskeletons and the future of work: Envisioning power and control in a workforce without limits

Exoskeletons are an emerging form of technology that combines the skills of both machines and humans to give wearers the ability to complete physically demanding tasks that would be too strenuous for most humans (Sarcos Corp, 2019). Exoskeleton adoption has the potential to both enhance and disrupt many aspects of work, including power dynamics in the workplace and the human-machine interactions that take place. Dyadic Power Theory (DPT) is a useful theory for exploring the impacts of exoskeleton adoption (Dunbar et al., 2016). In this conceptual paper, we extend DPT to relationships between humans and machines in organizations, as well as human-human communication where use of an exoskeleton has resulted in shifts of power.