The WIRED Mech isn't just a big costume. Part of what makes it so impressive is that there's a fair amount of engineering behind its mechanical movements. When someone is "driving" the mech, it mirrors his or her movements exactly. So when the mech's pilot--in this case Bruce Mitchell--shakes his fist, the WIRED Mech does the same. And it does it all without any motors or hydraulics.
Although the pros at Legacy Effects and the Stan Winston Studio are special effects masters, even they didn't know if what we were trying to do was possible. But with the help of some reverse-engineered Japanese mech technology, a clever skeleton-extending parallelogram design, and hours of testing, the WIRED Mech is ready to move and groove.
In this installment of our weeklong series looking at the making of the mech, you can watch as special effects engineers build a fully-articulated load-bearing exoskeleton from scratch.
