Robotics are having an effect on water gait, as described in this study:
“Robotic gait trainer in water: Development of an underwater gait-training orthosis,” Tasuku Miyoshi, Kazuaki Hiramatsu, Shin-Ichiro Yamamoto, Kimitaka Nakazawa, and Masami Akai, Disability and Rehabilitation, vol. 30, no. 2, 2008, pp. 81-87. The authors are at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, the Japan Foundation for Aging and Health, Hitachi Medical Corporation, and the Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Saitama, Japan. They report:
Purpose. To develop a robotic gait trainer that can be used in water (RGTW) and achieve repetitive physiological gait patterns to improve the movement dysfunctions.
Method. The RGTW is a hip-knee-ankle-foot orthosis with pneumatic actuators; the control software was developed on the basis of the angular motions of the hip and knee joint of a healthy subject as he walked in water. Three-dimensional motions and electromyographic (EMG) activities were recorded in nine healthy subjects to evaluate the efficacy of using the RGTW while walking on a treadmill in water.