Many life forms, such as lobsters, have hard outer shells called exoskeletons. These help protect and shape the lobster’s body. While those are interesting, in this article we are talking about mechanical exoskeletons--not for protection, but for the enhancement of abilities, allowing humans to accomplish things we could normally on dream of, for instance, jumping twenty feet (vertical).
The idea of exoskeletons has been around for a while. Exoskeletons are worn on the outside of the body and in this case meant to support and enhance abilities.
With an exoskeleton, people would hypothetically be able to perform everyday tasks but at an improved state, such as the ability to jump 50 feet higher than normal, punch through brick walls, etc. Now take it a step further and imagine an entire suit enveloping the body that flawlessly responds to its wearer’s movements.
There are some problems with this idea though. The idea of this massive amount of extra power would have to come from somewhere. This would require a bigger “battery” in the sense that it would be able to store energy, and this would increase the weight, causing it to need more power, and an endless cycle appears.
In conclusion, despite the exciting potential of exoskeletons in books and movies, the idea is highly improbable to come to life any time soon.