Paraplegic
Performs World Cup’s Ceremonial First Kick in
Mind-Controlled Robotic Suit
The 2014 FIFA
World Cup kicked off yesterday with a very special
Ceremonial First kick.*Julia** Pinto, a 29-year old paraplegic, kicked the official game ball a short distance with the help of a
Robotic exoskeleton that he controlled with just his mind.
The
Mind-Controlled Robotic Suit is the invention of*Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian scientist at Duke University whom we’ve written about numerous times in the past for his work on*brain-machine interfaces. Named the*Bra-Santos Dumont after*Brazil and Albert Santos-Dumont, an aviation pioneer who was born in Brazil, the
Suit works by reading*neural signals from the brain using*a cap fitted with sensors. The signals are decoded and command a pair of hydraulic legs to move. The*Bra-Santos Dumont also contains artificial skin in the soles of its feet that contain pressure, temperature, and speed sensors. The skin allows the user to receive a kind of tactile stimulation when walking with*the exoskeleton by vibrating the user’s arm when the foot touches the ground.
Looking at the screengrab of the kick, it’s unlikely that the*Bra-Santos Dumont exoskeleton will instantly give you Cristia** Ronaldo*skills, but it should certainly give some hope to soccer futbol players who have lost the use of their legs.
More coverage from the BBC:*
Paraplegic in robotic suit kicks off World Cup…
More info:
Laboratory of Dr. Miguel Nicolelis…
Dr. Miguel Nicolelis flashbacks: Neural Link Lets One Rat’s Brain Guide A**ther (w/video)…;
Researchers Develop Sense of Infrared Sight in Rats With Goal of Bringing Visible Sight to Blind People (w/video) …;
Brain-Computer Interfaces, Mind-Controlled Robotic Avatars, and Our Self-Realization …;
TEDMED 2012 Day 2 – Rockstar Scientists, and Patients, Aiming to K**ck Out Disease …;
