June 13, 2014
Image: Kevin Cox / Getty Images
A paraplegic man has made the first kick of the World Cup using a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton.
Thanks to mind-controlled technology and 3D printing which allowed 29-year-old Juliano Pinto, with complete paralysis of the lower trunk, to leave behind his wheelchair to take to the pitch in the suit and give the tournament's first kick at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo.
Pinto wore the Brazilian national team's uniform and a special helmet, custom made with 3D printed parts. His lower body was supported by a high-tech exoskeleton. There were electrodes placed on his or her scalp or within the brain. Every time when he thinks about about walking, the electrodes will transmit the brain signals to a small computer, worn like a backpack. The computer turns those wireless commands into movement.
The pioneering work was created by a team of more than 150 researchers led by Dr. Miguel A.L. Nicolelis of Duke University, 52, a neuroscientist who is also part of the 'Walk Again Project', an international collaboration that aims to use technology to overcome paralysis.
The researchers came from a variety of institutions including Duke University Center for Neuroengineering and the Technical University of Munich, among other universities from the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and Brazil. Dr Nicolelis told AFP this effort costs the Brazilian government $14 million over the past two years. He said that's approximately four or five times less than what the United States government invests in a mechanical arm.
Dr Nicolelis tweeted called the event a "great team effort" and afterwards tweeted: "We did it!!!"
"It's the first time an exoskeleton has been controlled by brain activity and offered feedback to the patients," Dr Nicolelis said. "Doing a demonstration in a stadium is something very much outside our routine in robotics. It's never been done before."
Pinto is one of paralyzed patients who volunteered to go through months of training for the task. The other seven watched this kick-off from the sidelines.
"It was up to Juliano to wear the exoskeleton, but all of them made that shot. It was a big score by these people and by our science," Dr Nicolelis said in a statement.
Here's a video from the National Science Foundation that explains more.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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I've seen the "kick" and it doesn't even try to live up to the hype. I think they should have let the technology mature more first.
jose wrote at 6/13/2014 5:35:13 AM:
Amen!
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