The World Cup Kickoff

The kickoff was performed by a young guy whose lower trunk is completely paralyzed. He did it using a robotic exoskeleton created by a team of more than 150 researchers led by Brazilian neuroscientist, Dr Miguel Nicolelis, a leading figure in the field of brain-machine interfaces. The scientists seek a future "in which people with paralysis may abandon the wheelchair and literally walk again".

Needless to say, the exoskeleton is quite complex. The driver is a cap placed on the patient's head to pick up brain signals and relay them to a computer in the exoskeleton's backpack, which then decodes the signals and sends them to the legs.

The exoskeleton uses flexible printed circuit boards, each containing pressure, temperature and speed sensors. The circuit boards are applied on the soles of the feet and allow the patient to receive tactile stimulation when walking with the exoskeleton. When the robotic suit starts to move and touches the ground, signals are transmitted to an electronic vibration device on the patient's arm, which stimulates their skin.

After lots of practice, the brain starts associating the movements of the legs with the vibration in the arm. In theory, the patient should start to develop the sensation that they have legs and that they are walking.