I watched a TED talk today. Usually, I talk more about the presentation’s content then the actual speaker, but today I think the amazing accomplishments of Miguel Nicolelis and his team need to be discussed. Born in 1961, Miguel grew up in Brazil, the home of the 2014 Soccer World Cup. I mention that because it was then and there that a historic feat was achieved. There, in front of one of the largest audiences in the world, a 29 year-old paraplegic man kicked a soccer ball with nothing but the thoughts in his brain.
Nicolelis describes the brain as “about 100 billion elements talking to each other through electrical brainstorms.” Paraplegics still have that, but the problem is getting the brainstorm to the rest of the body. With the spinal cord destroyed, they can not receive or send electrical signals to the brain, stripping them of their sense of touch and ability to move. All of that, a life-altering event, could happen in a matter of seconds to anyone. And thus for decades, scientists, researchers, and more develop and continue to develop solutions and ways to help these people out.
Using a brain-interface machine, Nicolelis and his team of over 150 people from over 25 countries developed an brain-controlled exoskeleton that allowed paraplegic people to move as if they still could move on their own. Using what he knew about kicking a ball, Juliano Pinto kicked a soccer ball. But not only that, he could feel it. The sensation on his foot was simulated by micro elements that vibrate using an artificial skin that the exoskeleton is covered by which was developed by Gordon Cheng.
I found this amazing and though it happened over 6 years ago, I was blown away by it. To develop a machine controlled just by thought seems to me to be something just out of science fiction. I want to take a moment to praise Miguel Nicolelis. This feat has opened a door to new, better solutions for the disabled.
Autism Aid 