NARRATOR: Every four years, the World Cup inspires millions. A
sporting spectacle loved the world over. Crowning only one
nation. An epic event‚ started with a single kick. But the 2014
World Cup won't be kicked off by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo
or Lionel Messi. No, rather by a person whose body will do the
impossible. Impossible‚ because they're a paraplegic.
Over their Brazilian soccer jersey, a volunteer with the
Walk Again project will start the World Cup with a ceremonial
first kick. They will be suited with an exoskeleton that takes
cues from the user's brain activity, to power his or her
steps forward. Steps that could lead to a future devoid of
devices like wheelchairs. Steps that lead back along a path
begun nearly two decades ago with a National Science
Foundation grant. Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, a neurobiologist at
Duke University, and his colleagues set out to study how
neurons in the cerebral cortex, the outer most layer of the
brain, are involved in motor learning. The researchers first
taught monkeys a behavior. For this they picked a reaching
motion. For an entire year, they recorded data from 50-100 brain
neurons using electrodes implanted in the part of the
cortex that is involved in moving the arm and the hand.
These recordings illuminated something essential. Behind the
monkey's throwing motion were consistent patterns in brain
activity. The same pattern each time the monkey moved its arm.
With this data the team developed a brain machine
interface. A system that interprets what a user wants
from their brain activity, and then turns that activity into
commands that can control everything from a cursor on a
computer screen to the movements of a robotic arm. The team's
brain machine interface could now read the monkey's brain
activity in real-time and in 2000, a monkey controlled a
robotic arm at Duke University. And later‚ a robotic arm 700
miles away at MIT. It's one thing to interpret a consistent
brain pattern when a monkey moves its arm. But another step
would take this research even further. Later, a macaque monkey
wearing an updated brain machine interface used a robotic arm to
grasp for virtual objects. A monumental achievement, because
the monkey did so‚ without moving its own arm. The macaque
simply thought about moving its arm, the brain machine interface
interpreted this brain activity, and the robotic arm performed
the action. Because paraplegics can't physically move their
legs, this basic research will be essential for Dr. Nicolelis
and the Walk Again Project's steps forward. The World Cup's
exoskeleton will use an EEG cap, rather than implanted
electrodes, to read brain activity. The patterns will be
interpreted by computer algorithms, and the
exoskeleton's hydraulic pumps will power it forward. For a
moment, the world will catch just a glimpse of the potential
for how this research and technology could transform
lives. With every second that ticks away, fans beg and hope
for that one miraculous kick to celebrate their nation.
This year... the whole world will rejoice.
[Crowd cheering] ♫MUSIC♫