World Cup 2014 has officially begun! But did you see exactly HOW it started? You might have missed the moment on TV when the match kicked off but it was actually a paraplegic who kicked off the whole tournament! Yes, literally kicked! The young man is medically paralyzed from the waste down, however, he is wearing a specially designed eksoskeleton that allows him to take control of his limbs once more. The project is called Walk Again and is run in Brazil by the Edmond & Lily Safra Natal International Neuroscience Institute (ELS-IINN).
The special World Cup kick-off is the latest in neurological technology. “The patient imagines that he wants to move, to walk. This is detected by sensors and sent to a computer which interprets this information and sends info to the exoskeleton,” said Brazilian neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis, who leads the project, talking by phone. “It allows the patient to control movements on the lower limbs, that’s the first innovation. The second is the exoskeleton generates these movements.”
World Cup tweets have gone a bit wild over the landmark moment. Univisión anchor Jorge Ramos Tweeted "Se perdió en la TV el momento de la patada inicial en la ceremonia de apertura del Mundial. Último trabajo del director de cámaras." ("It got lost on the TV the moment of the inicial kick during the World Cup opening ceremony. Terrible job from the camera director." The remarkable moment sets the pace for what is sure to be truly remarkable World Cup.
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