The world cup in Brazil will open on June 13. At the opening ceremony, a billion spectators around the world will see a magical scene. A paraplegic Brazilian youth will kick off the world cup opening game. His mobility comes from an "exoskeleton" robot system developed by many scientists. The system can stand and walk according to brain signals

According to the official website of the University of California, Berkeley, Professor Homayoon kazeroni and his team will pay close attention to every movement of the Brazilian paraplegic youth on the 12th. Just last week, two other paraplegic teenagers in their 20s also played football on the playground at Berkeley. Kazeroni will compare the movements of the Brazilian youth with the videos of the two men.

Traditionally, paraplegic patients need to rely on complex sensors, gyroscopes and hydraulic transmission systems if they want to move. The exoskeleton controller used by the Brazilian young man was jointly developed by Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian neuroscientist, and Gordon Cheng of the German Polytechnic University in Munich. The two scientists have spent 30 years in research and development, which will be the most advanced technology to help paraplegic patients move.

In this system, a helmet can monitor the brain nerve signals of paraplegic patients, and the signals will be transmitted to the exoskeleton robot system. The system can carry out actions according to the patient's ideas, so as to realize standing and walking.

According to reports, the exoskeleton robot system costs as much as 20000 US dollars and weighs nearly 10kg. Patients can "wear" the system on their bodies.

At present, there are a large number of paraplegic patients in the world, and the number of people in the United States is up to 2 million. The goal of scientists such as Miguel Nicolelis and kazeroni is to use the most advanced robot technology to make more paraplegic patients walk again.

Many paraplegic patients can't afford 100000 dollars of mobile equipment, and insurance companies won't pay for them, "our goal is to develop devices that patients can afford," the professor said

Perhaps at the opening ceremony, TV commentators from all over the world will exclaim that the exoskeleton controlled by the brain will take the wheelchair out of the stage of history. But according to Sanjay Joshi, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis, who also contributed to the exoskeleton robot system project, exoskeleton robotic systems are still in their early stages of development.

Another project participant, Gordon Cheng of the Munich Polytechnic University, said it would take 10 to 20 years for the brain to control exoskeletons to mature and become available.

According to reports, in Europe, some companies have begun to sell exoskeletons to paraplegic patients for between $50000 and $100000. Professor carzeloni of the University of California believes that we need to rely on advanced robot technology to make the weight of the exoskeleton lower and the cost lower.

In April, the team of Brazilian researcher Miguel Nicolelis has asked a paraplegic patient to test and rehearse the exoskeleton robot system. He has selected eight patients, one of whom will kick off for the world cup.