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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Robin Basselin.
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And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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On June 12th, the 2014 FIFA World Cup football competition will begin. Thousands of people will gather in São Paulo, Brazil for the opening ceremony. Over a billion more people will watch it on television or over the Internet. Before the first game starts, the two competing football teams will walk onto the field. A young Brazilian adult will join them. To start the World Cup, this young adult will kick the ball. But something about this opening kick will be different. The young adult kicking the ball will be a person who is paralyzed. Normally, this person cannot move his or her legs. So, how will this person kick the ball? The kicker will be wearing a robotic exoskeleton - a machine that takes the shape of arms and legs. And the kicker will control this exoskeleton with his or her mind! The Brazilian scientist, Miguel Nicolelis led the research to build this new technology. Today's Spotlight is on Miguel Nicolelis and the path to the historic opening kick.
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Imagine a world where people who were once paralyzed can now use their arms or legs. Normally, people who are paralyzed need help to move around and complete daily acts. They need other people to help them put on clothes or eat. Other people may use aids - like wheelchairs - to move around. But Miguel Nicolelis dreams of another reality! Nicolelis is a Brazilian doctor and neuroscientist. He studies the way the human brain can communicate with computers and machines. And he believes that science can create a whole new world for people who are paralyzed. He told the Washington Post,
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"We want people to start imagining big things. With enough political will and investment, we could make wheelchairs unnecessary."
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Nicolelis studies and teaches about the human brain at Duke University in the United States. He also works at his laboratory in Natal, Brazil. For years, Nicolelis has studied the ‘brain-machine interface’ or the way the human brain communicates with machines. This brain-machine interface works much like the mind-body interface. When your brain gives commands to your body, it sends electrical signals. The nerves in your body read these signals. And then your body reacts to the signals by moving. For some people, the electrical communication between their mind and body is blocked. And this results in paralysis of one or more parts of their body.
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But today, scientists have begun to create technology that can reproduce the mind-body interface. They have built computers that can read the brain’s electric signals. And they have built devices - called exoskeletons - that can complete the brain’s desired action.
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This process may sound simple, but it is not. Receiving, translating and reacting to brain signals involves extremely complex technology. The opening kick on June 12th will be historic. It will be the first time ever that a person will use their mind to control an exoskeleton in public.
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This scientific achievement is the result of many years of research and hard work. The Walk Again Project has done much of this work. The project involves 125 people from five different continents. Nicolelis is one of these people. And it was his idea to demonstrate The Walk Again Project's research at the World Cup Opening Ceremony. He told CBS News,
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"Football is a very big deal. The World Cup is the world's largest sports competition. We proposed to the government to do something different than a normal musical opening ceremony. Instead, we could surprise the world by doing a scientific demonstration."
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For the demonstration, Nicolelis' laboratory has been training nine different Brazilians to use the new technology. They are all young adults who are paralyzed. These young adults have spent many months learning how to relate to the robotic exoskeleton. It takes time for the human brain to learn to communicate with the machine. Part of this communication involves sensory feedback. The computer begins by translating the human brain signals and causing the exoskeleton to act. But, it also sends messages back to the human brain. This makes the people using the exoskeleton feel their movement. They will feel their feet touch the ground, move across the field and kick the ball.
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For the opening ceremony, Nicolelis laboratory will choose one person to demonstrate the exoskeleton. This young adult will have the great honor of completing the opening kick of the 2014 World Cup. Nicolelis is excited about the chance to show the world what scientists in Brazil are able to do. He told MIT Technology Review,
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"It is going to be like putting a man on the moon. It is achieving a level of courage, creativity, and intelligence that people from other countries do not usually connect with Brazil."
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Nicolelis is also excited about what the demonstration can do for the children of his country. He wants them to dream about what is possible - not just what Brazil can achieve, but what THEY can achieve. When Nicolelis built his laboratory in 2005, he chose one of the country's poorest areas. Today, his laboratory serves more than 1500 local children with special science programs. Nicolelis hopes that the World Cup opening ceremony will reach even more children. He told CBS News,
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"Sports can be a huge way to reach out to people who would not normally watch science news. I always wanted to show children in Brazil how important science can be for society."
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Some people question whether the live demonstration will work or not. The technology is still so new. And the training is difficult. However, in May, Nicolelis confirmed that four young adults had used the exoskeleton to take their first steps. And one of them had already used mental control to kick a ball. But can these laboratory results be reproduced on the football field? Nicolelis is very excited to try. He wrote in the Scientific American,
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"I cannot stop imagining what it will be like during the opening kick. Three billion people will witness a paralyzed Brazilian youth stand up, walk again, and even kick a ball. The youth will score an unforgettable goal for science, in the very land that mastered football - the beautiful game."
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The writer of this program was Jen Hawkins. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at
http://www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, “The Opening Kick."
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!
- See more at: http://spotlightenglish.com/listen/the-opening-kick#sthash.d4gf6u1s.dpuf
