It's called Mindwalker – and it's the first exoskeleton robot. It's designed to operate with the power of thought.
It's a futuristic idea developed by a pan-European team of scientists. They say the device could eventually offer paralyzed people a viable alternative to a wheelchair. The first prototype was designed to hold a person's body upright and move their legs when instructed by a computer.
But researchers want to go a step further. Neurophysiologist Guy Cheron at the University of Brussels is coordinating an experiment that aims to allow operating instructions to come directly from the user's brain, rather than from a computer.
Neurophysiologist and researcher GUY CHERON, says: “We use a “cap” that measures electrical activity from the surface of the scalp and through calculations, we identify the areas involved in controlling our legs. This way we identify the signals emitted from the area of the brain that commands the legs. This is the first step. Then, we will train the patient so that he can take control of his brain signals.”
In the video below, the researcher uses his brain to control the movement of a small robot. An EEG “cap” measures electrical activity on the scalp. An algorithm translates this brain activity into commands that tell the exoskeleton to move.
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