There is no denying that FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil opening ceremony was one of the most impressive starts of the World Soccer Cup. A 29-year-old paraplegic man, Juliano Pinto, kicked off the 2014 World Cup.

Not only did he appear in front of billions of people around the globe at the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup, but Pinto, who is paralyzed from waist down, started the largest soccer event in the world.

If you have missed watching this scene live, then you must know that Pinto, from a standing position moved his right leg and kicked the ceremonial soccer ball as he has enrolled in a research project. Once he kicked the soccer ball, the science and research team behind the effort was up in applause.

It was not at all easy for Pinto to do what he has done in front of so many people. Pinto does not have control over the lower half of his body and he kicked the ball using his mind to operate an exoskeleton-like machine within which he was standing.

Researchers are working under a consortium called the Walk Again Project, first 3D scan of Pinto's head. The scan was then turned into a 3D CAD model and fed to a 3D printer and created the plastic helmet of the size of Pinto' head.

The helmet passed signal from Pinto's brain into a computer present in the backpack of the exoskeleton. In return, computer decoded the signals and determined the movement of the hydraulic powered exoskeleton.

"It's the first time an exoskeleton has been controlled by brain activity and offered feedback to the patients", said Miguel Nicolelis, head researcher on the project.