Question: Why is the focus of the paralysis prize about building an exoskeleton, rather than the root cause of repairing spinal injuries?

Paralysis Challenge answered on 18 Jun 2014:

Most researchers in the spinal cord injury community believe that we should strive for both a cure and for technological approaches that give people more independence. It appears that the developers of the Longitude Prize are focusing on the latter, but that is not intended to minimize the very important work going on in finding a cure. I don’t believe the prize is necessarily focused on exoskeletons, however. In fact, it would be a shame if the only purpose of the Prize is to find the best exoskeleton! The spinal cord injury community is interested in restored function – being able to do things they can’t do right now. And that includes much more than standing: it includes hand grasp, bladder control, bowel control, improved respiration (like cough), trunk support, and many other things. For some people with the most severe form of paralysis, they simply want to be able to breath without a respirator, to control their environment such as turning on lights, to be able to move a cursor on a computer screen, or to type. These are essential functions that an exoskeleton simply cannot provide.