Cybathlon 2020: A Revolution in Med-Tech
It sounds like the next big Sci-Fi blockbuster, but the Cybathlon is an international 'Cyborg Olympics' for people with disabilities.
The Cybathlon started as a single day of sporting competition for physically impaired people using the latest in assistive technologies.
After its successful inauguration in 2016 at Zürich's Swiss Arena, it will return in 2020 with two days of competition.
The Cybathlon is the brainchild of science and technology university ETH Zurich and NCCR Robotics Professor Robert Riener from Switzerland.
The global contest was designed for people with disabilities or physical weaknesses to compete against each other using the latest in robotic technologies.
It's been hailed as an important driver in innovation within the assistive technologies and robotics industry.
In 2020 the competition will feature the six disciplines from 2016 plus some new additions.
These will include Brain-Computer Interface Race, Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike Race, Powered Leg Prosthesis Race, Powered Exoskeleton Race, and Powered Wheelchair Race. The new additions will include challenges for people with sensory disabilities such as deafness and blindness.
While the games offer a chance for competitors to show their strength and compete in an inclusive environment it is also an international platform for Biomedical companies to showcase recent advancements in research and technologies.
There will be a chance for able-bodied audience members to try out some of the challenges, raising more awareness of the challenges facing those with physical disabilities.
Professor Robert Riener hopes this event will encourage greater communication between designers and users.
"It is our goal to accelerate the development of useful technologies by bringing together the developing teams from universities and industry, together with the pilots, they have to recruit the pilots, people with disabilities, they have to talk to each other and get to know the needs of people with disabilities," he said.
Take a look at this amazing competition.
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