Bionic athletes battle it out at world’s first Cybathlon
Video report by ITV News Anglia's Chloe Keedy.
We’ve spent all summer celebrating sporting success thanks to the Olympics and the Paralympics, but on Saturday the world’s first ever Cybathlon was held in Zurich.
The competition saw athletes with physical disabilities putting the latest robotic technology to the test - not just whizzing around a racetrack but also carrying out simple everyday tasks like laying the table and playing computer games.
Bionic arms and legs, powered wheelchairs, robotic bodysuits and brain computer interfaces took centre stage as teams from all over the world descended on Zurich’s Swiss Arena to compete.
4,500 people came to cheer on 66 teams made up of technology developers and ‘pilots’ - as the competitors were called.
Competing in the powered wheelchair race was Paul Moore from Peterborough. It’s not a test of speed, but of the competitor’s skill at navigating a series of obstacles that they might encounter in everyday life. The pilots had to manoeuvre their chairs through narrow doorways, up and down steps and over uneven ground. Paul made it to the finals and finished in 8th place.
A team from the University of Essex took part in the Brain Computer Interface Race. Their paralysed pilot, David, had to control a character in a computer game using his mind.
The pilot wears a cap with 64 electrodes attached to it which records signals from the brain. They are then processed and fed into the computer, where they are interpreted as commands.
The Essex University Brainstormers finished in 3rd place.
Other competitors battled to be the best at using a bionic arm. They had to carry out everyday tasks like making breakfast and hanging up washing.
A UK team took silver in a bike race for riders who are paralysed. The pilot powers the pedals by pumping electricity into his leg muscles.The more they apply - the faster they go, so it’s a trade off between stamina and speed.
It was a competition that was about more than who got the gold medal - it was a glimpse of how extraordinary technology can transform everyday lives.