At the World's First Cybathlon, Proud Cyborg Athletes Raced for the Gold
From: IEEE Spectrum - 10/12/2016
By: Elia Stricklan

On October 8th, in a sold-out stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, the world's
first cyborg Olympics showed the world a new science-fiction version of
sports. At the Cybathlon, people with disabilities used robotic technology to
turn themselves into cyborg athletes. They competed for gold and glory in six
different events.

Rather than celebrating pure human brawn, the Cybathlon rejoiced in the
combined power of muscle and machine. The competitors, who were called
“pilots,” were people with missing limbs or some form of paralysis; on their
own they could never have moved through the races successfully. But by
skillfully controlling advanced technologies, amputees navigated race courses
using powered prosthetic legs and arms. Paraplegics raced in robotic
exoskeletons, bikes, and motorized wheelchairs, and even used their brain
waves to race in the virtual world.

Read the entire article and view videos (0:57 and 0:53) at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/at-the-worlds-first-cyborg-olympics-manmachine-hybrids-raced-for-the-gold

Links:
Cybathlon
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en

Pilots of the Cybathlon can compete in six disciplines
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines.html

Powered Leg Prosthesis Race (with video 0:32 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/powered-leg-prosthesis-race.html

Powered Arm Prosthesis Race (with video 0:31 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/powered-arm-prosthesis-race.html

Powered Exoskeleton Race (with video 0:34 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/powered-exoskeleton-race.html

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Bike Race (with video 0:32 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/fes-race.html

Powered Wheelchair Race (with video 0:29 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/powered-wheelchair-race.html

Brain-Computer Interface Race (BCI) (with video 0:32 in German)
http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/the-disciplines/bci-race.html