Science & Health
As Rio Paralympics draw global attention with some stellar performances from differently-abled athletes, the Swiss city, Zurich, gears up to host the first “Cyborg Olympics” or “Cybathlon” in October. The event will showcase the advances in prosthetics technology that has simplified everyday activities for people with physical disabilities. More than fifty teams from all across the world will participate in the competition, which includes activities like slicing bread, going upstairs and putting out the washing among others.
University of Essex team leader Ana Matran-Fernandez says that most of the modern day researches focus on able-bodied users, writes the BBC. However, the objective of Cybathlon is to encourage engineers to develop assistive products for people with disabilities.
The tech-enhanced prosthetics available today are difficult to get adept with and are very expensive, which is why they cannot be routinely provided to patients. The Cybathlon seeks to motivate research labs to connect with patients and engineer solutions that are low-cost but high on performance.
The Cybathlon, which is being organized by the Swiss university E.T.H. Zurich, has seen an overwhelming response on its debut, with 74 athletes competing against each other using state of the art bionic technology, reports Vanguard Daily.
