CYBATHLON

“Did you know 15% of the global population lives with a disability? This represents an incredible opportunity to grow and sustain para sport worldwide. In this Game Changers panel at the Levelling the Field Summit, industry leaders explore how innovation, inclusion, and strategic partnerships can shape the future of para sport.

Speakers: Eric Kersten – Founder, Team TOC & European Para Championships; Sofia Gonzalez – Paralympian, Switzerland; Todd Fraser – Para-cycling Manager, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI); Annegret Kern – Co-Head, Cybathlon (ETH Zurich); Moderator: Marina Logacheva – Disability Sport Lead, MATTA & Co-Founder, FAST

Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhXL6_FAaH8

(Courtesy of Changing the Narrative in Sport)

The Potential of Para Sport | Innovations, Trends and Sponsorship | Levelling the Field 🔑 “Did you know 15% of the global population lives with a disability? This represents an incredible opportunity to grow and sustain para sport worldwide.In ...

A recent systematic review highlights how gamified neurotechnologies enhance learning, motivation, and quality of life for people with disabilities from stroke survivors to children with cerebral palsy and autism.

The study also features CYBATHLON as a real-world example, where a pilot with tetraplegia trained intensively with a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system to compete in the BCI Race. The results show how competitive, gamified environments like CYBATHLON not only boost performance but also drive progress in assistive technology.

Read the full review: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/14/3/491 (Courtesy of MDPI)

From imagined movements to real control, team Graz BCI Racing Team Mirage91 showed what’s possible when innovation, teamwork, and determination come together. Competing in the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Race at CYBATHLON 2024, their system translated pure thought into action, enabling their pilot Antonio Studeny, who lives with a spinal cord injury, to complete real-life-inspired virtual tasks.

With a system trained through motor imagery and refined over months of testing, the team tackled technical and human challenges head-on, from low EEG signal quality to the unpredictability of real-time performance under competition conditions. And yet, they delivered.

Hats off to this diverse group of students and researchers from TU Graz for pushing BCI technology forward and reminding us that assistive tech is more than engineering, it is empowerment.
Find out more: https://bci.plus/the-journey-of-mirage91-at-cybathlon/

Brain Products

Snapshots of pilot from team HANDSON completing tasks during the CYBATHLON 2024 Arm Prosthesis Race in Zurich, Switzerland. Since the DIY task included key subtasks, such as screwing in a light bulb and hammering a nail and then blowing it, the snapshots showcase several critical moments related to these subtasks.

(Ref: Xuhui Hu et. al. Bioengineering 2025)

Team Sight Guide with their blind pilot Lukas Hendry competed in the Vision Assistance Race at the CYBATHLON 2024—the competition designed to push the boundaries of assistive technology. In this race, their system guided a blind participant through everyday tasks such as walking along a sidewalk, sorting colors, ordering from a touchscreen, purchasing a box of tea, and navigating a forest—all powered by computer vision assistance! They used two RGB cameras and a depth camera for localization and 3D mapping and semantic understanding, and a belt for haptic feedback. Their system received the Jury Award for the most innovative and user-friendly solution.

This project is the result of the collaboration among the Universität Zürich, ETH Zürich and the ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fG1WDaKpuk

"The collaboration between able-bodied individuals and those with disabilities at the CYBATHLON was such a heartwarming endeavour," Hu Xuhui said.

Team manager Hu Xuhui (L) and pilot Xu Min (R) from Team HANDSON pose for photos after winning the Arm Prosthesis Race at the global finals of the third CYBATHLON in Zürich, Switzerland. ( Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology)

More than one billion people have different disabilities around the globe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In this systematic review (Electronics 2025, 14(3)), Bilal Ahmed, Sumbal Khan, Hyunmi Lim, and Jeonghun Ku, explore the potential of the gamified Brain—Machine Interfaces (BMIs) and Brain—Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are revolutionising rehabilitation and learning.

Personalized, engaging interventions
Enhanced motivation & well-being
Ethical, user-centered solutions

With 56 studies analyzed (2015-2024), the research highlights the transformative potential of gamification, neurofeedback, and adaptive learning. (Courtesy of MDPI)

The image below shows a participant with tetraplegia: (a) displays gameplay driven by BCI; (b) displays the CYBATHLON Event

Keimyung University Capital University of Science & Technology

With 67 teams from 24 countries, CYBATHLON 2024 set a new benchmark in assistive technology focused on usability, inclusivity, and innovations designed for real life. Team BionIT Labs reflected, “Adrenaline was at its peak as the countdown began. CYBATHLON 2024 wasn’t just another event; it was the culmination of a journey that started with the CYBATHLON Challenges in May 2022, March 2023, and February 2024.”

Adam's Hand

In an exclusive interview, CYBATHLON Co-Head Roland Sigrist, who has been part of this journey since 2014, shares his most memorable moments, key milestones, groundbreaking metrics, and the challenges behind organizing such a unique event.

Read the full interview to learn more about the event and the future of CYBATHLON: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cybathlon-interview-co-head-roland-sigrist-assistance-technologies-mv9ze/

Pulse 2.0 ETH Zürich

CYBATHLON 2024 left a lasting impression on everyone involved. Team Mirage91 from TU Graz, a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Race participant, shared, “Wow, what a journey it has been! Although we didn’t make it to the finals, the experience has been invaluable. CYBATHLON is where the future is taking shape, and this is just the beginning!”

Graz BCI Racing Team Mirage91

In this study, Hideki Oyama and Hiroyasu Ikeda aim to develop a powered exoskeleton for spinal cord injury (SCI) featuring a unique mechanism to adjust the left-right joint angle, accommodating diverse lower limb alignments. Functional evaluation included fitting (device-to-body clearance, subjective pain, discomfort, and fit) and kinematic (hip and knee joint angles) parameters using markerless motion capture.

Find out more: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10554181241311689

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)