Con­trol­ling a com­pu­ter with the brain – it is not tele­ki­ne­sis, but highly valuable applied research.

At the first “Cyb­ath­lon” in Octo­ber, peo­ple with severe han­di­caps will par­ti­ci­pate in a com­pe­ti­tion with the aid of the latest pro­sthe­tics and assis­tance sys­tems. Among those in atten­dance in Switz­er­land will be an Aus­trian with severe arm and leg disa­bi­li­ties and a stu­dent group from the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­sity of Graz.
Brain-com­pu­ter-inter­faces (BCI) com­pu­ters allow machi­nes or pro­sthe­tics to be con­trol­led solely with the power of thought. The results are rele­vant for, among other things, the reha­bi­li­ta­tion of peo­ple with severe phy­si­cal disabilities.
“It beg­ins with the ability to com­mu­ni­cate, con­ti­nues through mus­cle and nerve sti­mu­la­tion and on to an increased capa­city for con­cen­tra­tion”, sum­ma­ri­zes Ger­not Mül­ler-Putz, head of the Insti­tute for Neu­ro­tech­no­logy at the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­sity of Graz. The rese­ar­chers at the Graz Insti­tute have been working with this topic for 25 years.

Cyb­ath­lon at ETH Zürich
On 8^th Octo­ber, peo­ple with severe phy­si­cal disa­bi­li­ties will be com­pe­ting in events in six dif­fe­rent disci­pli­nes using pro­sthe­tics that they con­trol with their own brain signals. The Cyb­ath­lon is orga­ni­zed by the ETH Zürich. Some 80 teams from all over the world have registered.
“The events include obs­ta­cle course races for peo­ple with pro­sthe­tic legs, dex­terity tests for par­ti­ci­pants with pro­sthe­tic arms, and an obs­ta­cle course race for para­ple­gic pilots using a moto­ri­zed exo­ske­le­ton”, says team lea­der David Steyrl.
In the BCI race disci­pline, sever­ely dis­ab­led par­ti­ci­pants con­trol a figure in a race on the com­pu­ter. Aus­trian Ger­hard Klein­ho­fer from Guß­werk near Maria­zell is par­ti­ci­pa­ting here with the stu­dent team.