Collaborating on Technology to Assist People with Physical Disabilities
Sep 02, 2020
ETH Zurich’s CYBATHLON aims to inspire research and development of technology to assist people with physical disabilities in going about their lives.
At the same time, it aims to encourage dialogue on inclusion for people with disabilities.
The CYBATHLON, which is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), includes a symposium and a competition comprising physical challenges, both of which will take place this year in a remote format. The CYBATHLON Symposium will take place online from September 17 to 18, free of charge to all participants.
Dr. Heini Murer, member of the SNF Board of Directors, commented, “Our current situation, in which virtual events like this are the norm, results from a rapid paradigm shift—a new way of doing things suddenly became possible because it suddenly became necessary. It raises the question of what other fundamental transformations could be achieved if we perceived them as necessary.”
The CYBATHLON competition will be held in a distributed format, with each team competing from its own home base, from November 13 to 14. SNF has also provided support for a new Professorship in Architecture and Care as part of ETH Zurich’s Rehab Initiative, launched in late 2019.