Cybathlon 2024 BCI Racer

BCI Raceris a digital game created for the Cybathlon 2024 event, in which people with spinal cord injuries control the game using only their thoughts. Using custom-developed BCIs, they complete everyday tasks in a virtual competition.

BCI Raceris a specially developed digital obstacle course for people with paraplegia and spinal cord injuries. The project was created in collaboration with ETH Zurich as part of Cybathlon 2024 – an international competition focused on the development of assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

In this discipline, athletes control an avatar using a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to complete everyday tasks as quickly as possible. The control is achieved solely through thoughts, which are measured using electrodes and algorithms developed by each participating team. Koboldgames developed the game for this purpose.

Athletes perform tasks that may seem simple to non-disabled people: navigating a wheelchair through an obstacle course, operating a robotic arm to unlock a door, filling a cup with ice cubes, or moving a mouse cursor to click digital buttons. Four teams compete simultaneously over the internet from different parts of the world.

Koboldgames collaborated with experts from ETH Zurich and international research teams to create an exciting, challenging, and spectator-friendly experience for the Cybathlon 2024.