Amii Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair Patrick Pilarski leads BLINC Lab to compete in global Cybathlon competition

Amii Fellow and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Patrick Pilarski is leading the BLINC Lab team to compete in the 2024 Cybathlon, an international competition advancing leading-edge assistive technologies for individuals with limb differences.

Qualifying teams for Cybathlon participate by using their assistive technology to complete an everyday task, such as tying a shoelace with a robotic arm prosthesis, balancing on rocks with a prosthetic leg or traversing uneven terrain with an exoskeleton. Teams consist of a technology developer and a participant with a limb difference, referred to as a pilot, who will wear the assistive technology to complete the tasks. While the main competition will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, nine global hubs will be set up where teams can compete simultaneously. This year marks the first time Vancouver has been designated as a Cybathlon hub, where BLINC Lab will compete.

Patrick co-leads the BLINC Lab with Dr. Jacqueline Hebert, M.D., at the University of Alberta. The lab is using artificial intelligence to help create the next generation of prosthetic limbs that aim to empower users to live the lives they want to live.

“One of the key ways we've deployed artificial intelligence is to allow the device to over time and in a continual learning sense, adapt and improve to what the person needs,” said Patrick in a recent interview. “This is a big step in the change we've introduced here at the University of Alberta and Amii, which I think is unique in the world.”

Learn more about Patrick’s work with AI-powered prosthetic limbs and BLINC Lab below. Tune into the global live stream of the 2024 Cybathlon competition from October 25-27 on https://cybathlon.ethz.ch/en.

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