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Championship for Robot-Assisted Parathletes -- The Future of Competition?


An interesting, if not timely, follow-up to this Scipio article from 2012 about Oscar Pistorius.

No, the article wasn't about the Blade Runner's threat-assessment skills. It was about whether or not his carbon-fiber limbs constitute an unfair advantage against unenhanced athletes.

Now, in a partnership between physicians, roboticists, entrepreneurs, and parathletes, there will be a Championship for Robot-Assisted Parathletes. Actual link: http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/

Could this be humankind's first popular step in its transformation to a cybernetic organism? Would you tune in to watch top parathletes compete in a powered exoskeleton obstacle course race? I sure would. Out of curiosity if nothing else.

Would I continue to watch? That of course depends on the presentation and the quality of the competition. Will "normal" human athletic competitions suddenly be boring? If it catches on, will this ignite massive growth in robotics companies? Will you look back in 2020 and lament not buying robotics stock in 2015? Will you regret tuning into this competition when in a few decades your never-dying body is suspended in an ambiotic energy pod that fuels our robotic masters?

Is this all great news or an emerging threat?

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