Ulster University and University of Bath collaboration wins Global CYBATHLON Challenge

Technology developed by the NeuroCONCISE team, led by the University of Bath's Institute for the Augmented Human in partnership with Ulster University's Spatial Computing and Neurotechnology Innovation Hub (SCAN iHub), has taken first prize in the global CYBATHLON Challenge.

CYBATHLON (a non-profit project of ETH Zurich) is a competition and platform that challenges teams from all over the world to develop assistive technologies suitable for everyday use with and for people with disabilities.

The NeuroCONCISE team enabled a cybathlete, with major spinal injuries to control a computer using brainwaves alone, to win the Cybathlon Challenges 2024 Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Race, which challenges athletes with disabilities to compete against each other when completing tasks virtually using only brain activity.

The team specialises in researching and developing EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces. This BCI involves translating brain activity, modulated by movement imagination (motor imagery) into control signals to enable movement independent racing.

The victory is shared between the team 'pilot' Owen Collumb and the scientists and engineers who developed the technology that enabled him to compete without moving any part of his body.

NeuroCONCISE was the only team representing the UK across any of the 6 Cybathlon challenges, and is one of the more experienced BCI race teams at Cybathlon, having competed in Zurich in 2016, the Cybathlon BCI series Graz, Austria in 2019 (placing 3rd), and in the Cybathlon 2020 Global Edition which was livestreamed from local hubs around the world as was the Cybathlon challenges event in 2024.

On the team's Cybathlon success, Dr Karl McCreadie,Lecturer in Data Analytics at Ulster University, said:

"Our pilot Owen has been laser-focused on winning and his intense training commitment has finally paid off! The hard work and dedication of PhD researcher Niall McShane have also been instrumental in helping us achieve this success. We also couldn't have done this without the support provided by the Spatial Computing and Neurotechnology Innovation Hub (SCAN iHub) and more generally from the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC)."

Prof Damien Coyle, Prof of Neurotechnology at Ulster and Director of the Bath Institute for the Augmented Human, says:

"This victory has been possible thanks to the great determination and of course skills of our team. Our cutting-edge research, combined with intense training of our pilot, gave Owen the chance to showcase remarkably accurate brain-activated commands and control, without physical movement.

"Over the past 6 months, the competition challenges have pushed us to innovate and to develop a winning BCI solution. This year we also had the benefit of expert advice from Sports and Performance psychologist Dr Lee Moore and his team, Department for Health, University of Bath, to help Owen prepare to achieve optimal performance which really made a difference.

"Our plan now is to capitalise on everything we've learned over the past few months to further innovate and improve our brain-computer interface and develop a training regime that will give us another victory in October.

"Owen and the team are fully aware of the effort, sacrifices and commitment required but now, having tasted victory and achieved substantial advances in our neurotechnology framework, we're more eager to compete and win than ever."

Owen Collumb, the pilot, who over 20 years ago suffered a spinal injury that left him almost completely paralysed from the neck down, said:

"CYBATHLON has opened many opportunities for me. I was a keen sportsman before my injury and am delighted to have been able to compete and win in this fantastic competition.

"The research by Professor Coyle and the rest of the team has had a major impact on my life and wellbeing, and I am looking forward to competing at CYBATHLON 2024, Zurich, in October 2024."

Thanks to Dr Olive Lennon, University College Dublin, Health Sciences Centre for hosting the Cybathlon challenges hub in the movement analysis laboratory close to Owen's home in Dublin, which helped with preparation for the challenges event.

Congratulations to all the Team members:

• Team Lead (Bath/Ulster University), Prof Damien Coyle
• Race Engineer (Bath), Dr Attila Korik
• Paradigms/Games Dev (Ulster University), Niall Shane (PhD student)
• Logistics (Ulster University), Dr Karl McCreadie
• Admin Manager (Bath), Dr Naomi du Bois
• Publicity/Web (Bath), Hardeep Sidhu (PhD student)
• Sponsorship (Bath), Robert Clarke (PhD student)
• Sports and Performance Psychology (Bath),

Dr Lee Moore and Ms Eesha Shah (PhD student).

Find out more:

The team is affiliated with the Ulster University spinout company NeuroCONCISE Ltd , which was established in 2016 by Professor Coyle to develop high-precision neurotechnology. The company creates wearable electroencephalography (EEG) headsets (similar to the headsets used in medicine to record the electrical activity of the brain) that can be used to assist people in everyday life, sport and medicine.

For further information on the Cybathlon, visit https://cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/teams/neuro-concise

The research team is supported by the Alan Turing Institute and the EPSRC through Prof Coyle's Turing AI Acceleration Fellowship.

You can contact Prof Damien Coyle or Dr Karl McCreadie with any further queries by email to [email protected] or [email protected]

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