In a banana garden, three persons, colourfully dressed, each one of them with a leg prosthesis in a matching colour

Inclusive Design: ETH Meets You at the Milano Design Week 2023

17-23 April 2023: Design can be a life-changer. Design can break down barriers. Design can become a force of inclusion: Inclusive Design, ETH Zurich's interactive exhibition, welcomes you at the Milano Design Week. Discover state-of-the-art assistive technologies and experience how Inclusive Design enables people to participate - imagine a world without barriers.

Welcome to an inclusive world

What makes an excellent bionic hand? How can I steer a computer with only my thoughts? How can we produce an affordable leg prosthesis that is recyclable? More than 2.5 billion people globally need prosthetic care or an assistive product. ETH Zurich's CYBATHLON is an initiative with a global impact to improve their lives: it challenges teams from all over the world to develop assistive technologies for people with disabilities. At the Milano Design Week, we show their cutting-edge inclusive design solutions.

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Discover how design can become a force of inlcusion

Imagine your perfect hand  

Maria Fossati, designer and researcher, sitting and resting her head in her hand prosthesis
Maria Fossati, designer, participated in designing the prosthesis SoftHand Pro: "My relationship with this hand is definitely one of love." (Image: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia IIT)
Frau mit Armprothese stapelt Becher zu einer Pyramide
Designer Maria Fossati can perform fine movements with her bionic arm prosthesis. (Image: ETH Zürich / Dominic Buettner)

How do you design, let's say, a good hand? If you needed a new one, what would be vital for you? An arm prosthesis is a very personal body extension. We don't only need our hands and arms to tackle complicated daily tasks; we also use them as a sign of emotional expression in our body language. At the "Inclusive Design" exhibition in Milano, we show design solutions for bionic hands from the CYBATHLON competition. Maria Fossati's external page SoftHand Pro won the silver medal in the Arm Prosthesis Race.  

Imagine tying your shoes with only one hand

Not quite so easy, is it? We all experience barriers. Learn how inclusive technology design can help overcome these obstacles.

Girl using a demo arm and hand prosthesis to build lego bricks.
Stacking Lego stones can be tricky. Try to handle a daily task with a prosthesis.
Bionische künstliche Hand, die einen mit kleinen Kugeln gefüllten Becher ergreift, ohne ihn zu zerdrücken und die Kugeln zu verschütten
It takes dexterity to perform fine movements with a prosthetic arm. A bionic robotic hand can vary the pressure. (Image: ETH Zurich / Dominic Buettner) (Bild: ETH / Dominic Buettner)

Imagine trying to buy yourself a new leg

If you need a new body part but can't afford it: 35 – 40 million people worldwide require prosthetic or orthotic care, but only one in ten people can afford a prosthesis. external page Circleg closes the gap by developing leg prostheses for people in low-income countries. Circleg produces its prostheses in East Africa, close to its beneficiaries, following a circular economy model. Its modular design allows for the customization of each leg, easy fit and fast repair. Circleg has won the CYBATHLON's Leg Prosthesis Race and the external page Design Preis Schweiz.

Woman from Uganda in a red dress, wearing a red prosthesis
Charlotte Kangume wearing a Circleg prosthesis: "I want to inspire someone out there, some young child, to be body positive."   (Image: Lucca Barbery / Circleg)
Foot of the Circleg prosthesis, made out of black material with a modular design of combined single pieces that can be replaced.
Circleg prostheses are produced in East Africa with a modular design: each component can be individually adjusted in size, activity level and comfort. (Image: ETH Zurich /Dominic Buettner)

Imagine controlling a device with only your mind

Try to control a machine with the power of your thoughts. Sounds like science fiction? It has become reality: Brain-computer interface (BCI) enables direct communication between your brain and a computer. It recognizes your brain activity and translates it into computer signals.
A paralyzed person with tetraplegia cannot steer a wheelchair alone, but Brain-computer interface can help to control assistive devices: a wheelchair, a robot, or a smartphone. Challenge yourself and try your mind power in a BCI game, where you steer your avatar with... just your thoughts. 

scholar concentrating, wearing a Brain Comuter Interface (BCI) headset
Try to steer an avatar in a computer game only with your thoughts. (Image: ETH Zurich /Dominic Buettner)
Bildschirm mit einem Avatar in einem Computer Spiel
The more you concentrate, the faster your avatar gets. To slow it down to master obstacles, you have to relax your mind. (Image: ETH Zurich / Dominic Buettner)

Imagine a world without barriers

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CYBATHLON from ETH Zurich is innovation and emotion

CYBATHLON, catalyst for inclusion

CYBATHLON is an ETH Zurich flagship project. Its core aspect, the promotion of user-centred design for people with a disability, serves as a catalyser for the inclusion of people with disabilities in society. The driving force behind it is an international competition: CYBATHLON challenges 160 international teams to tackle various everyday tasks with their latest designs of assistive technologies. CYBATHLON is innovation and emotion – an ambitious and supportive, joyful competition where everyone shares a common vision: A world without barriers.
 

Exhibition Location  

Outside View of Casa degli Artisti in Milan, Italy
Casa degli Artisti in Milan, Italy

Venue
external page Casa degli Artisti
external page Via Tommaso da Cazzaniga e Corso Garibaldi, 89/A 20121 Milano, Italy

Exhibition Hours
April 17-23, 10.00-20.00

House of Switzerland Milano
The pop-up external page House of Switzerland in Milan at the external page Casa degli Artisti is located in the heart of Milan’s lively pedestrian zone and historic design district, Brera. Under the title external page "Urgent Legacy", education and research institutions, emerging designers, independent studios, and established brands exhibit under one roof. The House of Switzerland is organised by the external page Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and external page Presence Switzerland.

Contact Exhibition

Simone Bucher van Ligten
Exhibition Curator

ETH Zurich
Office of the President
R?mistrasse 101
HG FO 36.1
8092 Zürich
Switzerland

Contact CYBATHLON

Annegret Kern

Stab Pr?sident
Haldeneggsteig 5
8092 Zürich
Switzerland

Contact Media

Alexandra Cron

Community & Outreach
R?mistrasse 101
8092 Zürich
Switzerland

Media Kit Inclusive Design  

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