Last year South African sprinter Oscar Pistoriusblew people ’s mindswhen he follow in moment in a 400 - meter footrace in Rome … without feet . Pistorius is neglect the low-spirited part of both his leg , and ran on two carbon - fiber “ Cheetah ” leg prosthesis . A lawsuit followed ( of grade ) , and Pistorius was ban from outside racing . But Pistorius appeal , enlisting the help of human augmentation guru Hugh Herr of MIT to dissect the contention that his Cheetah ’s gave him an unfair advantage in the raceway . Last week the Court of Arbitration for Sport bear on the collection kick in Pistorius the right wing to compete in this summer ’s Olympics in Beijing .
It ’s a watershed decision , and as Herr says below it ’s the first footmark toward recognizing that applied science is allowing people with disabilities to become macrocosm - class athletes . Herr ’s argument is a bit proficient but fascinating and worth a read through in thisinterviewif you ’ve get the time . If not , here ’s the soundbite :
TR : What are the broader implication of the CAS opinion ?
HH : Oscar will be leave the opportunity to specify for IAAF ( International Association of Athletics Federations)-sanctioned events . But broadly speaking , it will be advancement in the overall initiative to to the full integrate people with disabilities in society . Some citizenry in the world witness an sinful athlete that has artificial ramification or arms . . . and they immediately think that can not be so — handicapped people can not be this good at something . It never occurs to some people that Oscar may be a singular jock . They think he has to be cheat on .
There is so much to learn about how the human dead body works and , in addition , how the body is affected by a wearable gimmick , like a shoe or prosthetic machine . The day that there is a prosthetic machine that outperforms an intact tree branch using any single metric — whether it is to leap high or to fake something — will indeed be a very exciting solar day .
Using awing skill to fight secernment and wrong - headed public perception of what it entail to be ‘ disabled ’ — nicely done , Dr. Herr .
Source : Technology Review
pic : Ossur.comviaplaythegame.com
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