Advance Queensland is proud to support a partnership between Follow Me AI (FOME.ai) and The University of Queensland to undertake a project to develop an AI-powered system for Paralympic classification. The Industry Research Projects program will provide more than $1.5 million in funding, and UQ’s Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies will also contribute $210,000 to this innovative project which has the potential to revolutionise Para sport by ensuring fair and objective classification for athletes around the world.
Current challenges in Paralympic classification
Para athletes are affected by impairments that vary widely in terms of severity and type. The aim of Paralympic classification is to group athletes into classes, with each class comprising athletes whose impairments affect them in a similar way. In this way, classification facilitates fair and meaningful competition. This is a crucial but challenging task and currently best practice methods depend on face-to-face athlete evaluation by highly qualified experts. However, this process is subjective and the cost of bringing together athletes and experts is a barrier to participating in competitive Para sport, particularly for people in low- and middle-income countries.
AI-powered solution for more accurate classification
FOME.ai and an interdisciplinary team from across UQ – Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies, Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Recover Injury Research Centre – will bring their collective expertise and ingenuity to develop and train an AI-powered system to use computer vision technology and mobile-device sourced video to analyse the movement characteristics of individual Para athletes and allocate them to a sports class. The system will deliver a range of important advantages: improved objectivity and increased trust in outcomes; greater access for people in rural and remote settings and in developing countries.
Future developments
This project will focus initially on Para athletes with physical impairments competing in the sport of athletics, the largest sport at the summer Paralympic games. However, applications are envisaged for the 27 other Para sports and for athletes with vision impairment and intellectual impairment.
There will also be the potential to use the application to monitor responses to physical rehabilitation and develop classification systems for people who don’t currently have access to competitive sport such as people with autism and developmental coordination disorder. In addition, the project has the potential to create new commercial opportunities in a range of areas that require detailed movement assessment across the fitness, wellness, health, rehabilitation and aged care industries.
About FOME.ai
FOME.ai uses smartphones to analyse movement and performance. This remote, mobile solution provides fast, accurate, and affordable assessments for athletes, therapists, and employers hiring for physically demanding roles. Developed by leading experts in computer vision and sports science, FOME.ai offers best-in-class results for large-scale assessments.
UQ and FOME.ai: A powerful collaboration for Paralympics
The University of Queensland is a global leader in sports research, with world-leading capabilities and facilities, backed by forward-thinking experts and global connections which will support the Brisbane 2032 Games in breaking barriers and creating a sustainable legacy.
The collaboration between UQ and FOME.au is a launchpad for future Paralympic research and innovation at UQ and presents an opportunity to showcase AI's potential for increasing opportunities for para-athletes.
About Industry Research Projects
Industry Research Projects supports researchers and industry to collaborate to translate research outcomes into commercialisation opportunities.
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Last updated: 03 Sep 2024