IT IS the ultimate meeting of humans and technology. Disabled people using the most advanced prosthetics available went head-to-head yesterday to prove their speed and skill in races and skills tasks using robotic exoskeletons, powered wheelchairs and mind-controlled systems in the world's first Cybathlon.

And the star of the show was a Scottish bionic arm so sophisticated that it allows users to do the most subtle of tasks such as screwing in a lightbulb.

The event – which took place in Zurich – saw 74 athletes with physical disabilities from 25 countries show off how robotic technology helps them in their daily lives. Some events involved paraplegic contestants taking part in actual races, while others saw contestants with no arms performing household tasks that would be otherwise impossible without the most advanced prosthetic limbs.

In one event – the brain-computer interface race – paralysed contestants used technology that could read their minds. Others included the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike race, in which participants, or "pilots" with complete paraplegia, pedalled artificially using their minds, stimulating the motor nerves to initiate muscle contraction.

In the powered exoskeleton race, competitors with complete paraplegia were able to walk again with the help of motorised supports. Tasks they had to complete included walking up stairs and sitting in a chair without help.

Scotland was represented in the arm prosthesis category for those missing a limb, by a team entered by Touch Bionics, a Livingstone-based global leader in the production of prosthetics. The category sees contestants performing everyday tasks like opening jars, carrying a tray upstairs, opening doors and screwing in lightbulbs.

Last year the company launched the i-limb quantum, which it claims is the world's most technologically-advanced arm prosthesis, featuring 36 pre-set grips as well as a number of grips that can be activated by gestures. About 5000 people worldwide use the prosthesis.

Alison Goodwin, global products manager, said: "Both our 'pilots' use our i-limb quantum hand, which is the best available, in their day-to-day lives. This is not a prototype, it's available on the open market across the world.

"The hand has six motors within it, one for each finger for opening and closing and one for thumb rotation as well. That allows us adapt it to behave in the way your natural hand would...Most of the activities that they do on the course in the stadium show off skills that they need to use in their everyday lives."

Claudia Breidbach, one of Touch Bionics "pilots" taking part, first started using her i-limb hand in 2011. She was born without a left hand.

"The hand is life changing," she said. "Since using the hand I live my life with two hands. I can peel a banana, cut food and eat with the left hand.

"I can carry my bag with the left hand, allowing my right hand and arm to be more free and relaxed. This all results in me having a better body posture and I am more symmetrical when carrying out my daily tasks, this means that my sound side is under less strain and I do not feel pain in my right shoulder and wrist, this is fantastic."

She hoped the event would help show the public the development and raise the interest in the new technology.

"I want to show what is possible nowadays thanks to amazing technology and want to motivate as many people as possible to strive for more," she added. "But the biggest motivation is that there was no other woman in the category of Powered Arm Prosthesis."