London ( CNN ) -- A bobsled guided by mind power , guns fired by blowing into a headset , desert waves created by nanobots -- the world of disabled athletes could be very different in the near future . A new exhibition of prototypes aimed at making sport more accessible has opened in the British capital , featuring innovative ideas from young designers . Taking this year 's London Paralympic games as their inspiration , students from Imperial College , London and the Royal College of Art have come up with 11 ingenious ideas that dream up new equipment and , in some cases , entirely new sports . The goal was to create a much more even playing field for athletes of different levels of ability , says David Keech , a tutor on the Innovation Design Engineering postgraduate course . `` When we started the project we said to the students : 'It ca n't be Marvel ( comics ) , it ca n't be Quidditch ( a game in the Harry Potter films ) , but it has to have something of that in there . ' It 's all about imagination , and for the students here , that is their currency , '' Keech , a course tutor at Imperial College , told CNN . `` Headshot '' -- a new take on clay-pigeon shooting for both the able-bodied and disabled -- is a good example . Competitors don a special headset which translates head movements ( up , down and side to side ) into movements on a powered platform below . Firing the gun is activated by blowing into a sensor on the headset . `` It maintains the physicality of the sport and the man/machine connection , '' says co-designer Jeff Gough . `` There is a strong sense of thrill as the gun is mounted on the body . We played with a few different ideas but we wanted to mimic the fine motor skills involved in shooting . '' Another prototype , `` Brainsled , '' utilizes existing gaming headgear to let athletes steer a bobsled by the power of thought , allowing able-bodied and disabled athletes to pit their reflexes and powers of concentration against each other . The challenge has been sponsored by Rio Tinto ( provider of the metal for medals at London Olympics and Paralympics ) which awarded a Â£5,000 ( $ 8,000 ) development prize to the most promising design . That honor went to `` Ghost , '' a haptic device mounted on the wrist and elbow which uses sounds and vibrations to tell the wearer when they are performing a particular motion correctly . The students imagine it helping to hone a swimming stroke , and Keech thinks it has `` wonderful possibilities . '' Iain Dawson , a visually-impaired parathlete who advised the students on the four-week project , was impressed with their efforts . `` It 's not an easy thing to make work in such a short space of time , but it has a wide application and it 's exactly what we talked about , '' he said . Dawson , a former world and European paratriathlon champion who suffers from X-rated retinoschisis , also praised `` Rainbow Touch '' -- an idea which uses panels of color and textures on sports clothing to help visually-impaired athletes identify teammates . Other stars of disabled sports were also on hand during the task including British Paralympians Tanni Grey-Thompson ( winner of 11 gold medals ) and javelin thrower Scott Moorhouse , who helped out with a new adjustable knee socket for a prosthetic leg . `` It was really a meeting of minds , '' Keech said . `` The best design students in the world meeting the best athletes in the world . '' Other designs peered a little further into the future . `` Mind Surfer '' imagines waves created by `` self-replicating nanobots '' and `` Sky Ball '' imagines athletes wearing prosthetic wings , while `` Cannonball '' is the name given to `` a fast and furious wheelchair team sport . ''
New design exhibition imagines new sports for future Paralympics . Eleven ideas for new sports and training equipment devised by UK students . Score: 6 `` Ghost '' wins $ 8,000 prize from sponsor Rio Tinto . British parathletes helped students think about the unique challenges disabled sport presents .