CityU’s innovative projects grab several awards at national exhibition

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) brought home a clutch of awards for its innovative applied research projects after a dynamic debut at the Chinese National Exhibition of Inventions. Using virtual characters, one of the projects has developed the world’s first talking Sudoku game.

Four CityU projects were awarded prizes at the Exhibition which was held from 21 to 24 September in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, demonstrating the outstanding quality of our applied research.

Professor (Chair) Yan Hong of the Department of Electronic Engineering won a Bronze Award with his Real-time Lip-sync and Facial Animation System. The system creates human and animal characters from photos or cartoon drawings and synchronises their lip movements and voice signals. A number of telecommunication companies on the mainland have applied the system to their digital entertainment services on the Internet and in mobile communication.

The project developed a system for teaching English using virtual teachers using a recent grant from the Government’s Quality Education Fund. The aim of the innovative talking Sudoku game, one of the special features of the system, is to stimulate greater interest in learning. For details, please visit http://www.hy8.com.

The Computer-Assisted Simulation System for Orthognathic Surgery (CASSOS) project, led by Professor (Chair) Horace Ip Ho-shing of the Department of Computer Science, won a Gold Award.

CASSOS helps maxillofacial surgeons, those specializing in the face and jaw, to develop plans prior to conducting surgery, and the research team has created a localized Chinese version which several major hospitals in mainland China are using.

The Active RFID System, invented by Professor (Chair) Edward Yung Kai-ning and Dr Xue Quan of the Department of Electronic Engineering, and the Fish Bioassay for Drug Screening and Environmental Toxicity Testing project, owned by Dr Cheng Shuk-han, an associate professor in the Department of Biology and Chemistry, won Silver Awards.

The Active RFID system is very useful for inventory control, such as in container ports, and for keeping track of equipment; while the Fish Bioassay project has procured new insights into the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The 16th National Exhibition of Inventions was co-organized by the China Association of Inventions; Department of Science and Technology and Intellectual Property Office of Guangdong Province; and the Dongguan Government. There were over 500 booths displaying more than 1,500 inventions or products.

Media enquiries:      Michelle Leung, Communications Office (3442 6827 or 9050 7507)

15 October 2006