SFT scholars garner global recognition at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

Three SFT scholars Prof. Calvin Wong, Prof. Jeanne Tan, and Dr Shou Dahua proudly won four medals, including one Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, two Gold Medals, and one Silver Medal at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva (Geneva Inventions Expo), a widely recognised annual event devoted exclusively to invention. This year, 1,035 entries from 38 countries and regions were attracted. Their award-winning innovations underscore the commitment of the PolyU and SFT community, encompassing scholars, students and alumni, to embracing research breakthroughs.

1.    Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury: AI Knitted Textile System with Interactive Illumination

Principal investigator: Prof. Jeanne Tan, Centre Assistant Director of AiDLab; Professor

The AI knitted textile system possesses two unique features: An offline system based on self-built algorithm and a patented illuminative Polymeric Optical Fibre (POF) knitted textile, Intuitive commands with immediate responses enable customisation and facilitate inclusive interaction.  This textile system can be applied in the contexts of interior design, product design and sensory rehabilitation.

The project is from from AiDLab (established under the AIR@InnoHK cluster in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, UK).

2.    Gold Medal: iActive: Intelligent Active- Perspiration Activewear

Principal investigator: Dr Shou Dahua, Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies; Assistant Professor

iActive sportswear features artificial sweat glands and a root- like liquid transport system, to dissipate sweat faster, and with more control. Unlike traditional sportswear – which, with perspiration, becomes heavy and clingy and does not breathe effectively – iActive excels at active sweat management, ensuring dry, comfortable, high- performance activewear. iActive creates a breathable and dry skin microclimate by dissipating sweat at a rate that is three times faster than the maximum human sweating rate. It also reduces discomfort from post-exercise chills. A smartphone app further aids personalised sweat management by wirelessly adjusting the sweat level of iActive to ensure a dry, relaxing workout experience. It is 60% lighter and 50% less clingy when soaked, providing the wearer with all-round comfort. iActive is highly sought after by athletes, sports enthusiasts, construction workers, hyperhidrosis patients and high- performance professionals, signifying an innovative and sustainable future in sportswear technology.

3.    Gold Medal: AiDA: AI-based Design Assistant for Fashion

Principal investigator: Prof. Calvin Wong, Centre Director of AiDLab; Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion

Currently, fashion designers prepare their mood boards to start their creation process. It then usually takes a few weeks to months to modify, refine and finalise the new collections. AI- based Design Assistant for Fashion, named AiDA embedded with various AI technologies, is the first designer-led AI system to serve as an assistant to fashion designers and positions as an inspiration tool to enhance and accelerate the fashion design process. Through the co-working relationship between fashion designer and AiDA, AiDA can provide many design possibilities speedily, say 8 outfits in 10 seconds each time and speed up the whole fashion design process by 70%.

The project is from from AiDLab (established under the AIR@InnoHK cluster in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, UK).

4.    Silver Medal: WiseEye: A standalone AI based defect detection, classification and grading system for textiles

Principal investigator: Prof. Calvin Wong, Centre Director of AiDLab; Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion

In global textile and apparel industries, the inspection of textile materials relies mainly on human visual inspection which is unreliable and inefficient. WiseEye is a pioneer standalone AI based inspection system to detect, classify and grade defects automatically and instantly on common woven, knitted, and non- woven textile materials in high- speed inspection environments. It alleviates the problem of shortage of highly skilled quality inspectors and minimises downstream wastage.

The project is from from AiDLab (established under the AIR@InnoHK cluster in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, UK).