Professor Johan F. Hoorn awarded HK$40.89 million from RGC to develop social robots benefiting Hong Kong community

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design ("PolyU Design") is proud to announce Prof. Johan F. Hoorn from both PolyU Design and the Department of Computing, has been awarded the prestigious Research Grants Council (RGC)’s theme-based research scheme funding of HK$40.89 million for his project, "Social Robots with Embedded Large Language Models Releasing Stress among the Hong Kong Population."

This Social Robots project aims to create a human-like social robot with embedded large language models for home use. These robots will be personalised to the local culture and individual preferences to offer psychological support to the people of Hong Kong. A vital aspect of the project is developing a new software framework for distributed computing, scalability, and privacy protection, adding to its innovative nature. The long-term goal is to reduce the burden on the formal mental health system in Hong Kong while empowering citizens to better manage their well-being through accessible AI-driven social support.

"This innovation will benefit Hong Kong's working population, care professionals, social workers, and AI and robotics developers," Prof. Hoorn said. "Additionally, plans are to establish an online platform for developers focusing on robot and avatar solutions, emphasising the care sector and extending support to other areas such as education, hospitality, and entertainment." The RGC Theme-based Research Scheme Funding, which aims to focus academic research efforts of UGC-funded universities on themes of strategic importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong, provides a significant platform for impactful projects. This achievement is a testament to PolyU Design's considerable role in promoting societal innovation and interdisciplinary research.

Prof. Johan F. Hoorn's expertise is in social robotics, computational creativity, AI and design, emotion simulation, epistemics, and data analysis. His current research interests focus on the theory of emotion, creativity, reality perception, moral reasoning and quantum probability implemented in artificial agents and social robots.