PolyU Science in the News

PolyU Outstanding Scholars win RGC Awards

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) congratulates two of its outstanding scholars on receiving the prestigious Research Grants Council (RGC) awards in recognition of excellent achievement in their research areas. Dr Zhou Zhi, Assistant Professor of the Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA) received the RGC Early Career Award. Professor Sylvia Xiaohua Chen, Professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS), was awarded the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship. Dr Zhou Zhi Dr Zhou is awarded for his project on "Numerical Methods for Time-fractional Diffusion Equations with Non-smooth Solutions" under the RGC Early Career Scheme in 2018/19. His project is rated excellent among the 153 projects funded by the Scheme in the year, which aims to nurture junior academics. The finding of his project is expected to help understand and simulate anomalously slow diffusion (sub-diffusion) process, as well as improve its numerous applications, such as contaminant transport in groundwater, protein diffusion within cells, thermal diffusion in media with fractal geometry, and heat conduction with memory, to name just a few. The project is conducted in collaboration with Professor Qiang Du (Columbia University), Professor Bangti Jin (University College London), and Professor Raytcho Lazarov (Texas A&M University), etc "It is a great honor for me to receive the RGC Early Career Award, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my AMA colleagues and my collaborators for their great support. The problems to be addressed in this research project are challenging and the envisioned research outcome are expected to be of high impact for the many applications of applied mathematics and numerical analysis," said Dr Zhou. Dr Zhou joined PolyU in 2017. Before joining PolyU, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University. He obtained his Bachelor of Science (Computational Mathematics) from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2010 and Ph.D. (Mathematics) from Texas A&M University in 2015. His research mainly lies in the area of numerical modeling, simulation and analysis. He has published more than 20 papers in top international journals in the field of applied and computational mathematics. He has also obtained the Best Paper Award of PolyU's AMA in 2018. Professor Wong Wing Tak, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, said, "Being a young scholar, Dr Zhou has already displayed great potential in pushing the frontier of knowledge through his dedication and enthusiasm in applied mathematics and numerical analysis. We are glad that we have established seamless research collaboration with universities in the United Kingdom and the United States through this project. We have no doubt that this early career award give positive encouragement to Dr Zhou to strive for new heights in his research endeavour for the benefit of mankind." Professor Sylvia Xiaohua Chen Professor Chen was awarded the RGC Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS) for her project "Integrating and Extending Research on Social Axioms: A Systematic Review". The Scheme aims at granting extended time-off and supporting funds to outstanding investigators with proven track record of research and publication under the disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences to enable them to focus on research work and writing. Professor Chen's project receives a funding of HK$758,275 under the Scheme. She aims to conduct a systematic review of existing empirical studies related to social axioms, which refer to generalized beliefs about people, social groups, social institutions, the physical environment, or the spiritual world. So far, researchers around the world have identified and validated the factors of social axioms in over 40 cultures both at the culture level and at the individual level. Professor Chen and her collaborators also conducted many studies to examine the psychological outcomes of self-views and worldviews. Her project will extend their research on the under-investigated axiom factors and their effects on psychological functioning, so as to provide further implications for practitioners to help people reconstruct their belief frameworks. "It is a great honor for me to receive the HSSPFS award. I would like to express my gratitude to my advisors Professor Michael Bond and Professor Fanny Cheung for their unfailing guidance and encouragement. My special appreciation goes to APSS for providing a supportive and collegial environment in which I work and grow professionally. As a psychologist, I hope to further study cultural influences on individual behavior in social contexts and contribute to the advancement of psychology in Chinese societies," said Professor Chen. Professor Chen joined APSS of PolyU in 2007 as Assistant Professor. She is now Professor in APSS and Associate Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on social psychology of bilingualism and biculturalism, multiculturalism and globalization, personality and social behavior in cultural contexts, cultural diversity and mental health. She has published first-authored articles in top-tier journals in the field, such as Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and received the Early Career Award conferred by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. She received her undergraduate degree in Sun Yat-Sen University, proceeded with post-graduate studies in the United States and Hong Kong, and with PhD in Psychology. Professor David Shum, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, said, "The award attests to the significance of Professor Chen's research area, as well as her excellent research skills and track record. I am eager to learn the outcomes of her project, and am confident that her findings will make a positive impact to our society. " 理大兩位優秀學者獲頒研資局獎項 (Chinese)

PolyU’s researchers develop AI-powered system to automate quality control process in textile industry

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently developed an intelligent fabric defect detection system, called "WiseEye", which leverages advanced technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning in the process of quality control (QC) in textile industry. The system effectively minimises the chance of producing substandard fabric by 90%, thus substantially reducing loss and wastage in the production. It helps to save manpower as well as enhance the automation management in the textile manufacturing. Supported by AI-based machine-vision technology, the novel "WiseEye" can be installed in a weaving machine to help fabric manufacturers to detect defects instantly in the production process. Through the automatic inspection system, the production line manager can easily detect the defects, thus helping them to identify the cause of the problems and fix them immediately. "WiseEye" is developed by the Textile and Apparel Artificial Intelligence (TAAI) Research Team, which is spearheaded by Prof Calvin Wong, Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion of Institute of Textiles and Clothing, PolyU. Textile manufacturers currently rely on human efforts to randomly inspect the fabric by naked eyes. Due to human factors such as negligence or physical fatigue, defect detection by human labour isusually inconsistent and unreliable. Textile manufacturers also attempted to use some other fabric inspection systems, but those systems were not able to meet the industry needs. Ensuring quality in the fabric production becomes a great challenge to the industry. Prof Calvin Wong said, " 'Wise Eye' is a unique AI-based inspection system that satisfies the requirements of textile manufacturers. It is an integrated system with a number of components that perform different functions in the inspection process. The system is embedded with a high-power LED light bar and a high-resolution charge-coupled device camera which is driven by an electronic motor and is mounted on a rail to capture images of the whole width of woven fabric during the weaving process. The captured images are pre-processed and fed into the AI-based machine vision algorithm to detect fabric defects. Real-time information gathered throughout the detection process will be sent to the computer system, and analytical statistics and alert can be generated and displayed as and when needed." The research team has applied Big Data and Deep Learning technologies in "WiseEye". By inputting data of thousands yards of fabrics into the system, the team has trained "WiseEye" to detect about 40 common fabric defects with exceptionally high accuracy resolution of up to 0.1 mm/pixel. "In view of the numerous fabric structures that give great variations in fabric texture and defect types, automatic fabric defect detection has been a challenging and unaccomplished mission in the past two decades. Our innovative introduction of AI, Big Data and Deep Learning technologies into 'WiseEye' not only is a technological breakthrough that meets the industry needs; but also marks a significant milestone in the quality control automation for the traditional textile industry," added Prof Wong. "WiseEye" has been put on trial for over six months in a real-life manufacturing environment. Results show that the system is able to reduce 90% of the loss and wastage in fabric manufacturing process when compared with traditional human visual inspection. That means the system helps cut down production cost while enhancing production efficiency at the same time. At the moment, "WiseEye" can be applied to most types of fabrics with different weaving structures and solid colours. The research team plans to further train and extend the system to detect defects in fabrics with more challenging patterns, such as complicated strip and check patterns. The ultimate target is to cover all common kinds of fabric in five years' time. Prof Wong and the TAAI research team have been conducting fundamental and applied research on AI, computer vision and machine learning, specifically for the fashion and textile industry since 2012. The team has earlier introduced the first-of-its-kind "FashionAI Dataset" which integrates fashion and machine learning for systematic analysis of fashion images through the use of AI. The Dataset helps advance the fashion industry and develop a new mode for fashion retail. Areas covered by their other projects include intelligent textile material and apparel quality inspection, large-scale fabric swatch and fashion image searching and fashion sales forecasting. The team has also collaborated with various local and international companies in a number of research projects and published research articles in world-leading journals, including IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, and IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. Some of the articles are ranked by Essential Science Indicators as the top 1% of the most cited articles in related fields. 理大研發以人工智能令纺織品質量檢測自動化 (Chinese)

PolyU – Axis Therapeutics Joint Center for Immunotherapy launched to develop Innovative Cancer Treatments

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) will join forces with Axis Therapeutics, a newly established joint venture by two global biopharmaceutical companies – Athenex, Inc. and Xiangxue Pharmaceutical, to foster the research and development of translational medicine by setting up a Joint Center for Immunotherapy. The Center is set to conduct collaborative research on cancer immunotherapy, with an aim to develop new cancer treatments. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony for setting up the PolyU—Axis Therapeutics Joint Center for Immunotherapy was held today (18 July 2018). The MoU was signed by Ir Professor Ping-kong Alexander WAI, Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU; Dr Johnson LAU, Chairman and CEO of Athenex, Inc.; and Mr YongHui WANG, Chairman and CEO of Xiangxue Pharmaceutical and CEO of Xiangxue Life Sciences. The ceremony was witnessed by Mr Tze-ching CHAN, Council Chairman of PolyU; Professor Timothy W. TONG, President of PolyU; Mr ZHANG Zong Ming, Deputy Inspector, Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs, Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong S.A.R.; Dr ZENG Lu, Director of Guangdong Academy of Science and Technology Service; as well as a number of industry leaders. Addressing at the MoU signing ceremony, Mr Tze-ching CHAN said this collaboration would add on PolyU's continuous efforts and achievements in biotechnology development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA). PolyU is committed in the innovation and technology development of translational medicine, as well as transferring pioneering research to real-life applications for the benefits of mankind. Over the years, the University has been engaging in the first three new drugs developed in Hong Kong which have succeeded in getting Investigational New Drug (IND) application approval of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that harnesses the body's immune system to combat tumors. Researchers have struggled for decades to make it work and results have raised hope that immunotherapy will give new options for some types of cancer treatments. Cancer immunotherapy was chosen as "Breakthrough of the Year for 2013" in Sciencemagazine. In cancer treatment, T-cell receptor-engineered T cells (TCR-T) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor-engineered T-cells (CAR-T) are the cancer immunotherapy technologies. Since T-cells possess the ability to target specific internal tumor antigens, they play an essential role in cell-mediated immunity by defending human bodies against foreign pathogens or autologous tumor cells. Based on the novel approach on high-affinity TCR developed by Xiangxue Life Sciences, the Center will focus on the research and development, as well as commercialization, of TCR-T and CAR-T based cancer immunotherapy. Professor Ping-kong Alexander WAI remarked, "Partnerships between academia and industry have been very fruitful, leading to significant innovations in the form of medicines and better treatments. In this collaboration, PolyU will provide our full support for the research on novel technologies and genetics models to develop cancer immunotherapy technologies based on TCR-T and CAR-T." Dr Johnson LAU said the companies are particularly excited about the potential synergies created by the collaboration. "The collaboration on cancer immunotherapy technology will further complement and enhance our innovation in oncology. We look forward to working closely with PolyU in bringing this novel immunotherapy technology to patients in Hong Kong and across the globe." Mr YongHui WANG said, "We are expecting to explore a new and promising immunotherapy technology in the global scene. The new generation TCR-T, named HATac, is a breakthrough technology. The development of this technology in collaboration with our new partners holds great promise for the treatment of solid tumors. PolyU has demonstrated leadership in academia and proven to be at the forefront of collaboration with the industry to translate biotechnology research and development initiatives into products that can be developed in a commercial scale." The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) PolyU has made significant progress in contributing towards the biotechnology development in Hong Kong with various ongoing biotechnology and translational medicine projects, including the Respiratory Virus Research Foundation jointly established by PolyU and The University of Hong Kong; the Joint Institute of Translational Medicine established jointly with the government of Banan District of Chongqing City; the life sciences and engineering research and development platform with Fraunhofer Group for Life Sciences; as well as various projects on anti-cancer drug, genomics research and clinical devices. These projects involve the development of multi-potent anti-cancer drug Pegtomarginase, and the Apigenin Flavonoid Dimer which inhibits multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells. This year, PolyU initiated the first Greater Bay Area Biotechnology and Translational Medicine International Collaboration in collaboration with 5 universities/institutes to jointly advance the biotechnology development at a global scale. One of the participating institutes, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (RPCCC), is globally leading in the areas of tumor immunology, cancer genetics and genomics, biophysical oncology, cancer prevention/epidemiology and cancer therapeutics development. They are exploring respective projects with PolyU. For more information, please visit: www.polyu.edu.hk Athenex, Inc Founded in 2003 and headquartered in New York, Athenex, Inc. is a global clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of next-generation cancer drugs. It was listed in NASDAQ Stock Market in 2017 (stock code: ATNX). For more information, please visit: www.athenex.com Guangzhou Xiangxue Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (XPH) Founded in 1997 and located in Guangzhou Science City, Guangzhou Economic & Technical Development District, XPH is a high-tech enterprise integrating manufacturing, operation and R&D of products including pharmaceuticals, biological medicine, functional food, Chinese medicines and medical devices. XPH is recognized as one of the pharmaceutical enterprises with most development potential in China and was listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010 (stock code: 300147). For more information, please visit www.xphcn.com 理大—Axis Therapeutics免疫治療合作研究中心 研發創新癌症療法 (Chinese) Gallery: MOU Signing Ceremony / 2018 Biotech Summit 星島日報 A07 理大與製藥公司成立研究中心 進一步研發免疫治療技術 19 Jul 2018 信報財經新聞 A04 理大夥Axis研免疫療法 19 Jul 2018 大公報 A06 夥藥廠研免疫治療 19 Jul 2018

World's first conference on the integration of fashion and artificial intelligence 05 July 2018

The Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is organising the first-of-its-kind academic conference entitled "Artificial Intelligence on Fashion and Textile Conference 2018" in partnership with the Vision and Beauty Team at Alibaba and The Textile Institute, UK. Targeted at exploring the integration of fashion and textile supply chain and artificial intelligence (AI), the four-day conference attracted over 250 researchers, engineers, practitioners and IT professionals from the AI and fashion fields. The Conference was inaugurated today (4 July 2018) by Dr Bernard Chan, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, HKSAR Government; Dr Lam Tai-fai, Deputy Chairman of PolyU Council; Professor Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU; and Mr Zhuang Zhuo-ran, Vice President of Alibaba Group. The PolyU President, Professor Timothy W. Tong, said at his welcoming address, universities in Hong Kong have been performing well in AI technology and related fields with world-leading research and development capabilities. "The proliferation of AI in recent years is having a profound impact on society. By combining with other new technologies, AI is transforming many industries, including Fashion, with optimized production lines, improved operational efficiency as well as enhanced business processes, which will undoubtedly lead to a higher profitability. With collaborations with industry leaders like Alibaba, PolyU will be able to make even more significant contribution in the global development of AI in the years ahead." Plenary speakers of the Conference are: Professor Zowie Broach, Head of Fashion of Royal College of Art; Mr Menglei Jia, Senior Technical Expert, Taobao Technology Business Unit of Alibaba Group; Ms Kim Wong, Professor of Practice, ITC, PolyU; and Professor Dacheng Tao, Professor of Computer Science, School of Information Technologies, The University of Sydney. They would share their insight and research findings on the application of AI in fashion business. To solve the imminent issues on the application of AI in the fashion ad textile supply chain, ITC and Alibaba are also organising a global competition called "FashionAI Global Challenge 2018". More than 6,000 researchers and engineers forming over 5000 teams from 42 countries participated to compete for a prize pool of RMB1.34 million. The selected 10 best teams are now present in Hong Kong and will present their solutions at PolyU tomorrow (5 July). Concurrently, a FashionAI Concept Store opens at PolyU campus from 4 July to 7 July to demonstrate the integration of AI and fashion retail. The Store integrates novel and intelligent technology to provide the ultimate shopping experience to customers and to improve sales and customers services at the same time. The Conference and the Challenge are planned to be annual activities for academic exchange and networking with like-minded individuals who are redefining the world of AI and fashion, and advancing AI research in fashion and textile. 全球首個國際學術會議 - 理大與阿里巴巴攜手　推動時尚行業與人工智能融合 (Chinese)

PolyU wins Two “TechConnect Global Innovation Awards” — Snatching Accolades in the US Two Years in a row

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) brings glory to Hong Kong again by winning two "Global Innovation Awards" at TechConnect World Conference and Expo 2018 staged in the United States. It is the second year in a row that PolyU research teams snatch the accolades in the world's largest multi-sector summit for accelerating development and commercialization of innovations. The two PolyU winning innovations are [please refer to Annex for project details]:- Composite multilayers capacitors with colossal permittivity for electronics and energy storage applications       — Professor HAO Jianhua, Professor & Associate Head, and Ms TSE Mei-yan, Department of Applied Physics Low cost flame retardant treatment for cotton with co-catalyst system       — Dr KAN Chi-wai, Associate Professor, The Institute of Textiles and Clothing Dr Terence LAU, Director of Innovation and Technology Development of PolyU, said the awards received over two years are "recognition of the efforts, dedication and achievements of our research faculty members". "The University will continue to push the frontiers of innovation by nurturing a culture inducive to high impact multi-disciplinary projects. Our research endeavours will continue to contribute to our society and mankind." TechConnect grants awards to the top 15% of innovations submitted, with assessment based on the potential positive impact the submitted technology will have on a specific industry sector. Around 500 submissions from about 180 organisations were received this year. Among them, 25 are presented with global awards designated for non-US-federal-funded innovations across the world. Another 55 national awards are granted to innovations with US federal funding. The award receivers include many global-renowned institutions and premier research centres, such as Stanford University, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Argonne National Laboratory, IBM Research, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, etc. [For details, please refer to TechConnect official website: https://www.techconnectworld.com/World2018/participate/innovation/awards.html ] The PolyU delegation received the awards in person at the TechConnect World Conference and Expo 2018 held in Anaheim, California. At the 20th-anniversary event held from 13 to 16 May, PolyU showcased a total of 15 innovations to numerous members from the industry, government and academia sectors around the world. Besides attending various exchange sessions PolyU delegates also explored product development and cooperation opportunities with various industry end-users, multinational companies and academic institutions to strive for applying the innovations for bringing greater impacts to the world. 理大科研成果揚威國際 連續第二年獲「TechConnect全球創新獎」 (Chinese)

Gold Medal for Dr Bingang XU (ITC) and his team at 46th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

To many researchers, it is equally important to realise their academic pursuit, and have the research applied for the benefit of mankind. PolyU recently won ten top prizes at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva with "star technologies" that can make the world better. These international accolades encourage our research experts to scale new heights in creating innovations with high impact. The event ran from 11-15 April 2018, attracted over 820 exhibitors from 40 countries, and featured more than 1,000 new innovations and inventions. Dr Bingang XU, Institute of Textiles and Clothing and his research team (Dr Jianliang Gong) won a Gold Medal with the Congratulations of Jury at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva for their project "Scalable All-Textile Energy Harvesters for Electric Power Generation". This novel textile can harvest ambient mechanical energy for electric power generation. It can be used as a wearable power source for portable and wearable devices, e.g. hearing aids, fitness trackers, wearable sensors, etc. The textile is super-flexible, tailorable and washable, and can be fabricated by using existing machines. It shows enormous application and market potentials in the areas of sustainable energy development and truly wearable electronics.

PolyU intelligent 3D human modelling technology projecting body shape and size accurately within 10 seconds

Shopping well-fitting clothes online or making bespoke garments can be done more easily with the intelligent 3D human modelling technology developed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), which digitally reconstructs the shape and size of a person accurately from two full body photographs within 5-10 seconds. With online shopping gaining popularity, this PolyU innovation, developed by Dr Tracy P.Y. Mok, Associate Professor from the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at PolyU, and Dr Zhu Shuaiyin, PhD graduate of the same institute, can solve the ill-fitting problem and enhance the online shopping experience. Existing methods to achieve automatic shape modeling and dynamic poses deformation, including scan-based, image-based and example-based have known limitations. They involve expensive and bulky scanners and too much approximation, and therefore are of questionable accuracy. Projecting body shape and size accurately in 5-10 seconds By integrating cutting-edge computer graphic and vision technology, this innovation allows a customised model in arbitrary dynamic poses to be created automatically within 5-10 seconds. The system can reconstruct the 3D shape and extract over 50 size measurements of different parts of a person, including the girth of bust, waist, hip, thigh, knee, calf and neck, as well as arm length, shoulder slope accurately. The discrepancies in tight-fitting and loose-fitting clothing are less than 1cm and 2cm respectively, which are precise enough to fulfil the specific requirements of the clothing industry for fashion applications and comparable to body scans. Four milestones to digitize human models Four methods were developed to realise automatic shape modelling of individuals by: detecting body parts in tight fitting clothing from front-view and side-view 2D images and then construct them to 3D models; predicting under-the-clothes body profiles of the subjects based on input images where the body profiles are covered in arbitrary clothing, including tight-fitting, normal-fitting and loose-fitting clothing; applying cutting-edge deep learning technology to segmentise the human body image from the background. It also improves the robustness, efficiency and accuracy of shape modelling of individuals; applying the above modelling methods to develop a client-server system. It is a mobile application of the automatic shape customisation technology, starting from photo taking to model customization and size extraction: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1measure/id1234853015?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tozmart.imeasure&hl=zh_HK These methods are enabled by "big data analytics" where a large dataset with over 10,000 human scan models were used to analyse local 3D shape features and predict under-the-clothes body profiles. Different from other existing methods where 3D scans were analysed globally, PolyU's research team decomposes the data yielded from 3D scan into local features for data analysis. The team then predicts and assembles the 2D and 3D shapes of subjects based on 2D photographs. The resulting 3D models have precisely reconstructed both global and local shape characteristics of individuals, and accurate body measurements can be extracted from these customised models. Benefiting the fashion industry The digital reconstruction of human subjects can provide competitive advantages for the fashion industry. "With an accurate projection of the size and shape of the human body, these customised models will enhance online shopping experience, and stimulate growth in fashion online shopping," said Dr Mok. "The output models can also enable customers to visualise try-on effects before purchases in online stores. This frees us from the limitations imposed by taking body measurements physically, helping customers to select the right size in online clothing purchases," added Dr Zhu. Commercialisation of the technology With the support from Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation-PolyU China Entrepreneurship Fund, Dr Zhu has set up the start-up, TOZI, in Shenzhen in 2017 to commercialise and further develop the 3D human modelling technology, echoing PolyU's commitment to foster culture that boosts entrepreneurship and inspires entrepreneurs. Based on the intelligent 3D human modelling technology, TOZI has collaborated with "Industry 4.0" factories to launch a brand-new customer-to-manufacturer (C2M) service for customers. It brings unmatched online shopping experience to end users by empowering them to order tailor-made clothing within just three minutes anywhere anytime. By a few clicks on smartphones, customers can measure their own shape and size, and order tailored made shirts, with a range of fabrics, collars, pockets, cuffs, front plackets to choose from. Videos： Introduction of the mobile application https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTQxtaYKREU&feature=youtu.be Introduction of the service launched by TOZI using the intelligent 3D human modelling technology (from the perspective of fashion industry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89GA8zn7Vvg&feature=youtu.be (Chinese version only) Introduction of the service launched by TOZI using the intelligent 3D human modelling technology (from the perspective of consumers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnCMfTOHvek 理大智能三維人體建模科技　十秒內建構準確體形及尺寸 (Chinese)

PolyU stages “Youreable” Fashion Design 2018 Award Presentation

Twenty sets of fashionable outfits created by aged or disabled designers, in pairing up with about 100 students of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), were showcased in the catwalk of the "Youreable" Fashion Design 2018 Award Presentation Ceremony today (6 April). The ceremony was officiated by Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, who was presented with a jacket entitled "United Hong Kong" (團結香港) for wearing on stage. The outfit was specially designed and tailor-made for Mrs Lam by wheelchair-bound designer Ms Ng Kwei-ling. Addressing the ceremony, Mr Chan Tze-ching, Council Chairman of PolyU, thanked all supporting organisations and partners for making the event a success. "By offering the elderly and the disabled a platform to showcase their talents in creating fashion designs for their loved ones, Youreable Fashion Design has also helped strengthen their confidence and communication skills." "Moreover, PolyU students who have taken part in this event as their Service-Learning over these years have learnt much more than just getting their 'homework' done. They have learnt a lot from the sharing with the aged and the disabled, and have gained valuable experience in applying their professional knowledge, communication abilities and team spirit to help accomplish the 'mission' for the designers," said Mr Chan. The 20 outfits showcased today were shortlisted from more than 350 entries submitted from over 50 non-government organisations – a record high number for the "Youreable" Fashion Design, which has been organised by the Troels H. Povlsen Care Apparel Centre under PolyU's Institute of Textiles and Clothing since 2009. Over the past months, the 20 shortlisted participants joined workshops, and worked closely with PolyU students in fabric selection, fitting and garment making to turn their creative ideas into reality. The event this year has newly added a Care & Chic Fashion Design Competition for secondary and post-secondary students to create apparels with functional adaptive design for the disabled and, at the same time, attractive and chic for abled persons. Out of around 30 submissions, 10 sets of inspiring outfits were shortlisted, and produced with the support of PolyU students. The outfits were also displayed by abled and disabled models together on the catwalk today, to exemplify the spirit of social integration. About Troels H. Povlsen Care Apparel Centre Established in 2006, the Troels H. Povlsen Care Apparel Centre under the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of PolyU is an original and innovative centre in the Far East region. The Centre is dedicated to promoting and making care apparels for theA elderly and the disabled, through applying the joint efforts of garment making experts, rehabilitation specialists, healthcare professionals and social scientists. For details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/itc/cac 理大舉行「展才設計2018」嘉獎典禮 (Chinese)

PolyU and Alibaba Join Hands to Promote Integration of Fashion and Artificial Intelligence

The Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) collaborates with the Vision and Beauty Team at Alibaba Group, which specializes in vision intelligence and applications, to establish the first-of-its-kind "FashionAI Dataset" for systematic analysis and labelling of fashion images based on "fashion attributes" (fashion characteristics) and "key points" of an apparel. By integrating fashion knowledge and machine learning formulation, the establishment of the Dataset will enable machine to better understand fashion, bringing a new horizon to the fashion retail industry through the application of AI. "Transforming fashion knowledge into determination of fashion related attributes and fashion item categorization of the fashion image database is a very complicated and challenging task, while it is the most fundamental task in deep learning applications. ITC is pleased to collaborate with Alibaba to address the needs of fashion retailers and consumers," said Professor Calvin Wong, Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion and Associate Head of ITC. Menglei Jia, Senior Staff Engineer at the Vision and Beauty team at Alibaba commented: "There is a huge potential for AI applications in the fashion industry. In order for AI to understand fashion, which could be very subjective, we need to turn fashion knowledge and experience into language that machine can understand." Jia added, "We hope to work with academics and the industry alike to explore the wider applications of AI in scenarios including fashion mix-and-match, assisting design and shopping guide, with the aim to bring new values to the fashion industry. The traditional fashion sector should embrace the new retail practice, and we hope FashionAI can be a bridge that connects AI with fashion." Challenges presented by data on fashion image Current fashion image searching technology used on online platforms is based on the whole fashion image to search the exact or other similar images. However if a customer is interested in some particular fashion attributes of a fashion image and wants to search other fashion items with these attributes, the current searching technology cannot meet the needs of the customer. This greatly limits the potential development and applications for offering more customized shopping experience. From artificial intelligence (AI) research perspective, this limitation of the current image searching technology is caused by the absence of available fashion image dataset constructed with both fashion professional knowledge and fulfils the requirement of deep learning, i.e. the current technology is unable to train a machine to accurately understand and recognize the fashion attributes of each fashion image. World's first dataset addressing the needs of fashion retailers Fostering the application of AI in the fashion industry, a PolyU research team led by Professor Wong, worked closely with Alibaba to develop "FashionAI Dataset" to solve two fundamental problems of the deep learning algorithm: "apparel key points detection" and "attribute recognition". Key points (e.g. neckline, cuff, waistline) and fashion attributes (e.g. sleeve length, collar type, skirt style) build the foundation for machine learning in understanding fashion images. The establishment of key points and fashion attribute database enables the computer to effectively and efficiently understand the fashion image which is fundamental for deep learning and recognition algorithms. The accuracy of key points detection is determined by several factors such as the dimension and shape of the apparel, distance and angle of shooting, or even how the apparel is displayed or the model is posing in a photo. These factors can lead to poor key points detection and result in an inaccurate analysis of fashion images by the computer. Accurate key points detection can therefore improve the performance of deep learning algorithms. Fashion attributes are the basic design elements of an apparel, and their combination determines the product category and styles of a fashion item. With the wide variety of fashion attributes, attribute recognition is a complicated process. A systemic classification of fashion attributes is essential to accurately label fashion attributes, facilitating research on deep learning and algorithm design for fashion image searching, navigating tagging and mix-and-match ideas, etc. The revolutionary Dataset can greatly facilitate understanding fashion images and related algorithm design, and developing machine learning. It would help improve the accuracy of online fashion image searching, enhance effectiveness of cross-selling and up-selling, create innovative buying experience and facilitate customization of online shopping platforms. World-first events: Artificial Intelligent on Fashion & Textile (AIFT) Conference and FashionAI Global Challenge With an aim of bringing a new horizon to the fashion retail industry through the application of AI and encouraging knowledge exchange among practitioners, PolyU and Alibaba will host two world-first events: AIFT Conference and FashionAI Global Challenge. AIFT Conference is a first-of-its-kind academic conference to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners to share their insights on the most updated development and applications of AI and fashion. AIFT Conference will be held on 3-6 July 2018 at PolyU. This event will become an annual activity for academic exchange and networking with like-minded individuals who are redefining the world of AI and fashion, and advancing AI research in fashion and textile. For more information, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/itc/aift2018/index.html. FashionAI Challenge invites worldwide AI researchers and developers to solve two imminent issues on the application of AI in fashion with over 400,000 images with high-quality annotations from Alibaba ecommerce platforms. The competition offers a prize pool of RMB 1.34 million. The FashionAI Global Challenge 2018 is open to the public, and the competition will be held from 1 February to 21 April 2018. Visit http://fashionai.alibaba.com/to learn more about the competition. - End - About Textile & Apparel Artificial Intelligence (TAAI) Research Team The TAAI research team, led by Prof. Calvin Wong, Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion, Associate Head of ITC, has been conducting fundamental and applied research on AI, computer vision and machine learning specifically for the fashion and textile industry since 2012. The projects cover the area of intelligent textile material and apparel quality inspection, large-scale fabric swatch and fashion image searching, fashion sales forecasting, and so on. The team has published numerous research articles in world leading journals, including IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, and so forth. Some articles have been ranked by Essential Science Indicators as the top 1% of the most cited articles in related fields. About Vision & Beauty Team The Vision & Beauty Team is an image team under the Alibaba Group with longest history. Since 2009, the team has been devoted to the research on the algorithm of product images and its application, and has successfully built the foundation of the widely used image research function in Alibaba. It offers search function of billions of images, optical character recognition and mix and match function. The team insists in rigorous research as well as practical application on the integration of beauty, advanced technology and business value, aiming to be the role model of "innovative technology business model". 文匯報 A21 網購花多眼亂 「時裝AI」助篩選 理大夥阿里巴巴團隊研發 料「數據集」年內智能商店應用 13 Mar 2018 信報財經新聞 A04 阿里夥理大研「時裝AI數據集」 13 Mar 2018 頭條日報 P16 拓新零售 理大夥阿里巴巴 研發時裝AI數據集 13 Mar 2018 明報 A10 阿里巴巴理大合作建數據庫 AI 助網上揀衫刁鑽要求難不倒 13 Mar 2018 大公報 A14 理大夥阿里研「時裝AI」教襯衫 13 Mar 2018 晴報 P02 「FashionAI」幫你襯衫變潮人 理大夥阿里推出 淘寶兩月後應用 13 Mar 2018 星島日報 F02 理大全球首創 服飾AI數據庫 助搭配衣物 推綫上服務 13 Mar 2018 都市日報 P16 用AI分析服飾 理大建時裝數據庫 13 Mar 2018 香港經濟日報 A12 阿里夥理大 推Fashion AI 13 Mar 2018 英文虎報 P06 Partners stitch up online fashion shopping 13 Mar 2018

PolyU signed MOU with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. to jointly publish “EcoMat”

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Wiley) on 18 January 2018 to strengthen the relationship between the two parties and carry out comprehensive strategic cooperation to realize the objective of jointly publishing a World-class journal "EcoMat" in the areas of Energy and Environment. The MOU was signed between PolyU Vice President (Research and Development), Prof. Alexander Wai, and Vice President & Managing Director of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Dr Guido F. Herrmann. Under the MOU, both parties would fully take advantage of their developments in terms of academic resources, scientific researches, journal publications, and international conferences in order to contribute to successful publications and exchanges in global contexts. The collaboration between PolyU and Wiley in academic publications and conferences have flourished on various fronts in the past years. In 2014, PolyU organized the first and only special issue for Wiley's flagship journal Advanced Materials, to showcase the strength of materials research in Hong Kong. Later, PolyU continued to participate in the organization of special issues for Advanced Function Materials and Small, two most well-known journals in Advanced Materials. Last year, PolyU co-organised the 3rd Small Science Symposium with Wiley in Hong Kong, under the theme of Flexible and Wearable Devices.