Lingnan students win Third Prize for their VR Gerontech-X Lab at the Virtual Reality International Competition

During the 2024/25 academic year, Lingnan University students spent 30 service hours doing the Service-Learning project in the Jockey Club Gerontechnology and Smart Ageing in Place Project. They also recently took part in the 5th Virtual Reality AI Interactive Content Innovation International Competition 2024 and carried off the third prize.

The Virtual Reality International Competition was held simultaneously in Nanjing and Hong Kong. It was organised by the Nanjing Association for Science and Technology, the Nanjing Yuhuatai District Bureau of Science and Technology, and the Nanjing Yuhuatai District Association for Science and Technology, and jointly hosted by the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Nanjing Ruiyue Technologies Co., Ltd., and some other agencies.

The competition was on three levels: primary and secondary schools (teacher groups), universities and colleges, and primary and secondary schools (student groups). Out of 268 participating teams from Nanjing, Hong Kong, and Macau, the Lingnan student team was among the 32 that advanced to the final stage. Recently, all teams in the finals conducted on-site presentations in both Nanjing and Hong Kong, displaying their outstanding achievements in virtual reality AI interactive content innovation. The projects covered a wide range of fields, including industry digitalisation and education, and showcased the teams' in-depth exploration and innovative application of new technologies.

The Lingnan team included students from the SOC3203 Social Gerontology course: Chan Yiu-sheung, Dong Zitong, Liu Manlin, You Ya, and Tao Xuanlin. Their project, titled "VR Gerontech-X Lab", was initially inspired by the LU Jockey Club Gerontech-X Lab. To raise awareness of gerontechnology products, the student team created a VR version of the X Lab, overcoming the constraints of time and geography to demonstrate a better understanding of gerontechnology and the concept of ageing in place.
 

The student team also showed their VR work to the public at the Lingnan booth during the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit (GIES) 2024, promoting the understanding of gerontechnology and Lingnan's Service-Learning initiatives. Project Manager Dr Chloe Siu said "The students have greatly assisted the Project team in promoting gerontechnology education more effectively. With the continuous increase of resources and technology, older adults and community members can conveniently access information on gerontechnology products, improving their practical knowledge. We hope to have more diverse Service-Learning projects to inject new momentum into encouraging technological innovation and talent development, as well as to harness students’ creativity and provide new ideas for development in the gerontechnology field, optimising and enhancing community services offered by the Project in the future.”