The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) will showcase a wide range of research achievements in promoting the smart city development in Hong Kong through online seminars and exhibitions, at the virtual InnoCarnival 2020 hosted by the Innovation and Technology Commission – the theme of which is “Collaborate. Innovate. Beyond Imagination.”
The Cellular Vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology is an important component for 5G to enable smart mobility applications and enhance road safety, to connect vehicles, pedestrians and roadside facilities through wireless transmission.
This technology is capable of detecting imminent dangers on the roads (such as vehicles tangling, and the driver’s line of sight is blocked by objects while there are vehicles in the adjacent lane) and issuing real-time alerts to drivers via C-V2X communication between vehicles and roadside infrastructure to avoid accidents. C-V2X is also a prerequisite for making autonomous driving safe and popular. ASTRI will showcase its autonomous driving technology at the InnoCarnival 2020 from 23 – 31 December 2020.
In addition, ASTRI will introduce the Augmented Reality (AR) Near Eye Display Technology with smart optoelectronics as the core technology in addition to the AR system. It will adopt 5G network to superimpose a computer-generated image on a user’s perception of the real world. The technology can also be deployed for industrial applications.
By using AR glasses and a visual and depth-sensing platform, onsite technicians can access real-time data, a troubleshooting log, and graphics and encrypted data from backend systems anytime, anywhere. Remote support experts can view streamed real-time images transmitted from AR glasses being worn by onsite technicians through the AR operation console and offer advice.
ASTRI will also demonstrate the iGem Guard which won a silver award in Smart Living of the Hong Kong ICT Award 2020. The Ramen spectrometer can distinguish the category, authenticity and rank of more than 3,000 different kinds of gems in just three seconds, and its price is much lower than the conventional ones.
ASTRI is striving to expand the application of the spectrometer for other purposes, such as installing it on mobile devices for public usage, testing the quality of surgical masks, hand sanitisers, herbal medicines and cosmetics, or detecting air quality and any substance change in water sources.
ASTRI will exhibit a mobile spectrometer that can easily distinguish true and fake-coloured lamps, tungsten lamps, fluorescent lamps, energy-saving lamps and LED lamps, which can be used in production processes to assist engineers in verifying the quality of light sources and to help consumers choose healthy light sources that fulfil the blue and ultraviolet light standard.
Researchers from ASTRI will demonstrate these leading-edge technologies through online seminars at the InnoCarnival 2020. Interested parties can sign up for seminars on the event website. Other research projects being showcased by ASTRI include automated form processing system-recognising handwritten Chinese characters, direct current building, artificial intelligence medical platform and blockchain technology.
Recently, the CEO of ASTRI had announced that the institute welcomes and supports the new initiatives announced in the Chief Executive of Hong Kong’s Policy Address, such as the Smart City Blue Print for Hong Kong 2.0, Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, Smart Mobility, network development and wider application of 5G, among many others.
He is confident that ASTRI, with its expertise and experience in many of these areas, can make a significant contribution in supporting the HKSAR Government as well as the I&T ecosystem.
ASTRI’s core R&D competence in various areas is grouped under five Technology Divisions: Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics; Communications; Cybersecurity, Cryptography and Trusted Technologies; Integrated Circuits and Systems; and IoT and Sensors. It is applied across five cores areas which are Smart City, Financial Technologies, Intelligent Manufacturing, Health Technologies, and Application Specific Integrated Circuits.
