🧠By combining AI-inspired models with brain imaging, recent studies by Professor Benjamin Becker (@bn_becker) have revealed how the brain generates emotional experiences and ways to reduce social anxiety. 📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/research/min…

🆕The new issue of the #HKUBulletin is now available! 🎨💡How is AI impacting human creativity? #HKU scholars examine whether AI can outperform imagination, reshape storytelling, and what it means for society and regulation. 📖Read now at bulletin.hku.hk

Assessing and undertaking building maintenance in densely populated cities like Hong Kong isn’t easy, and manual inspections are often time-consuming and costly, leading to delays in identifying structural defects that can compromise public safety. To address this problem, the team at #HKU’s iLab, led by Professor Junjie Chen and Professor Wilson Lu, developed eCheckGo, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) system powered by a proprietary Large Defect Model (LdM) combined with traditional AI algorithms. Designed for ease of use, eCheckGo allows users to capture images inside and outside buildings using a mobile app, or to leverage readily available Google Street View images. The AI system automatically detects defects such as cracks and spalling where concrete breaks away and integrates these findings into generated 3D data point clouds . This interactive 3D model allows users to zoom in and out to view the exact geometry and dimensions of the issues. “You can easily understand the overall condition of a building, pinpoint where defects are located, and assess their scale, geometry, and dimensions,” says Professor Chen. “Having all this information consolidated in one place is extremely helpful for making informed and timely decisions about maintenance or renovation.” No wonder eCheckGo recently received the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva! Moving forward, the iLab team will work on turning their lab-based prototype into an industry-level software solution, including through algorithm optimization in computing-constrained environments and shifting some existing functions (data query, 3D visualization) from Web to local mobile phones. #HKU #UniversityofHongKong #architecture #HongKong #urbanism