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PolyU study uncovers Hong Kong’s hidden history with cutting-edge geospatial technologies

6 Jun 2025

News

A research team led by Prof. Wallace Wai Lok Lai, Associate Head (Teaching) and Professor of the PolyU Department of Land Surveying and Geo-informatics, will identify and create 3D models of hidden and buried wartime relics, cultural antiquities, and heritage sites in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia by utilising advanced geospatial technologies.

Aiming to reconstruct and revive Hong Kong's history, 3D models of the five cultural and wartime heritage sites are reconstructed to tell their stories using innovative technologies.

The fruitful outcomes to the heritage sites in Malacca are being showcased to the public through virtual reality and augmented reality models in PolyU Industrial Centre's Hybrid Immersive Virtual Environment (HiVE).


A project led by Prof. Wallace Wai Lok Lai, Associate Head (Teaching) and Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-informatics, seeks to reveal and record the city’s lost history hidden underground by utilising cutting-edge geospatial technologies and to launch public education programmes to promote the conservation and better understanding of the city’s cultural heritage. The team has recently uncovered “lost and found” stories from five cultural and wartime heritage sites. With support from the PolyU Research Institute for Land and Space, Prof. Lai is expanding this study to Southeast Asia. The project has received funding of HK$3.22 million from the General Support Programme under the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Innovation and Technology Commission.

Press release:
English - https://polyu.me/3HrOSKG; Chinese - https://polyu.me/4mLY50F

Online coverage:
Ming Pao Daily News - https://polyu.me/4jy4byM
am730 - https://polyu.me/4dXGVcn 


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