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Research Institute of Design-driven Entrepreneurship

 

RIDE logo

 

The Research Institute of Design-driven Entrepreneurship (RIDE) was established in October 2024. It is the university’s first interdisciplinary platform driven by design thinking, dedicated to technological innovation and business transformation across industries.

RIDE centers on the core domain of “design-driven entrepreneurship”, focusing on bridging the gap between technological innovation and commercialisation. In the early stages of technological achievement commercialisation, there exists an “Valley of Death” for innovation. In the current context, this specifically refers to transforming research outcomes from universities or institutions into marketable products through startups. Identifying product-market fit is the primary challenge at this stage, with the core issue being technology-driven entrepreneurial teams' lack of capabilities in user demand definition and business model design. Therefore, RIDE applies design thinking to precisely define commercial opportunities and has established the Design Management Capability Framework to drive startups across the technology commercialisation chasm.

RIDE focuses on collaborating with governments and enterprises to formulate strategic directions, identify market opportunities, and facilitate technology transfer. Since its establishment, RIDE has developed deep partnerships across sectors, forming three core pathways:

  1. Entrepreneurial Products: Specializing in technological achievement commercialisation.
  2. Cultural & Tourism Innovation: Empowering cultural and tourism industry upgrades.
  3. Strategic Innovation Consulting: Providing brand/business strategy planning, design capability assessment, and industrial policy research.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Lab:
The PolyU-Hosonsoft Joint Future Lab of Digital Printing was established in October 2024 through a collaboration between the Research Institute of Design-driven Entrepreneurship (RIDE) and Hosonsoft.

Through research-academia-industry collaboration, it centers on design thinking and research achievements in “design-driven innovation and entrepreneurship”, combining Hosonsoft’s industry expertise in digital printing software system development and hardware manufacturing. Together, we explore and shape a new industrial ecosystem integrating “design + digital printing”.

Objectives:

As a bridge for interdisciplinary research and industrial collaboration, the laboratory undertakes the following responsibilities:

  1. Establish a full/cross-industry chain business model for "Design + Digital Printing".
  2. Incubate market-oriented projects based on the new business model, covering the front-end of the industry chain.
  3. Conduct interdisciplinary research and collaboration to transform technological achievements into innovative commercial applications.
  4. Advance talent development in cutting-edge fields such as color research, material research, and algorithmic AI.
  5. Organise workshops, academic forums, and other activities to enhance research influence.

 

Projects:

For projects of this Joint Lab, please refer to the tab of "Projects - PolyU-Hosonsoft".

 

 

 

3 Hosonsoft New POD Ecosystem

Problem Statement:
Hosonsoft currently operates at the supply side and backend of the industrial chain, with its existing technological advantages not being fully utilised or maximised.

Strategic Objectives:

Build a new commercial framework centered on design-driven content, processes, and technologies, integrating Hosonsoft’s technical strengths to:

  1. Address Hosonsoft’s gaps in design-side capabilities.
  2. Transition the company from the downstream end to the forefront of the industrial chain while achieving full-chain integration.
  3. Establish a design-led business model.

Solution: Design-Driven POD (Print on Demand) Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem

  • Digital Database and AI-Driven Design Platform: Based on three intelligent database (material library, trend library, theme library), integrated with user-centric design engines and natural language interaction to intelligently generate design drafts. Expanded functionality development is driven by an open-source plugin ecosystem.
  • Hosonsoft Design Process: Implements three-tier optimisation (basic/advanced/expert) on design drafts to ensure production-ready outputs. Establishes Hosonsoft’s standardized brand visual identity to guarantee design consistency and professionalism.
  • Global Flexible Manufacturing Ecosystem: Utilizes Hosonsoft’s POD supply chain system to enable real-time response, supply chain synchronization, on-demand printing, and rapid delivery.

Differentiation Advantage

  • AI-Driven Deep Design Customisation: Restores creative autonomy to users through systematic AI production mechanisms that intelligently generate demand-matched design solutions, replacing the passive selection of pre-made templates.
  • Vertical Industry-Specialised Solutions: Delivers precision printing systems exceeding generic one-size-fits-all services through deep vertical scenario expertise and accumulated solutions.
  • Self-Evolving Data Flywheel: Continuously integrates user behavior data and production feedback to optimize AI models/material adaptation rules, forming an increasingly intelligent closed-loop system that builds cross-industry data barriers.
  • Full-Chain Autonomous Control Capabilities: Covers entire workflow with diverse printing processes, rigorous quality assurance systems, and intelligent global factory scheduling, ensuring process controllability and quality reliability.

 

* This project is currently in the development phase, therefore additional details cannot be disclosed at this stage.

 

 

 

5 Hosonsoft

6 Hosonsoft

Project Overview

The “AI Intelligent One-Stop Exhibition Service Platform, AXI.V” is an innovative solution integrating AI design systems and advanced manufacturing technologies, designed to redefine the traditional exhibition service value chain. Addressing three key industry pain points for SMEs – high design costs, low communication efficiency, and prolonged setup cycles – the project combines AIGC intelligent design systems with Hosonsoft digital printing technology to deliver end-to-end exhibition booth solutions from design to delivery.

 

Product & Services

  • AI-Created Designs: Rapidly generates personalized booth designs using AI, offering customizable templates, parametric adjustment tools, and modular display systems. Designs are further refined by experts to align with corporate branding guidelines.
  • SmartPrint Express: Converts AI-generated designs into precision print files through intelligent formatting algorithms. Partners with Hosonsoft Printing for high-quality material production, including sorted packaging and global logistics delivery.
  • SmartCloud Services: Provides real-time logistics tracking, after-sales support, customer service, and full-process monitoring via a cloud platform, ensuring seamless service transparency.

 

 

7 Hosonsoft demo

The AXI.V Platform

 

4 Hosonsoft

The project has received incubation support from the PolyU Micro Fund and was awarded the Third Prize in the 11th Hong Kong University Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition.
 

PUHosonsoft_Project3_2

Project Overview:
IPARK is a one-stop platform focused on assetization and commercialisation of Pan-ACGN IP content, dedicated to addressing core industry pain points including “insufficient original creativity, fragmented industrial chains, weak international marketing capabilities, and difficulties in combating infringement”. The platform builds a full-chain ecosystem covering “creation incubation - copyright protection - intelligent distribution - derivative monetization”. This empowers efficient communication and collaboration among small/medium creators, IP owners, and consumers, establishing next-generation commercial infrastructure for digital cultural IP.


Product & Services:

  • IPARK Competition Initiatives: Builds international-level Pan-ACGN cultural events to discover high-potential creators and provide strategic early investments in premium IPs.
  • IPARK ToC: A Pan-ACGN cultural exchange community platform enabling IP interactions and customized merchandise services.
  • IPARK ToB: Supports IP storage/rights verification, back-end data analytics, product manufacturing management, and business collaboration coordination.


A start-up “Shenzhen Innovative Nebula Co., Ltd.” has been established based on this project, specialising in Pan-ACGN IP cultivation. The start-up’s services include: IP strategic planning, character development, systematic incubation, omni-channel marketing, and designer toy customisation.

 

9 Hosonsoft IPARK

IPARK Structure

 

10 Hosonsoft Concept

Case

 

 

Leaders:
Prof. Sylvia Xihui Liu
Prof. Hailiang Wang
Prof. Zhibin Zhou
Prof. Junnan Yu

Research Assistants:
Mr Yanchi Liu
Mr Zhiye Fang
Mr Ao Yang
Mr Jingshu Li
Ms Keya Chen
Mr Jiashuo Zhang


PhD Students:
Mr Jiahao Wang
Mr Xinyu Wang
Ms Yiwei Zhou
Ms Xufan Lin
Ms Yi Chen
Mr Liyuan Cui

 

 


 

 

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