James Kon
From facial gender recognition to robots cleaning rivers and research on artificial intelligence (AI) enhancing quality of higher education, innovative and creative projects were on display at the Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) Project Showcase on Thursday.
Comprising 314 students’ projects and organised by the School of Applied Sciences and Mathematics (SASM) under the theme ‘Empowering Creativity and Innovation towards a Sustainable Future’, the showcase aimed to recognise undergraduate students’ achievements in their final years of study.
Bachelor of Business in Technology Management student Muhammad Tadjul Ariffin bin Muhammad Redzuan Sani came up with the project ‘Adopting Extended Reality (XR) and AI to enhance quality education in higher education’.
He said, “My project is based on students’ perspective on whether XR and AI technology can help improve quality education for students in higher institutions.
“The study aims to increase student engagement in information retention as well as increase efficacy in their course works as well as decision making.”
He gathered both qualitative and quantitative data from online surveys and interviews.
“I found that students are well informed about the technology and have experience using XR technology which includes virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. A majority of respondents are confident and interested in making use of these technologies in their education.”
Asked about the potential of using AI to cheat, he said, “Let us associate this with the use of a calculator. Individuals can use calculators for the rest of their life and still be unable to do mental maths.”
He added, “AI can help breakdown information with ease and gain different perspective of information. To detect cheating, teachers can incorporate AI detection software for use by university.”
Meanwhile Applied Mathematics and Economics student Siti Nur Suhaila @ Fatimah binti Suhaimi took on the topic ‘Can education change society? The impact of education on crime in developing countries’.
“The research revolves around combining economic theory and statistical approaches to investigate whether increases in education have an effect on crime rates especially in developing countries. This included compiling 10 years of data from 10 developing countries.”
The project’s idea “comes from being a student and soon to be graduate, looking forward to where my education and skills can take me”, she said.
“Some graduates are fortunate enough to land a secure job speedily, while some are not.
“Long period of unemployment might motivate some to seek income through illegal means.
This made me question the importance of education in preventing someone from resorting to crime.”
She added, “My main finding shows that the more a person is educated, the lower the chance of that person committing a crime.” Muhammad Yazid bin Mohd Sallih, Bachelor of Science in Architecture, came up with ‘Kiulap Social Hub (Airia Junction)’ project.
“The project is a social hub plus bridge situated in Kiulap, connecting Silver Jubilee Park with Kiulap commercial areas.
“It is a versatile and dynamic building promoting walkability and social interaction. The building is designed to be flexible and user-defined, allowing customisation and personalisation according to the users’ needs and preferences.
“The platform is supported by columns with buoys allowing it to mimic water movement and tide.”
On the meaning of ‘Airia’, he said, “My concept incorporates the movement of the ocean and water, so I tried to reflect the concept on everything in my design and description and even my building. It’s actually air (water in Malay) reflected as if in water to become ‘Airia’.“
He added, “I hope to make the building more interactive.”
Another interesting project is by Mohd Muqri Izzuddin bin Haji Md Jamil whose ‘Facial Gender Recognition’, studies how AI can be used to predict the gender of Southeast Asians using facial recognition.
He said, “It all begins with an input, either an image or a video. The input is processed by a computer, which looks for a subject of interest which in this case is the face.”
He continued, “The face image is then passed on to an AI system that has been trained using a vast dataset consisting of hundreds to thousands of male and female face images. When a new image is presented, the AI can deduce whether it belongs to a male or female.”
The project’s idea, he said, “Originally came from my supervisor, Dr Ibrahim, which at first was just a concept of ‘gender detection in videos’.
“I already had a basic idea for my final project, which is something related to AI, as it is one of my stronger subjects. When he proposed the project to me, I was like, ‘Why not?’
“It is a way of challenging myself to apply the knowledge I learnt in school in the real world.”
He hoped that the project is a starting point for those interested in the subject.
“Students can pick up where I left off. You can enhance the model training to achieve higher prediction accuracy, or you can explore other aspects, such as combining gender with facial expressions or perform intersectional analysis with factors such as age, race, or culture. The possibilities are endless.”
Muhammad Haziq Fadli bin Zambahri came up with the project of a ‘River Cleaning Robot with AI’. He designed and built a device that can collect trash floating along a river.
“The device uses object tracking and detection to catch floating debris such as plastic bottles,” he said.
“I started with a 3D design inspired by catamarans. PVC pipes create the structure, while the empty space between the hull is covered with a plastic net to collect floating waste. It can carry a load of 10 kilogrammes. However, the low-powered motor can only capture 15 bottles of waste per trip. The whole device costs under BND1,000.“
The idea first rose two years ago, while he was visiting relatives in Kampong Ayer. “I saw a lot of trash floating. It made me think about how to clean up the river.
“I hope this project can be commercialised and improved to allow self-charging.“
