04Foreword

Diving into deep tech

16Features

Scaling up to the future

Accessing the big data goldmine

26Faces

Virtual tool, real impact

30Global dialogue

Inclusiveness in a time of uncertainty

32At a glance

Coming your way

The honour roll

20From the researcher’s desk

VR in high gear

Pixel power

A dance with virtual reality

EditorialAdvisoryPanelCHAIR

Prof Lam Khin YongVice President (Research)

MEMBERS

Prof James BestProf Alan ChanProf Chee Yeow MengProf Staffan KjellebergDr Lim JuiProf Ling SanProf Louis Phee

SECRETARIAT

Prof Michael KhorDr Kristen SadlerProf Theng Yin LengProf Timothy WhiteDr Nicola Wittekindt(Staff writer)

Pushing Frontiersis a publication of the Corporate Communications Office, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. All rights reserved.

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Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Keep in touch.We welcome your ideas, views and contributions. Email us at pushingfrontiers@ntu.edu.sg

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06Discoveries

Editing the fabric of life

Of Sumatran tigers and wild boars

Peering into baby’s big round eyes

Blurring the seams

BETWEEN real and virtual

Using artificial intelligence and virtual

reality to augment human abilities

05Upfront

Gearing up for the AI revolution

I N T H I S I S S U E

College of Humanities,Arts, and Social Sciences

The Rose: Media Art Nexus @ NTU“The Rose” uses six different recordings of Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune to create an audio reactive painting (M. Chavez and I. Conradi, School of Art, Design and Media, NTU)

Young and research-intensive, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is ranked among the top in the world by Quacquarelli Symonds. It is also placed 1st among the world’s young universities.

If you are interested to explore research opportunities at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, write to us at AD-HASS-RESEARCH@ntu.edu.sg.

Survey of temple in Bagan, Myanmar(Goh Geok Yian, History, School of Humanities, NTU)

Lisa Rave, Europium, 2014Still from HD video, sound, 21 minutes. Courtesy of the artist.

(NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Exhibition: The Oceanic)www.cohass.ntu.edu.sg

Articulating the Human ExperienceGroundbreaking and Life-Changing Research in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

• Top scholars in a wide range of fields• A thriving research culture• Capabilities in exploring uncharted territories• Cutting across disciplinary boundaries

• Master of Arts and PhD Scholarships• Postdoctoral Fellowships• Research Fellowships• Visiting Professorships

• Science, Technology and Society• Medical Humanities, Green Humanities,

Digital Humanities• Health Literacy, Communication in

Healthcare, Ageing and Society• History of Science, Philosophy of Science• Southeast Asian Studies

Research Opportunities

Interdisciplinary Areas

GEARING UP FOR THE AI REVOLUTION

DIVING

n the virtual reality-themed movie, Ready Player One, players traverse reality and simulation in an effortless manner. All of that,

of course, is the stuff of Hollywood, but research at NTU is helping to make this future a reality.

Thanks to mobile phones and headsets, new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are already widely used in applications such as video games. Advancements in artificial intelligence

I

(AI) have also been used for applications in transportation, healthcare and manufacturing.

This edition of Pushing Frontiers will introduce you to research taking place at NTU in the multifaceted fields of AR, VR and AI. From studying commuter behaviour to creating immersive virtual spaces for art, prepare to be amazed by how NTU researchers are pushing the boundaries of these technologies.

Supporting these cross-campus efforts are NTU scientists at the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Research Centre and Cyber Security Research Centre @ NTU, as well as industry partners working at the Alibaba-NTU

INTO DEEP TECH

I f yo u ’ ve r e c e i ve d a m o v i e recommendation from Netflix or searched for an answer to a query on Google, you’ve experienced first-hand how artificial intelligence (AI) can help us in our daily lives.

NTU is committed to driving the AI revolution with its flagship Smart Campus initiative. The University’s main campus is a testbed for technologies such as driverless and electric cars and buses, intelligent buildings and social robots, as well as smart resources and digital services for students and staff.

At the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute—a multi-million-dollar collaboration over five years—researchers will explore AI in three main areas: health, home and city. Supported by an initial joint pool of 50 researchers, it will bring together Alibaba’s leading technologies in natural language processing, computer vision, machine learning and cloud computing, with NTU’s human-centred AI technologies in health, ageing, homes and communities.

“The humanised AI developed by NTU is enriched with human characteristics and values such as trust, emotions, persuasiveness and curiosity. It is aimed at helping us, humans, to interact with AI in a safe, simple and intuitive way,” says NTU President Prof Subra Suresh.

“Using AI technologies, we can address fundamental societal challenges such as an ageing population, which is a major issue for cities with rapidly ageing population demographics including Singapore,” he adds.

Examples of AI technologies geared towards easing age-related issues include AI-driven monitoring of daily activities of elderly people at home or in nursing homes to facilitate early detection or prediction of problems, as well as AI companions and assistance at home. Other joint projects will leverage NTU’s track record in healthcare research and Alibaba’s industrial experience with hospitals to advance diagnosis and prevention of diseases.

“NTU is known for its dedication to cutting-edge technologies like AI, as well as a strong track record of fruitful partnerships with the industry,” says Mr Jeff Zhang, CTO of the Alibaba Group.

“The key outcomes of industry-academia partnerships such as the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute are innovation and education, where ideas are turned into marketable products and NTU students are prepared for the 21st century workplace,” says NTU’s Vice President (Research) Prof Lam Khin Yong.

Launching the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute: (from right) NTU Vice President (Research) Prof Lam Khin Yong; NTU President Prof Subra Suresh; Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and Ministry of Health, Dr Amy Khor; Alibaba Group CTO Mr Jeff Zhang; and Alibaba Group’s Director of Technology Strategy, Ms Liu Xiangwen. Credit: NTU.

U P F R O N T

Ranked the world’s top university for citations in AI according to a 2017 list published by Nikkei and Elsevier, NTU has emerged as

the perfect partner for Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group’s first joint research institute outside China.

Singapore Joint Research Institute, Singtel Cognitive and Ar ti f icial Intelligence Lab for Enterprises, and Fraunhofer Singapore.

For all the diversity in their research, researchers at NTU are united by a common aim: to develop technology that will ultimately make a positive impact on the way we live, work and play.

Prof Lam Khin YongVice President (Research)Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore

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F O R E W O R D

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METABOLIC DISORDERS

To keep our blood sugar levels in the healthy range, our bodies are equipped with “mini factories”—clusters of specialised cells in the pancreas called islets of Langerhans. These insulin-producing cells are fragile and tend to degenerate from long-term overwork.

Using a novel primate model where islets are transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye, scientists from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden were able to track the inner workings of the islets in real time and at single-cell resolution.

“Using the eye as a natural window to look into the functioning of the islets, we observed that the islets in primates channel blood flow very specifically,” says lead author Prof Per-Olof Berggren.

AN EYE INTO ISLET CELLS“Our findings suggest

a mechanism whereby the islets respond to metabolic demands—the need to balance blood sugar levels—and precisely divert blood flow to areas of active hormone-producing cell clusters within the islet without flooding the whole islet.”

While more research is needed to fully understand the impact of this gated blood flow on islet function, the researchers speculate that the information could be used to help preserve the function of islets in people with type 2 diabetes.

Obesity, the bane of health systems in developed and developing countries alike, is associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Treatments to reduce body fat in obese patients are typically administered orally or by injection, and require large doses that are associated with severe side effects.

Thanks to Prof Chen Peng and Asst Prof Xu Chenjie from NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, treating belly fat may soon be as easy as putting on a Band-Aid.

When applied on the belly, their medical patch delivers drugs via hundreds of detachable microneedles that slowly dissolve and release the drugs into the skin. The drugs diffuse to the layers of fat cells beneath the skin where they turn white energy-storing fat cells into brown energy-burning fat cells.

A PATCH A DAY KEEPS BELLY FAT AWAY

OBESITY

The development of cancers is often driven by proteins that become mutated or overexpressed. One such protein, EZH2, which is normally involved in embryonic development, drives tumour development in prostate cancer, breast cancer and lymphomas by silencing genes that help to suppress tumours.

Previously, a research team led by Assoc Prof Su I-Hsin of NTU’s School of Biological Sciences found that EZH2 has a role outside of the nucleus in helping immune cells migrate to and infiltrate tissues.

In their most recent study, they discovered that EZH2 also promotes the detachment of cells from tissues, which subsequently drives tumour development, cell migration and metastasis.

“We found that EZH2 in the cytoplasm promotes cell transformation and metastasis through interaction with the cell signalling protein VAV,” says research fellow Dr Nandini Venkatesan, first author of the study from Assoc Prof Su’s lab.

Serving as an adaptor protein, VAV brings EZH2 in close proximity to proteins that EZH2 then methylates—a crucial step in initiating tumorigenesis.

These findings may be useful in the development of novel strategies to treat cancers in which EZH2 overexpression is the underlying cause, the researchers say.---The findings are described in “EZH2 promotes neoplastic transformation through VAV interaction-dependent extranuclear mechanisms”, published in Oncogene (2017), DOI: 10.1038/onc.2017.309.

TREATING CANCER THE EZ WAY

CANCER RESEARCH

Though humans have roughly the same number of protein-coding genes as worms and flies, our developmental pathways are much more complex. This is partly due to a mechanism known as ribonucleic acid (RNA) editing, where RNA molecules are processed as they carry genetic information from the genome to protein production

machinery in the cytoplasm.

EVOLUTION

EDITING THE FABRIC OF LIFENTU researchers investigated a

novel type of RNA editing called A-to-I editing, where the nucleic acid adenosine is exchanged with inosine. They compared the RNA profiles of over 8,500 human tissue samples with those from non-human primates and mice.

“We found that in humans the highest amount of editing occurs in the artery, and not in the brain as previously thought,” says team leader Asst Prof Tan Meng How of NTU’s School of

DNA:

RNA:

This schematic illustrates how RNA editing can increase the number of distinct biomolecules present in the cell beyond what is dictated by the genome. The distinct biomolecules can cause the cells to behave differently. Credit: Tan Meng How.

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. The team also discovered that RNA

profiles are more similar between different tissues of the same organism (such as the human brain and lung) than between the same tissue of different organisms (such as the brains of humans, mice or chimpanzees). ---The findings are described in “Dynamic landscape and regulation of RNA editing in mammals”, published in Nature (2017), DOI: 10.1038/nature24041.

CAAG

CAAG

CGAG

CAAG

CAGG

CAAG

CGGG

CAAG

When tested in obese mouse models, the medical patch effectively prevented the mice from gaining weight and body fat, while also promoting the browning of white fat.

“The amount of drugs used in the patch is much lower than that in oral medications or injections, reducing the drug ingredient costs. Our slow-release design also minimises side effects,” says Prof Chen, who aims to bring the patch to the clinic in collaboration with clinician scientists and biotech companies.---The microneedle patch technology is described in “Transdermal delivery of anti-obesity compounds to subcutaneous adipose tissue with polymeric microneedle patches”, published in Small Methods (2017), DOI: 10.1002/smtd.201700269.

Prof Chen Peng (left) and Asst Prof Xu Chenjie with the fat-burning patch. Credit: NTU.

---The study “Pancreatic islet blood flow dynamics in primates” can be found in Cell Reports (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.07.039.

D I S C O V E R I E S

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D I S C O V E R I E S

The devastating December 2014 Indian Ocean tsunami appears to have been just the latest—and also one of the biggest—in a series of tsunamis generated through earthquakes along the Sunda Megathrust over the last 8,000 years.

Digging through layers of sand hurled by tsunami waves into a cave on the west coast of Indonesia’s Aceh Province on Sumatra, researchers from NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) and Asian School of the Environment unearthed records of 11 prehistoric tsunamis that struck the coast between 7,400 and 2,900 years ago.

Geologic profiling and dating of the deposits showed dramatic variations in the time intervals between the tsunamis,

EARTH SCIENCE

OUR FUTURE, AS FORETOLD IN THE SANDranging from a dormant period of over 2,000 years to a series of several tsunamis within the geologically rather short time span of a century. The thickness of an individual sand layer corresponds to the size and force of the tsunami that deposited the sand, also providing clues about the magnitude of the earthquake that caused the tsunami.

“This record of multiple tsunamis over the past 8,000 years contributes to answering a very important question: How often can we expect devastating tsunamis along the coasts of the Indian Ocean? It also shows that tsunamis along the coast of Aceh have been and may continue to be quite variable in their size and their frequency,” says Prof Kerry

Logging of pristine primary forests to make way for palm oil plantations is threatening the survival of the Sumatran tiger while supporting hordes of wild boars, according to studies conducted by Dr Matthew Luskin of NTU’s Asian School of the Environment and his collaborators.

In one study, an international team led by Dr Luskin found that tiger population density doubled in Sumatran forests over the last 15 years, thanks to effective anti-poaching programmes. Using data from hundreds of motion-activated cameras spread across remote forests, they estimated the tiger population in Sumatra to be about 618. The threat of extinction, however, increased due to deforestation of 17% of their habitat between 2000 and 2012. This has left robust breeding populations in only two of Sumatra’s major national parks.

Another study links the expansion of palm oil plantations to the rise of wild boar populations that thrive on oil palm fruit and damage nearby forests. Using data collected over 24 years, Dr Luskin and a team from the US Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, found that wild boar populations grew 100-fold coinciding with nearby oil palm fruit production. The boars then caused the destruction and decline of the smallest forest trees by more than 60% over that time period.

“For years, we saw that plants and small trees on the forest floor were disappearing, but we didn’t understand why,” says Dr Luskin. “We now know pregnant wild boars have been clearing the forest vegetation to build birthing nests.”---The studies “Sumatran tiger survival threatened by deforestation despite increasing densities in parks” and “Cross-boundary subsidy cascades from oil palm degrade distant tropical forests” were published in Nature Communications (2017), DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01656-4 and DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01920-7, respectively.

OF SUMATRAN TIGERS AND WILD BOARS

ECOLOGY

Mussels are considered pests in the maritime industry—they attach to ship hulls or other underwater facilities such as aquaculture fisheries with the help of specialised adhesive thread proteins produced at the tips of their muscular feet, weighing down ships and increasing fuel and production costs.

A new surface coating, invented by a team of materials scientists and biologists from NTU’s Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, in collaboration with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, promises to thwart future attempts by mussels and other biofouling organisms to attach to solid surfaces.

“In lab tests in which mussels were allowed to dynamically explore substrates and find the most suitable surface on which to attach, surface lubricant infusion repelled the mussels and fully prevented adhesion,” says team leader Assoc Prof Ali Miserez.

Called SLIPS for “Slippery, Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces”, the coating was shown to be up to 30-fold more efficient than state-of-the-art coatings used in the maritime industry. When formulated into a long-lasting, high-performance coating, the non-toxic lubricant not only repelled mussels, but also microalgal biofilms

A SLIPPERY PROPOSITION

and other soft biofouling organisms in complex marine environments such as harbours in long-term studies.

The SLIPS technology could provide significant protection to maritime infrastructure such as ships, ports or aquaculture facilities as well as ecosystems threatened by the global translocation of invasive species, the researchers say.

---

The study “Preventing mussel adhesion using lubricant-infused materials” was published in Science (2017), DOI: 10.1126/science.aai8977; videos showcasing the research can be found at bit.ly/2os3jCu, and bit.ly/2GDtQnA.

Most children in Singapore attend kindergarten before entering the school system, but the impact of early childhood education on their future success and wellbeing is unclear.

A large-scale study, led by Dr Rebecca Bull at the Centre for Research in Child Development at NTU’s National Institute of Education, aimed to find out how factors such as teacher-child interaction, class size, teacher-child ratio and teaching qualification affect a child’s learning experiences, development outcomes and readiness for formal education.

The study was done over five years and involved 1,500 children and 120 teachers from 80 kindergartens and childcare centres across Singapore. The children were tested on a variety of competencies, including motor skills, cognitive abilities, socio-emotional capacities, language, literacy and numeracy, at four points between the start of kindergarten and the first year of school.

STARTING KIDS OFF RIGHT

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Conducted primarily to inform Singapore’s Ministry of Education on how best to advance teacher education, cur ricula and infrastructure at preschools, the study and its findings will soon be shared with teachers through workshops and professional development.---Preliminary findings from the study, highlighting pedagogical practices, classroom observation tools and child assessments, and issues related to teachers’ professional development, are published in “Assessing quality of kindergarten classrooms in Singapore: Psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale—Revised”, International Journal of Early Childhood (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s13158-

Sieh, Director of EOS and co-author of the study.

Although the likelihood of future large earthquakes and tsunamis on Sumatra’s west coast is high, the dramatic variations between tsunamis suggest that a long dormant period may follow the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the researchers say.---More details on the research can be found in “Highly variable recurrence of tsunamis in the 7,400 years before the 2014 Indian Ocean Tsunami”, published in Nature Communications (2017), DOI: 10.1038/ncomms16019.

017-0180-x; “Preschool educators’ interactions with children about sustainable development: Planned and incidental conversations”, International Journal of Early Childhood (2018), DOI: 10.1007/s13158-018-0213-0; and “Arts-related pedagogies in preschool education: An Asian perspective”, Early Childhood Research Quarterly (2018), DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.12.005.

Credit: Shahrouz Amini.

D I S C O V E R I E S

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AN ODE TO POET-HISTORIAN DU FUConsidered to be one of China’s greatest poets and the country’s first poet-historian, Du Fu (712 to 770) lived in the era of the Tang Dynasty and suffered through decades of civil war and unrest, such as the An Lushan Rebellion of 755.

Du’s poems chronicled his life and the hardships his family and friends had to endure. More than 1,500 of his poems have been preserved over the ages, leaving a hugely influential legacy in both Chinese and Japanese literary cultures. In a highly acclaimed novel, Assoc Prof Boey Kim Cheng at NTU’s School of Humanities reimagines Du’s life journey based on episodes revealed in his poems.

Called Gull Between Heaven and Earth, the debut novel by the multi-award-winning author brings to life the struggles of a poetic soul in the harsh and unforgiving realities of turbulent times.---The novel Gull Between Heaven and Earth was published by Epigram Books in October 2017, ISBN: 9789814785242. A book review and interview with the author can be found at bit.ly/2FaYNlW and bit.ly/2CrMBN5.

LITERATURE

PEERING INTO BABY’S BIG ROUND EYES

PSYCHOLOGY

It is said that gazing into baby’s eyes while talking or singing helps to forge a deep emotional connection between parent and child. It can even lead to synchronised behaviours, as seen in attempts by babies to respond to communication by mimicking the sounds they hear.

Aiming to uncover the neural mechanisms that underlie behavioural synchronisation, Asst Prof Victoria Leong from NTU’s School of Social Sciences and colleagues from the UK studied the role of eye contact on neural activities in adult-baby pairs as the adults sang nursery rhymes to the infants.

Using a technique called dual encephalography and by analysing video recordings of the interactions, the researchers found that neural activities in infants and adults became highly synchronised when the pair made direct eye contact. In contrast, synchronisation was much lower with indirect gaze, when the adult’s face and eyes were averted by a slight angle.

The researchers suggest that neural synchronisation might not only facilitate

communication between adults and babies, but also help babies construct their earliest social networks.---Read the article “Speaker gaze increases information coupling between infant and adult brains” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (2017), DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1702493114.

WHEN A LUCKY BET TURNS UNLUCKY

FINANCE RESEARCH

When it comes to investing money in financial markets, people generally assume that investors base their strategies on rational reasoning. After a closer look at how numerological superstition affects financial decision making, researchers from NTU’s Nanyang Business School are now challenging this view.

In Chinese culture, certain digits are believed to be lucky—the number eight, for instance, sounds like the word for “prosperity”. The number four, on the other hand, is deemed unlucky as it sounds like the word for “death”.

Analysing investments in China’s initial public offering market, Assoc Profs Jian Ming and Zhang Huai, together with a US-based colleague, found that the

frequency with which “lucky” numerical stock listing codes were chosen was much higher than what would be expected by chance.

Such superstitious behaviour, however, had the unanticipated effect of turning “lucky” number codes into “unlucky” ones—companies with lucky number codes were initially overvalued by investors but ultimately received lower returns after investors corrected their superstition-based mistake.---The article “Superstition and financial decision making” can be found in Management Science (2016), DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2016.2584.

A COOL WAY OF SAVING ENERGY

ENERGY

In hot and sunny Singapore, the lion’s share of energy consumption in commercial buildings is used for central heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

“HVAC systems account for up to 60% of the total energy requirements of commercial buildings,” says group leader Asst Prof Su Rong from NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

In their quest to develop energy-efficient buildings, his research team invented a way for HVAC systems to be finely controlled using portable and inexpensive sensors that measure temperature, relative humidity, air flow and CO2 concentration—a measure of human occupancy.

Data is fed wirelessly into a hierarchical scheduling system, where it is integrated and computed based on an algorithm that determines the minimal amount of cool air required for each zone. Cool air supply is then optimised in a centralised manner to meet the temperature and ventilation requirements of individual zones. Cutting energy costs by up to 20% and enhancing the comfort of its users, the new system is not only applicable to new buildings but can be easily and cheaply retrofitted to existing buildings equipped with HVAC systems.---The researchers have filed for a patent on the technology and are currently testing it on NTU’s campus. The technology has been described in “Learning-based hierarchical distributed HVAC scheduling with operational constraints”, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (2017), DOI: 10.1109/TCST.2017.2728004, and in “Token based scheduling for energy management in building HVAC systems”, Applied Energy (2016), DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.04.023.

Credit: Boey Kim Cheng.

D I S C O V E R I E S

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D I S C O V E R I E S

Using artificial intelligence and virtual reality to augment human abilities

lthough artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) might seem like the hottest new trends, each of these three technologies actually has roots that go back several decades. The

reason these buzzwords have re-entered mainstream consciousness is simple: new streams of data and cheaper consumer hardware.

“VR was very popular in the 90s. The current renaissance is due to more cost-effective hardware solutions opening up new possibilities to use VR in homes and making it accessible to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), not just industry giants,” says Prof Wolfgang Müller-Wittig, Executive Director of Fraunhofer Singapore.

T h e m i s s i o n o f Fra u n h o f e r Singapore—the first Asian subsidiary

of German applied research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft—is to help companies translate the latest research in visual computing into solutions that make sense for them, whether they’re a start-up or multinational corporation (MNC).

“It doesn’t matter if it is mixed or purely virtual environments; we see a huge potential for visualisation to address the primary human sense of sight through visual storytelling,” Prof Müller-Wittig adds.

GEARING UP FOR INDUSTRY 4.0

In particular, VR can contribute towards Singapore’s goal of staying competitive as a high-quality manufacturing hub, Prof Müller-Wittig continues. As the demand for personalised products increases, production is becoming more flexible, complex and need-specific. VR allows large MNCs to build complete digital replicas of their factories, giving them unprecedented insights into how operations can be optimised.

Less well-resourced SMEs can also harness VR and AR to take part in the fourth industrial revolution, Prof Müller-Wittig says. Even on a less ambitious scale, VR and AR can help companies extract patterns to predict when and where maintenance will be required and provide training to employees and technical support to customers.

One of the many active collaborations Fraunhofer Singapore has with the Building and Construction Authority

A

Researchers across NTU are spearheading a technological

revolution in sectors as diverse as industrial training and

medical education

Blurring the seams BETWEEN real and virtual

“We see a huge potential for

visualisation to address the primary

human sense of sight through visual

storytelling.”Prof Wolfgang Müller-Wittig,

Executive Director of Fraunhofer Singapore

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C O V E R S T O R Y

“What we see today are simple virtual worlds with limited interactivity and digital avatars that have little autonomy. There are very few fully autonomous virtual humans that are aware of the actions of the user.”

At IMI’s BeingTogether Centre, researchers are working to achieve realistic, three-dimensional telepresence by capturing and conveying contextual information such as shapes, people, material and lighting in real time. The ultimate goal, Prof Thalmann explains, is to create an immersive virtual space that enables geographically-distant people to feel as though they were in the same room.

To achieve this aim, there are considerable technological hurdles to be cleared. One key challenge, she says, is replicating real people in virtual environments as avatars, relaying their expressions and gestures in real time. The next challenge is bringing these avatars into a common virtual environment, giving real users the illusion that they are together and sharing the same space.

“The situation becomes even more complicated if social robots are stand-ins,” she says. “The robots must not only be able to perceive and understand the speech, actions and emotions of the real humans ‘teleported’ into the virtual environment, but also know how to react in an appropriate manner. All these challenges are on our research agenda and are being pursued through various interdisciplinary subprojects.”

A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO EDUCATION

Beyond telepresence, such realistic environments could make a real difference in medical and healthcare training, says Assoc Prof Nabil Zary, Acting Director of the Medical Education Research and Scholarship Unit at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), NTU’s joint medical school with Imperial College London.

With this aim in mind, LKCMedicine’s e-learning ecosystem has been designed to be an intelligent and immersive

(BCA) Academy involves testing the use of VR and AR to reduce the cost of in-house training in fields that employ complex machinery and processes. For example, one project uses VR to provide context-sensitive information on materials and components during training.

Providing another perspective on the use of VR in industrial settings is Mr Niels de Boer, Programme Director of the Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of AVs-NTU (CETRAN), who says VR can be used to test out scenarios that would be too difficult or risky in real life.

Unlike applications in games such as Pokémon Go, mistakes or weaknesses in industrial AR or VR could become a matter of life and death. Thus, researchers at CETRAN have developed a virtual autonomous car as well as a virtual model of Singapore to understand the way humans and autonomous vehicles would interact in the real world.

“We have effectively created two separate virtual systems, using one to understand how the other will respond. This allows us to test the vehicle and expose it to many scenarios, which we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do,” Mr de Boer says. “And if you have enough computing power, it is possible to test many more scenarios than would be possible in a physical system.”

Apart from needing to be very precise and robust, industrial applications of AR and VR have the additional requirement of operating in real time.

“Our main point is human-centred visual solutions, so people should be able to interact in real time,” Prof Müller-Wittig says. “Developing industrial applications is not like working on special effects where there is time to work on the animation.”

WHEN REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS COLLIDE

“The real challenge for research in AR is to be able to mix real worlds and virtual worlds together in real time,” says Prof Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Director of the Institute for Media Innovation (IMI) at NTU.

“The next step is positioning ourselves as one of the leading players in AI in medical education.”Assoc Prof Nabil Zary, Acting Director of the Medical Education Research and Scholarship Unit, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

learning environment. For example, its Joint Education Data Infrastructure is built on state-of-the-art data-centred architecture to capture user-centric learning data from the medical school’s ecosystem and generate actionable insights. Based on these insights, and together with other schools at NTU and with strategic industry partners, LKCMedicine educators develop AI applications to provide students with personalised learning experiences.

In particular, novel immersive environments and interfaces with a focus on AR, VR and augmented virtuality—where user interaction takes place in a virtual space—are being trialled in the context of the LKCMedicine Multiverse initiative. An Education 4.0 initiative, Multiverse aims to develop interconnected physical and digital spaces that allow for immersive learning experiences leveraging a continuum of technologies such as AR, mixed reality (to see the world differently) and VR (to see a different world).

SECURITY MADE SMART

In addition to its use in simulated work and learning environments, AI offers the promise of safer data use. When it comes to cybersecurity, for example, machine learning will be a real game changer, says Prof Thambipillai Srikanthan, Executive Director of the Cyber Security Research Centre @ NTU. “The key advantage of machine learning algorithms is that they adapt as time progresses. Hence, they can easily respond to variations in attacks.”

This versatility is crucial for dealing with present-day cyber attacks that are constantly evolving, he adds. Furthermore, AI techniques that involve automation can surpass human ability to spot intrusions, providing high quality security at a lower cost.

But it is not a matter of man versus machine, Prof Srikanthan emphasises. Rather, AI can be thought of as a tool that augments and enhances human abilities. For example, the classification

capabilities inherent in AI techniques can help security experts categorise incoming threats, increasing the speed at which they can analyse each threat and recover from unwanted breaches.

“Machine learning has made significant contributions to cyber security, particularly for objectives like file classification, spam detection and malware identification,” Prof Srikanthan says. “In addition, we are also working on building context-aware classifiers that will incorporate additional information such as device type and location to make cyber security even more intelligent.”

A MEANS TO AN END

As an early adopter of AI, VR and AR technology, NTU will be able to provide models of how these technologies can be used to help train doctors and other healthcare professionals in the face of limited resources, says Assoc Prof Zary.

“The success that we have achieved in moving our e-learning environment into a smart learning environment is just the beginning of the journey. The next step is positioning ourselves as one of the leading players in AI in medical education,” he says.

For Prof Müller-Wittig, who has used AR technology extensively in the medical e-learning and digital heritage domain, technology is likewise simply a means to an end, albeit an important one. “I think it is important that partners and potential customers can see beyond what is currently possible and nearly done. We shouldn’t be hindered in our vision for the future due to a lack of technology that will come sooner or later.”

“Our daily business is to inspire, to help those with domain expertise imagine how technology can be used in their field,” he says. “Thus, having a dialogue and active listening is a very important part of our process.”

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C O V E R S T O R Y

“Anticipatory analytics and services will enable enterprises to go beyond predicting, into real-time anticipation.”Assoc Prof Cong GaoDirector, Singtel Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence Lab for Enterprises

n the Internet of Things, having an edge is everything—edge computing, that is. For instance, a surveillance camera network that has to transmit data to a centralised server for analysis will eat up enormous amounts of

bandwidth; on the other hand, a network that can perform analytics at or near the source of the data—the edge—will run much more efficiently.

Edge computing will make artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surveillance cameras even smarter, allowing multiple cameras to recognise a person from different angles in real time without transmitting the data to a backend server, says Prof Ong Yew Soon, Chair of NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE).

This is just one project that researchers are working on at the Singtel Cognitive and Artificial Intelligence Lab for Enterprises (SCALE@NTU), a S$42.4 million (US$32 million)

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corporate laboratory jointly established by NTU, telecommunications company Singtel and the National Research Foundation Singapore in December 2017. SCALE@NTU aims to boost Singapore’s research and development efforts in AI, data analytics, robotics and smart computing.

“Emerging technologies are changing and even disrupting the way people work in many different sectors,” says Prof Ong. “As a world-leading university with globally recognised research and technologies in AI and other domains, NTU always strives to join hands with government and corporate partners to push the frontiers of technologies for enterprises and industry, and to make a huge impact on Singapore and beyond.”

AN INTELLIGENT PARTNERSHIP

SCALE@NTU, a f ive-year public-private partnership, is designed to bring together NTU’s capabilities in research and innovation and Singtel’s product development experience and domain knowledge.

“ We h a ve wo r l d - r e n o w n e d academics working on AI, data analytics, robotics and smart computing at NTU, and we foresee the high impact that can be generated when we work with leading industry partners to apply these emerging technologies to businesses,” says Assoc Prof Cong Gao, Assistant Chair (Alumni and Outreach) at SCSE and Director of SCALE@NTU.

The aim is to use this synergy to translate research outcomes from NTU (edge computing methods, for example) into market-leading and differentiating technologies and products (such as smart camera networks). These products could be used to improve public safety, smart urban solutions, transportation, healthcare and manufacturing.

“Public-private partnerships can lead to innovations and effective services that could benefit Singapore’s economy and the lives of Singaporeans,” says Prof Ong. “In SCALE@NTU, we have a perfect platform for talent from NTU and Singtel to exchange creative ideas and know-how. These will be interwoven to generate novel products.”

TRANSFORMING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

In addition to edge computing, SCALE@NTU researchers are also developing new methods for data analytics. The field has myriad commercial applications, since just about every company wants to be able to mine data to better understand customers and respond quickly to their needs.

Assoc Prof Cong, whose academic interests are mainly in data science, will be leading research efforts into anticipatory analytics and services. In contrast to predictive analytics, which makes predictions of consumer behaviour based on past data, anticipatory analytics goes a step further, taking into account current, up-to-date data to anticipate changes in the market and how consumers react.

Based on a better understanding of consumers’ behaviour and intentions, Assoc Prof Cong and his team want to build automatic personalised services that can be applied in many different scenarios, including smart recommendations and targeted business promotions, he says.

“Anticipatory analytics and services will enable enterprises to go beyond predicting, into real-time anticipation,” says Assoc Prof Cong. “Our research essentially combines AI, big multi-modal data, and hyper-connectivity to deliver next-generation personalised customer experiences.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: TOWARDS A SMART NATION

According to SCALE@NTU’s research and development roadmap, the first products from the joint laboratory are expected to launch within the next few years, says Prof Ong. “SCALE@NTU hopes to inspire talent from NTU and Singtel to seamlessly work together. We will provide support and resources to accelerate the innovation process,” he explains.

But products will not be the only tangible outcome of the initiative. From a wider perspective, SCALE@NTU is

Combining academic expertise and industry

know-how, SCALE@NTU aims to accelerate

innovation in emerging technologies to meet the

needs of smart cities.

also aligned with Singapore’s national priorities. In the spirit of Singapore’s Industry Transformation Programme, the joint laboratory is expected to help to deepen the partnership between the government, industry and academia, says Prof Ong, to ultimately help firms such as Singtel better focus on innovation and on developing their businesses globally.

SCALE@NTU will also play a role in Singapore’s push towards integrating smart city technologies with daily life. For one, the joint laboratory will enhance the local technical talent pool by grouping together and training researchers, engineers and students from NTU and Singtel, says Assoc Prof Cong. For another, the technologies developed will go towards addressing the host of complex urban challenges of smart cities all around the world.

SCALING UP TO THE

FUTURE

SCALING UP TO THE

FUTUREAI MAKES SERVICES

AND CITIES SMART

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NTU’s Data Science & Artificial Intelligence

Research Centre is churning out the tools

and the expertise to decipher big data.

SIEVING OUT ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FROM LARGE DATASETS

“We need to see AI as an extension of human intelligence that helps us achieve more, and not something that has defeated humans.” Prof Ong Yew SoonDirector, Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Research Centre (DSAIR), and Chair, School of Computer Science and Engineering

n 2020, the world will generate 50 times the amount of data it did in 2011. These massive datasets around people and systems present opportunities to understand causal links within patterns and eventually create

tailored solutions for individuals. However, making sense of this

enormous volume of data can be difficult, especially when it is obtained from diverse sources and involves multiple parameters. Formidable as the human brain may be, it is limited in its processing power and attention span. Hence, data scientists are developing alternative and automated methods to handle the massive amounts of digital information being churned out daily.

“Humans have this dynamic ability to create intelligent systems that can speed up knowledge discovery. At its core, data science involves using automated methods to analyse and extract knowledge

from massive amounts of data,” says Prof Ong Yew Soon, Director of the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Research Centre (DSAIR) at NTU.

GETTING SMART WITH DATA

Recognising the disruptive potential of mining big data for actionable insights, NTU established DSAIR in April 2017, dedicating S$8 million (US$6 million) in funding over three years to build capabilities in data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). “Bringing these two broad domains under a single research centre creates a natural synergy between automating knowledge discovery and using that to extend human abilities with AI,” says Prof Ong.

Machine learning in connection with data science can help people analyse data in smarter ways, incorporate feedback and develop models trained on available datasets, he explains.

“You need data to analyse patterns, create AI and enable machine learning. In fact, data analytics, AI and machine learning are so intertwined that it’s difficult to establish a ranking or hierarchy between the three,” Prof Ong says. “Instead, they’re in symbiotic relationships whereby a combination of methods can be used to produce more accurate results.”

DSAIR thus seeks to combine NTU’s deep expertise in AI and machine learning with big data analytics to pioneer new technologies for businesses and industry both locally and globally. Equipped with state-of-the-art DGX-1 systems from

American tech company NVIDIA, scientists at DSAIR have the complete resources and flexibility to tackle some of the most complex problems in their respective fields.

For example, a big challenge facing AI research is that AI programmes lack the ability to generalise conditions so that knowledge gained from previous exercises can be applied in new contexts. Researchers at DSAIR are creating transfer learning techniques that will allow AI to adapt to new problems, thereby reducing the time needed for training AI “from scratch”, says Prof Ong.

THE ADVICE OF MACHINES

“We need to see AI as an extension of human intelligence that helps us achieve more, and not something that has defeated humans,” he adds. As AI gets smarter and easier to use, it will support humans further by aggregating information, enriching the physical world and providing both predictive and prescriptive capabilities.

“Whereas predictive analytics studies current and historical facts to make predictions about future or unknown events, prescriptive analytics—often referred to as the final frontier of analytic capabilities—is able to suggest decision options by understanding what is likely to happen, thus helping users benefit from such understanding,” Prof Ong elaborates.

Arguably, nowhere else is prescriptive analytics more important than in the healthcare sector. By using AI to extract

ACCESSING THE BIG DATA

GOLDMINE

information hidden in large clinical data sets, a clearer understanding of the relationship between the determinants of disease onset and severity can emerge. This in turn empowers doctors to make better treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes.

The second scenario where AI is expected to make an impact on health is in understanding and simulating the human brain. As AI experts, neuroscientists and doctors work together, their interdisciplinary research could help advance a deeper understanding of the brain and human behaviour, eventually benefiting people who suffer from memory loss or other brain function deficiencies.

NURTURING HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

Given the vast promise of AI, competition for skilled AI developers is fierce. According to the 2017 Global AI Talent White Paper by China tech giant Tencent, the global pool of AI talent is only about 300,000 strong. Meanwhile, demand for AI talent is at least three times higher. Hence, in addition to developing the next generation of AI applications, DSAIR will also train the next generation of data and AI scientists.

“In August 2018, NTU will start a new undergraduate degree programme, specifically in the areas of AI and data science, for a small cohort of high-ability students,” says Prof Ong.

These students will have the rare opportunity to work alongside engineers and data scientists from corporate labs to solve real problems and innovate to support the fintech, healthcare and manufacturing industries, as well as urban sustainability and Singapore’s smart nation efforts. For instance, through a collaboration between DSAIR and PayPal, students will take on projects revolving around fraud detection and the future of payments.

“DSAIR is the one-stop solution centre on data science and AI, supporting pan-university efforts to uplift students, research quality and global society in general,” says Prof Ong. “In the next few years, our graduates will form the deep expertise and talent pool to power the new data-centric economy.”

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First, VR models are generated based on a 3D model created by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, using the 3D virtual software UC-win/Road (Figure 1). Subjects are asked to wear VR equipment, such as the HTC Vive headset with a built-in eye tracker, and to “walk” towards several target destinations using a walking simulator (Figure 2). Since the VR scene is synchronised with the subject’s walking behaviour, any changes in speed and direction on the simulator are reflected in the speed of movement and view of the VR scene.

hen going somewhere new, what type of transportation do we take to reach our destination in an efficient and economic manner, and will our choice be different from our daily commute? When walking on the street, how do we perceive and react to someone riding an e-scooter towards us?

At the NTU-LTA Transport Research Centre (NTU-LTA TRC), a partnership between NTU and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA), a multidisciplinary team, including researchers from NTU’s Schools of Art, Design and Media, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Social Sciences, is working on projects to improve mobility efficiency and enhance transport safety on the road.

The use of virtual reality (VR) allows researchers to systematically manipulate the layout of the environment and design different kinds of experimental conditions. Here at NTU-LTA TRC, we address questions in transport research from the user’s perspective, by simulating and modifying the environment in VR. Using a variety of VR test scenarios, our research team studies the perception, behaviour and response of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists in walking, cycling and driving simulators developed by the team.

WALKING SIMULATORS SHOW THE WAYIn our wayfinding project, we investigate the impact of spatial elements on human perception, so as to provide recommendations for effective infrastructure design at Singapore’s mass rapid transit (MRT) stations.

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Using these scenarios, we test factors such as the width between platform screen doors and escalators and between escalators and fare gates, the placement of signage and artwork, colour schemes, and ambient lighting on subjects’ behaviour. By recording and analysing our subjects’ response accuracy, reaction time and eye movement patterns, we can compare various modifications of the VR environment and study the impact of colour coding of signs or the addition of signage at critical locations.

SHARING FOOTPATHS SAFELYTo better understand how pedestrians and cyclists share pathways, we are studying human behaviour with the help of a virtual cycling simulator platform projected through an HTC Vive head-mounted display. This specially designed cycling simulator allows us to synchronise cycling direction and speed, including the effects of braking and shifting of gears, with VR scenarios (Figure 3).

VR in high gearGoing virtual to

understand the reality of transport in Singapore

By Xu Hong

Figure 4: Demonstration of a VR driving simulator applying an eye tracking system. Credit: NTU-LTA TRC.

Figure 2: (left) A participant on a first-generation walking simulator, built using a Wizdish ROVR VR treadmill, at the Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition 2016; (right) A second-generation walking simulator incorporating the Virtuix Omni VR motion platform. Credit: NTU-LTA TRC.

Figure 3: VR simulation of a cycling path and path users, generated using UC-win/Road based on a 3D model of Singapore’s Jurong Lake District created by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. Credit: NTU-LTA TRC.

Figure 1: Illustrations of VR scenarios at Singapore’s Chinese Garden MRT Station. Credit: NTU-LTA TRC.

Analysing reaction time, speed perception and the general behaviour of both cyclists and pedestrians in simulated scenarios, we test whether the current speed limit of 15km/h on footpaths is safe for users. We also hope to shed light on cycling and walking habits in Singapore, such as whether cyclists and pedestrians keep to the left, whether cyclists slow

Figure 5: Integration of an in-vehicle unit in a VR scenario, generated using Delphi Technologies software. Credit: NTU-LTA TRC.

down near bus stops or obstructed-view bends, and how people react to scenarios such as the sudden appearance of other path users or cyclists overtaking them. In addition, we analyse eye-movement patterns and the behavioural responses of cyclists and pedestrians on pavements to find out whether the positioning of signage is effective.

ONE FOR THE ROADOur team at NTU-LTA TRC also designs virtual environments to test the perception and behavioural responses of car drivers to different information delivery modes of in-vehicle units (Figure 4).

To enhance safe and effective interactions of drivers with information displays and graphical user interfaces, we study the attention, reaction and preferences of drivers in a driving simulator to find out when they read traffic information or emergency messages from in-vehicle units (Figure 5). Based on the data, we hope to improve current systems such that drivers receive traffic alerts promptly, while ensuring their attention is not diverted too frequently from the road.

Continuous innovation of user-centred infrastructure is needed to meet the mobility needs of modern cities. These needs might include dedicated cycling paths for cyclists and users of personal mobility devices such as e-scooters away from pedestrians, efficient transition systems between different modes of public transport, or timely information on road congestion and parking spots for car drivers. By shedding light on the behaviour of different users in various transportation scenarios, NTU-LTA TRC’s work drives the building of tomorrow’s smart mobility infrastructure.

Asst Prof Xu Hong is a psychologist and statistician at NTU’s School of Social Sciences with an interest in vision perception. She is also a principal investigator at the NTU-LTA Transport Research Centre.

More details on her research can be found in Journal of Vision (2017), DOI: 10.1167/17.1.15; Cerebral Cortex (2016), DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhv321; and Journal of Neurophysiology (2014), DOI: 10.1152/jn.00999.2012. The study on speed limits for cyclists was also reported in The Straits Times (2016), straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/ntu-puts-speed-limits-for-cyclists-to-the-test.

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RELIEVING PERSISTENT NECK PAINIn a collaboration with Singapore’s Sengkang Health hospital, we are studying the neck mobility of patients who suffer from neck pain. By wearing a VR headset while following the path of an object, patients generate data that enable doctors to analyse their cervical joint position sense as well as the accuracy and time taken to complete the task (Figure 2).

Our VR approach makes it possible for patients to complete the assessment remotely at home. Fun and interactive tasks can also be incorporated to increase compliance with exercises. On a population scale, we aim to create a registry and analyse the collected data.

A BLAST TO THE PASTVR and AR are also excellent tools to make history accessible to the general public. In collaboration with the National Archives of Singapore and NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, our team developed a mobile AR-based game that features scenes from Bukit Merah, a township in the heart of Singapore that includes the country’s first housing estate (Figure 3).

As players “visit” historical locations, we can track the paths they take and study their behaviour as individuals or as a group. We can also push information to them during their expedition. Other applications for our AR-based platform include supporting group interaction and learning.

Figure 2: Real-time head motion measurement with a mobile VR headset. Credit: MAGIC.

Figure 3: A player “collecting” a bag of rice. Credit: MAGIC.

Figure 4: AR drone platform, with a flying drone next to the whiteboard stand. The drone’s

camera view—overlaid with virtual objects—is shown in the inset, bottom left. Credit: Jillian Heng, Lyanne Loh and Oo Guolin (Renaissance Engineering Programme).

Prof Seah Hock Soon is Director of the Multi-plAtform Game Innovation Centre (MAGIC) at NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering. An expert in computer graphics and imaging research, he invented a drawing and animation software called Computer-Assisted Cel Animation (CACANi), and a 3D object recognition and scene recovery technique used in AR systems called Structure from Simulated Motion.

Watch a video of Prof Seah’s research project “Direct 3D stylisation pipelines” in SIGGRAPH Real Time Live (2017), youtu.be/hpuEdXn_M0Q?t=53m33s, or read about his research in Graphical Simulation of Deformable Models (2016), Springer International Publishing, Switzerland, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-51031-6_6.

Pixel powerIn the virtual world, the only

constraints are one’s creativityBy Seah Hock Soon

magine opening a door and walking into a strange universe where Newton’s laws do not apply and imagination rules the day. This can be achieved thanks to digital tools such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), which allow us to visualise and interact with digital information as if they were real.

At the Multi-plAtform Game Innovation Centre (MAGIC) at NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE), we conduct research in VR such as 3D modelling, simulation and real-time graphics, as well as advance possibilities in AR, from computer vision to image processing. Beyond VR and AR, our research includes artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

ISIMULATING DEFORMABLE MODELSAvatars that resemble people in appearance, character and behaviour in crowds are important elements in any virtual environment, as well as in applications such as architectural validation and emergency evacuation. To develop more realistic avatar animations, the MAGIC team is working with other researchers from SCSE to simulate real-world stiffness and predict physical or mechanical behaviours under deformation.

Introducing the concept of fibre into deformable models, we use fibre materials to animate a skeletal character that has its skin modelled by a surface mesh. Unlike geometrically based skinning techniques that suffer from obvious volume distortion artefacts, our technique allows us to achieve real-time performance with large deformations (Figure 1).

USING DRONES IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT TRAININGIn collaboration with ST Engineering and NTU’s Renaissance Engineering Programme (a dual-degree programme that blends engineering with business and humanities), we are developing an interactive AR drone platform that can receive live video feeds from drones and overlay virtual objects onto the real world (Figure 4).

To provide a seamless and believable experience, we are using a class of deep learning technologies called convolutional neural networks to recover the camera’s position and orientation accurately and in real time, in combination with pre-trained data. One application for the platform is in crisis management training, as such situations can be challenging to stage with real actors.

LAUNCHING FUTURE VR/AR ENTHUSIASTSTo facilitate learning among students and researchers, NTU has set up an Interactive Digital Centre (IDC) in collaboration with multinational VR and AR software developer EON Reality. IDC offers a cutting-edge virtual showroom as well as a lab and training facility, providing a launching pad for future generations of VR and AR professionals and enthusiasts.

Figure 1: Skeletal animation of a 3D model. (a) A surface mesh with underlying skeletal structure. (b) Proper skinning without volume distortion artefacts. Credit: Cai Jianping.

(b)(a)

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An industrial photographer by training and specialist in media arts, Asst Prof Elke Reinhuber of NTU’s School of Art, Design and Media explores alternative layers of reality using immersive environments, augmented reality and expanded photography. Read about her recent research in Kultur und Informatik: Augmented Reality (2016), Verlag Werner Hülsbusch, Germany, ISBN: 386488103X; and Proceedings of Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, London (2018, in press), BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, ISBN: 978-1-78017-454-9.

A Dance with Virtual Reality

How immersive media can bring a garden to life

By Elke Reinhuber

fter years of anticipation, the field of immersive media has come to life in the form of multi-channel projections and spherical domes or curved display screens to include our peripheral vision, all for shared user experiences, and virtual reality (VR) headsets that allow users to experience unique worlds.

Although full-sphere camera arrays and software are already available, gathering footage for these new forms of storytelling remains a challenge. At NTU’s School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), an interdisciplinary collective of specialists from different areas—ranging from conception and visualisation to special effects and movie sound and score—are using immersive media to capture, recreate or invent alternative realities.

IMMERSING IN A TROPICAL GARDENIn our research project, titled “Exploring the possibilities of capturing multi-sensory impressions to create immersive Virtual Reality environments, exemplified with the forking path structure of the Yunnan Garden at NTU”, I am working with ADM’s Assoc Prof Benjamin Seide and Asst Prof Ross Williams to investigate if the experience of being inside a tropical garden can be recreated with omnidirectional video or remodelled for VR environments. With its forking-path structure and surrounding vistas, NTU’s Yunnan Garden provides a good location for in-depth research in the field.

We began to capture the garden digitally with 360° video, for a piece called “Secret Detours”. For this, we engaged choreographer Susan Sentler and dancers from Singapore’s LASALLE College of the Arts to develop choreography

Athat highlights the four cardinal directions of the garden, following the original layout of the landscape architecture.

This part of the ongoing project was captured with a multi-camera array, which did not provide any form of preview. It was a challenging experience as—instead of framing and directing the shoot—the team had to wait until the footage from all individual cameras was stitched together to view the resulting video (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Dressed in vermillion, azure, black and white (symbolising the south, east, north and west cardinal directions in Chinese mythology), dancers meet at forking paths in the tropical Yunnan Garden. Planar display of the video as equirectangular projection allows presentation on a sphere or cylinder. (Bottom) A different atmosphere of the garden is created through a winterly colour scheme.

Figure 3: Dancers performing in the Yunnan Garden displayed life-size on the Media Art Nexus panoramic video wall at NTU. Credit: Ina Conradi.

Figure 2: Immersive experience of “Secret Detours” in a seven-metre fulldome at ADM during the Multiversal Experiences symposium, organised by Elke Reinhuber and Benjamin Seide in February 2018 (top); Display in the cylindrical panorama at ZKM (Centre for Art and Media) Karlsruhe, Germany (bottom).

The spherical high-resolution video footage was edited and exported to fit a range of different immersive environments such as cylindrical panoramas or hemispherical dome environments. The hemispherical dome at ADM invited people to sit down and enjoy the dancers’ performance, while the cylindrical panorama screen at ZKM (Centre for Art and Media) Karlsruhe, Germany, provided high-resolution details and engaged the audience to walk around and share the experience (Figure 2).

Another version of the video footage was optimised for the Media Art Nexus video wall on the NTU campus, where passers-by could view life-size representations of the dancers amidst the lush environment of the garden (Figure 3).

Figure 4: Developing a walk-through VR experience of the Yunnan Garden, using photogrammetry (top), point cloud processing (middle) and VR programming (bottom). Credit: (top, bottom) Benjamin Seide and Xu Peisen, (middle) Benjamin Seide.

A VIRTUAL WALK IN THE PARKAs we want to reach different audiences with our research but need to consider constraints such as budget and space, we are also investigating presentation methodologies for single viewers, including the use of VR. Made possible through VR headsets, which only recently became widely accessible and are easily transportable, VR technologies provide distinct perspectives and experiences.

Using photogrammetry, we are currently creating a 3D model of the garden for a walk-through VR experience (Figure 4). This technique allows us to generate point clouds for the creation of objects such as stones, lamps or bridges based on photographs, which are then mapped with different textures. Once completed, the VR environment may be used in various settings: for instance as movie sets, an environment for games, a place to share photographic memories of different eras, or as an educational guide to the diverse flora and fauna found in the garden.

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uturistic technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are blurring the boundaries between what is real and what is virtual.

Far from merely being buzzwords, they are the source of inspiration for these three NTU researchers, who are wielding virtual tools to chip away at problems and sculpt solutions for society’s benefit.

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When you step into NTU’s Institute for Media Innovation (IMI), you may be greeted by a polite and friendly receptionist called Nadine. Nadine needs no introduction—she’s famous for being one of the world’s most realistic humanoid social robots.

Despite Nadine’s distinct personality and emotional expressivity, Nadine’s creator, Prof Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, says: “Nadine is a computer combined with motors, actuators, synthetic skin and various software programmes.” Prof Thalmann, who joined NTU in August 2009 as the Director of IMI, adds: “Though she may appear to have feelings and empathy when interacting with a person, all of it is simulation.”

Reality check aside, Prof Thalmann is highly optimistic about the role social robots like Nadine will play in the future, for instance, as receptionists in hotels or companies, companions of the elderly, or even to represent a person in a meeting. In an ambitious project on 3D telepresence, Prof Thalmann and her colleagues at IMI’s BeingTogether Centre are developing AI- and VR-based virtual meeting platforms to bring people together in the same simulated environment using virtual entities and robots.

In another project, Prof Thalmann’s team is developing VR and AR technologies that allow people and virtual entities to participate in group activities or team sports like volleyball. Other applications for this platform include virtual tutoring, teaching others to play a musical instrument, and manufacturing training.

Prof Thalmann is the founding Director of MIRALab in Geneva, Switzerland, which advances medical imaging technologies and contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage through biomechanical and virtual simulations.

For her nearly four decades of work at the forefront of virtual human simulation, she has received several honorary doctorates and won prestigious awards such as the German Humboldt Research Award (2012) and the Career Achievement Award from the Canadian Human Computer Communications Society (2012). She has also been honoured for films and interactive VR shows that she produced or directed.

Prof Nadia Magnenat Thalmann

Prof Nadia Magnenat Thalmann with humanoid receptionist Nadine. Credit: NTU.

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Blurring the seams between the physical and virtual world is an exciting new research area called reality computing, which lets users interact with real objects in their digitised 3D forms.

“Previously, in computer graphics, we created digital forms or models of non-real objects,” says Assoc Prof Zheng Jianmin, a professor at NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering and an expert in computer graphics.

“Reality computing focuses on digitising objects from real life and creating digital models that look the same or almost the same as the real object. Once you have the 3D form, you can follow with other processes, such as 3D printing, or visualising the digital 3D model on an interactive website,” he adds.

As a postdoctoral researcher at Brigham Young University in the US, Assoc Prof Zheng co-invented a technique for geometric modelling and computer

graphics—a breakthrough in the field of mathematical modelling of curves and surfaces known as NURBS modelling, which allows design, analysis and refinements to be carried out in one framework. Called T-spline, the software is widely used in industrial design, such as for jewellery.

Assoc Prof Zheng is part of the multi-million-dollar Virtual Singapore programme sponsored by Singapore’s National Research Foundation. His goal is to eliminate redundancies and reduce data requirements while maintaining the accuracy of the data, and to intelligently extract the data’s semantic information, which adds basic meaning to the data and allows the creation of city models.

In a collaboration with a Singapore-based furniture company, he is developing an AR-based mobile app for users to virtually place furniture objects in a real-world room. In another collaboration with a colleague from NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, he is designing software to digitally model and re-create wood-carved objects using AI and 3D printing techniques.

As an example of the versatility of his technology, Assoc Prof Zheng’s work even has clinical applications. To help visualise and determine the exact boundaries of organs or tumours, for instance, he is developing algorithms that make it possible to construct 3D models from computer tomography scans.

In a rapidly ageing world, new technologies are urgently needed to meet the needs of the population. The call to innovate has been heeded by Prof Miao Chunyan, the founding Director of the first AI-empowered, interdisciplinary ageing research centre in Singapore.

At the Joint NTU-UBC Research Centre of Excellence in Active Living for the Elderly (LILY), Prof Miao leads a team of 65 researchers to support the silver generation through innovative AI solutions. LILY was established through a collaboration with Canada’s University of British Columbia (UBC) with funding support from Singapore’s National Research Foundation.

“At LILY, we develop technologies that aim to help society gain a deeper understanding of the elderly population’s needs and preferences, and that empower senior citizens to lead an active, independent and dignified lifestyle,” says Prof Miao, who is with NTU’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Over the years, Prof Miao and her team have been working on combining human intelligence, AI and behavioural data analytics. Her projects include AR and VR technologies to assess a person’s activities of daily living, smart home technology to encourage ageing in place, and AI-powered exergames—interactive fitness games that help in the prediction, early detection and rehabilitation of patients with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke and dementia.

Instead of viewing seniors as a homogeneously frail group in constant need of assistance, Prof Miao’s team is changing the narrative entirely, by developing a crowdsourced AI-based productive ageing platform that makes it easy and convenient for seniors to contribute their time, skills and knowledge to society.

In 2018, a widely deployed AI system for social insurance service provisioning based on Prof Miao’s research received the much-coveted Innovative Applications of AI Award from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in recognition of its significant societal impact. Prof Miao also plays a pivotal role in the Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute, in which she leads the exploration of new AI research directions with a team of over 30 principal investigators from NTU, Australia, Canada and China.

Prof miao chunyan

assoc Prof zheng jianmin

Photos: NTU.

F A C E S

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o help refugees and displaced people secure access to higher education, Dr Gül Inanç of NTU’s School of Art, Design and Media founded the non-profit organisation Opening Universities for Refugees (OUR) in 2016 that connects communities

of displaced people in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia with educational institutions. OUR recently received a token of appreciation from the United Nations Association of Singapore for its role in raising international awareness of the higher education needs of refugees and displaced people.

More than 60 international experts gathered at NTU in November 2017 for Science, Technology and Innovation in the Era of Uncertainty, a workshop organised by NTU’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and Prof Helga Nowotny, NTU’s Nanyang Visiting Professor, who is a pioneer in the field of science, technology

T

and society. Distinguished professionals from social sciences, public relations, economics and business discussed how recent uncertainties in political environments affect the recruitment of scientific talent, research collaborations and government responses. That same month, NTU’s Institute of Advanced Studies organised the Topical Workshop on Dark Matter, where 2004 Physics Nobel Laureate Dr Frank Wilczek shared his optimistic view that questions regarding the nature of dark matter will be solved within a decade.

Two technology conferences that drew international audiences to NTU in December were: Nanyang Quantum 2017: Workshop on Quantum Resources and Correlations Beyond Entanglement, organised by NTU’s Quantum and Complexity Science Initiative and NTU’s Institute of Advanced Studies, and the 3rd International Conference on 2D Materials and Technology, organised by NTU’s Institute of Advanced Studies. These addressed the potential of quantum resources in information science, optics and physics, and the unique optoelectronic properties and applications of graphene-like 2D-layered materials, respectively.

Inclusiveness in a time of uncertainty

EVENTS

Summer Course on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering 2018Organised by Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, NTU, and National University of Singapore

18 June – 6 July 2018

Venue: Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, NTU, Singapore

scelse.sg/Page/SummerCourse

XLVIII International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics (ISMD 2018)Co-organised by NTU’s Institute of Advanced Studies and National University of Singapore

3 – 7 September 2018

Venue: Nanyang Executive Centre, NTU, Singapore

ntu.edu.sg/ias/upcomingevents/ISMD2018

3rd Asian Conference on Energy, Power and Transportation Electrification (ACEPT 2018) at Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES)Organised by Energy Research Institute @ NTU

30 October – 2 November 2018

Venue: NTU and Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

ntu.edu.sg/events/events/Pages/CFP_ACEPT2018.aspx

Transform MedEd 2018 ConferenceCo-organised by NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Imperial College London School of Medicine

9 – 10 November 2018

Venue: Clinical Sciences Building, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Novena Campus, Singapore

transformmeded.org

Prof Frances Arnold, winner of the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize, gave a plenary lecture at the Women in Engineering, Science & Technology Symposium 2018. Credit: NTU.

The Women in Engineering, Science & Technology Symposium returned for its second edition in January 2018. With talks by outstanding female scientists in areas from pharmaceutics to nanotechnology, the symposium, organised by Assoc Prof Sierin Lim and Asst Prof Chew Jia Wei of NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, inspired young women to pursue careers in science and engineering.

Twelve female postdoctoral researchers each received a travel grant worth S$3,000, funded by NTU’s Engineering and Science Colleges and a private donor.

G L O B A L D I A L O G U E

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COMING YOUR WAYTo pave the way for a driverless future, NTU, together with Singapore’s Land Transport Authority and real estate company JTC Corporation, has launched the Centre of Excellence for

Testing & Research of Autonomous Vehicles – NTU (CETRAN). Here, autonomous vehicles will be tested on a 1.8-ha test circuit while researchers develop international standards and regulations for their deployment. Two projects planned at CETRAN are the testing of 40-seater autonomous electric passenger buses belonging to Swedish company Volvo Buses, and trials of the fully electric NTU-Blue Solutions Flash Shuttle, launched by the University and electric vehicle-sharing firm BlueSG, a subsidiary of Blue Solutions under the French Bolloré Group.

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A S$15 million (US$11.4 million) maritime research centre has set sail at NTU. Launched by NTU and the Singapore Maritime Institute, the Maritime Energy and Sustainable

Development (MESD) Centre of Excellence will study the management of energy, emissions and sustainable operations in maritime enterprises. In anticipation of changes in international regulations, it will also work with industry partners to reduce harmful emissions from Singapore’s maritime industry.

6Swedish defence and security technology leader Saab has joined forces with NTU

to start the Saab-NTU Joint Research Centre. Key research areas of the centre, Saab’s first such collaboration in Asia, will be in air traffic management and underwater robotics.

2

Standing at 14 storeys tall, Singapore’s first long-span wind turbine is part of NTU’s Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator –Singapore (REIDS) initiative, in collaboration

with global energy leader ENGIE. To help Singapore meet its sustainability objectives, several hybrid microgrids will be integrated with renewable energy sources such as solar, tidal and wind.

5

A joint initiative between NTU and Singapore’s National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) will help patients with neurological conditions by developing artificial intelligence

systems that can identify different types of brain injuries from computed tomography scans and algorithms that can pinpoint diseased tissues during brain surgery. Under a one-year fellowship programme managed by NTU’s Institute for Health Technologies, up to two NNI neurosurgical residents will each receive a S$100,000 (~US$76,000) grant to work with NTU researchers on research commercialisation. Separately, NTU engineering students can gain exposure to clinical practice by working alongside NNI neurosurgeons.

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A i m i n g t o break new ground in sustainability is a tripartite

union between NTU, the National University of Singapore and ExxonMobi l through the Singapore Energy Centre. To be operational in 2019, this will be ExxonMobil’s first energy centre outside the US addressing issues in energy production and consumption. The Centre will also groom leaders who can develop new energy solutions.

9To prepare for Singapore’s rapidly ageing society, NTU’s Ageing Research

Institute for Society and Education (ARISE) and the Geriatric Education and Research Institute (GERI) will team up in research areas such as community- and home-based care, health systems and applications, and the psycho-social well-being of older adults. Postgraduates and researchers will benefit from internships, workshops, seminars and conferences.

8

To improve end-of-life care, NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital (under its parent, the National Healthcare Group)

and Dover Park Hospice have come together to launch the Palliative Care Centre for Excellence in Research and Education (PalC). A hybrid team of researchers and clinicians will aim to alleviate Singapore’s growing chronic disease burden, including end-stage organ failure, by developing effective prognostic tools and training health workers.

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NTU’s Wealth Management Institute (WMI) has been selected as the lead training provider by Singapore’s Institute of Banking and Finance, in consultation with the Monetary Authority of

Singapore. The Institute will develop systematic skills upgrading and certification programmes to prepare industry professionals for the challenges of an unpredictable global economy. The newly set-up S$11.9 million (US$9 million) Temasek Wealth Management Endowment, funded by national investment company Temasek, will develop talent and expertise for Singapore’s finance and wealth management industries. Other initiatives at the Institute to advance knowledge creation in wealth and asset management include the Temasek-WMI Professorship, Temasek Fellowship and Temasek Distinguished Lecture Series.

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Singapore’s first long-span wind turbine can generate enough power for 45 four-room flats for a year and is sensitive enough to produce energy even at low windspeeds of three metres per second. Credit: NTU.

Technology partners: The Saab-NTU tie-up was formalised by Saab’s Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Ann-Kristin Adolfsson (front row, left), and NTU’s Vice President (Research), Prof Lam Khin Yong (front row, right). Back row, from left: Former NTU President Prof Bertil Andersson, Saab Chairman Mr Marcus Wallenberg, and NTU President Prof Subra Suresh. Credit: Saab.

The NTU-Blue Solutions Flash Shuttle charges in 20 seconds as passengers embark and disembark. Credit: NTU.

Credit: NTU.

The self-driving electric passenger bus by Volvo Buses is equipped with GPS and integrated navigation systems, and is able to drive, park and charge autonomously. Credit: JTC.

A T A G L A N C E

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THE HONOUR ROLL

Inauguration of NTU’s 4th President: Prof Subra Suresh (left) receiving his certificate of appointment from Singapore’s Minister for Education, Mr Ong Ye Kung. Credit: NTU.

Distinguished honours for NTU PresidentSince January 2018, eminent American scientist, engineer and entrepreneur Prof Subra Suresh has received four academic and research honours globally. In February, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford University, and received an honorary degree from India’s Mangalore

High performance computing advocateFor his pioneering contributions towards shaping the high performance computing landscape in Singapore since the early 1990s, NTU’s Vice President (Research), Prof Lam Khin Yong, received the Singapore Distinguished Service Award at Supercomputing Asia 2018, the premier conference for high performance computing in the region. Among his contributions in the field are helping NTU establish a multi-million-dollar artificial intelligence research institute with Chinese tech giant Alibaba on the NTU campus.

Top geologist honouredProf Kerry Sieh, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at NTU, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prof Sieh, an expert in earthquake geology and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, was recognised for advancing science in service to society.

Prestigious award for young investigatorAsst Prof Luo Dahai of NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine has been selected as a Young Investigator by the European Molecular Biology Organisation. Awarded for his research into RNA viruses and host defence, he will receive €15,000 and other benefits as well as access to core facilities at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, during his three-year tenure.

Prof Lam (centre) with Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Education, Dr Janil Puthucheary (right), and Mr Peter Ho, Steering Committee Chairman of the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore, at the award ceremony. Credit: NSCC Singapore.

University. In May, he was awarded the Brown Engineering Leadership Medal from Brown University. In June 2018, he will be conferred his 14th honorary doctorate at Northwestern University.

In recognition of his stellar academic achievements at the intersections of engineering, science and medicine, the NTU Board of Trustees appointed him NTU’s inaugural Distinguished

University Professor, the University’s highest academic recognition, at his

installation as NTU’s fourth President on 22 February.

Prof Suresh joined NTU after a distinguished 40-year career

in academia, industry and government. He served as

Director of the US National

Science Foundation, a position he was nominated to by President Barack Obama in 2010, overseeing a US$7 billion annual budget supporting fundamental research and innovation in all fields of science and engineering. His other recent leadership roles include his tenure as President of Carnegie Mellon University and as Dean of the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering Emeritus.

World-renowned for his research in materials science and engineering, mechanics and biomedicine, Prof Suresh has won numerous awards over the years and holds the distinction of being the only university president elected to all three US national academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

A T A G L A N C E

34 I S S U E 1 3 | P U S H I N G F R O NT I E R S

THE WORLD’S BEST

YOUNG UNIVERSITYIS LOOKING FOR THEWORLD’S MOST

PROMISING PROFESSORS

www.ntu.edu.sg

Rise in your chosen field as an elite Nanyang Assistant Professor with a start-up

research grant of up to US$765,000(S$1 million), an attractive remuneration package

and a tenure-track appointment

Pursue your highest aspirations ata university that is ranked among the top

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Reap results at this research-intensive university that leads the top Asian universities in

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among universities in the Nature Index 2017

If you are an early-career researcher (postdoctoral fellow or equivalent), and are ready to lead your research group independently, apply for the 2019 Nanyang Assistant Professorship at nanyangprofessorship@ntu.edu.sg or visit www.ntu.edu.sg/nap.

Here are 3 good reasonsto join NTU Singapore: