Techno-Humanities Summer Research Programme for High School Students @ Arts Tech Lab
Join us and develop essential skills through mentor-led interdisciplinary projects connecting humanities and technology
Programme Introduction
This programme offers high school students an opportunity to develop practical skills and interdisciplinary thinking through a real university-level research project. It features a set of 5-day project-based summer projects for high school students (ages 16-18), with teams of 3 guided by student mentors, and ‘sprints’ and daily supervisions. High school students (buddies) and Arts Technology Lab (ATL) staff and interns (mentors) explore how storytelling, culture, and engineering can be combined to address real-world challenges.
Buddies will work in teams on intensive projects and are expected to produce a functional or semi-functional prototype by the end of the programme. Mentors will be responsible for supporting research and, with teachers, supervising the overall learning process. The mentor-led group work will include tasks such as background research, data analysis, and result reporting. The programme will conclude with a final showcase and judged presentation, where students will demonstrate their products and receive awards.
Programme Project List
Transition Guide: An Advising Platform for Major Life Transitions
The transition from the highly structured environment of a university into the independent “real world” represents one of the most volatile developmental shifts in a young adult’s life…
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Reading Reviews: A Sentiment Analysis Study of Film
Film is an important part of human culture and also a valuable commercial creative industry. Different viewers can interpret the same film in different ways, and audiences from different regions may care about different elements, such as story, acting, pacing, visual style, music, characters, emotional impact, or cultural themes. By comparing the interpretations across different regions, audience preferences and possible biases in how different audiences judge stories, characters, values, genres, and film styles, can be revealed.
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A Learning Platform for Horse Racing and Equestrian Sport
Horse racing and equestrian activities have long histories as public sports, cultural practices, and forms of entertainment. This project presents equestrian culture beyond gambling by focusing on Olympic history, horse care, rider training, sportsmanship, public education, and ethical discussion.
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Live Window: An Interactive Display
This research aims to transform the entrance screen into an interactive “live window” for ATL. It can automatically display videos, project highlights, and a 3D map of ATL, while also allowing visitors to browse project details and explore ATL resources. By creating an attractive and easy-to-use interface, the display can help more visitors discover ATL’s creative achievements.
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Stories Reborn: AI Videos for Preserving Cultural Memories
Human history contains many cultural legends, local stories, oral traditions, and lesser-known historical memories, but many remain only in written records or limited community memory. Only a small number of stories become widely known, so less familiar stories may gradually be forgotten when they are not presented in forms that match contemporary media habits. Short films and digital storytelling can make intangible cultural heritage more accessible to younger audiences and wider public.
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AI as Friends: An AI Project on Meaningful Digital Support
People now are using AI companions for emotional support, conversation, or daily interaction. At the same time, public discussions have raised concerns about emotional dependency, misleading advice, unsafe health guidance, and manipulation risks in AI companion systems. Recent reporting and research have noted both the growing use of AI companions for emotional support and the need to evaluate their risks carefully. This project takes a more philosophical view by asking what kinds of positive relationships may be possible between users and artificial companions.
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Before It Disappears: An Online Archive for Culture and Memory
Cultural memory is often fragile because it depends on objects, places, voices, images, and personal recollections that may not survive urban change or generational transition. As neighborhoods are rebuilt and everyday practices disappear, important traces of a city’s cultural life can become difficult for younger generations, newcomers, and former witnesses to access. This project responds to that problem by using an online archive to gather and preserve materials before they become scattered or lost.
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Living Landmarks: A Digital Guide for Landmarks and Local Memory
This project focuses on tourism experiences at different sites and landmarks. Although a great deal of information is already available online, many visitors still receive only basic information from signs, plaques, or short on-site descriptions unless they deliberately search for more. This creates a gap between public information and the actual visitor experience, especially when visitors need local context, historical background, interpretation, map-based guidance, or personalized tour planning.
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Seeing Space: An Interactive Visualization of the Universe
This project focuses on the difficulty and knowledge gap that many public users face when trying to understand astronomy and physics through complex mathematics. Better understanding of astronomy and physics can also help users engage more deeply with cultural works that use space, science, and cosmic imagination, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Interstellar (2014), and Project Hail Mary (2026).
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Pocket Buddy: A Physical Companion Prototype
Handheld digital pets became a major part of popular toy and game culture in the 1990s, with Tamagotchi as one of the best-known examples. The original Tamagotchi was released by Bandai in Japan in 1996 and popularized the idea of a small device through which users could raise and care for a virtual pet. This project updates that idea for a contemporary context by asking how a small electronic pet can feel modern, personal, and emotionally engaging without simply copying older models.
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For inquiries, please contact:
Email: atlask@hku.hk