Video created in the Game Teaching Lab

Our Game Lab
As the oldest Computing department in Hong Kong, we have produced in the last 30 years more than 3,300 graduates.

Many of them are now IT specialists and leaders in multinational companies. The success of these graduates, to some extent, is tied with the application-oriented computing and IT education and training that they have received from COMP.

Continuing with this tradition, and further fine-tuning with the UGC directives (i.e. role statements), our department's long term mission is to become the leading academic department for application-oriented computing and IT education and research. Under this philosophy, to provide the most solid yet versatile programmes which can capture the changes in technology and society needs become our primary responsibility in supporting our students.

Given the current and potential development in the computer game and entertainment industry in Hong Kong and in Mainland, a computer game lab in COMP is certainty an indispensable element supporting our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Our students will be facing not only with the challenges from game software development, but also with other broader issues like creativity, humanities, and visual communication. All these attributes are becoming more critical in today's highly competitive job market. It is therefore, both essential and responsive, for us to conduct the latest research and development in computer games, and educate our students with all these latest technologies.

Key Research Themes

1. Advanced Computer Graphics and Animation
2. Artificial Intelligence for Computer Games
3. On-line MMOG Games Development
4. Algorithms and Data Structures for Special Effects and Natural Phenomena
5. Virtual Reality based Computer Games development

Research Outputs and Products

1. Small game engines and C++ libraries for computer games development
2. Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithms for target tracking in collaborative multi-agent based computer games
3. The "HERO" 3D virtual reality based computer game
4. The "Virtual CAMPUS" 3D simulation and action game
5. Digital movies such as "人面桃花", the "Lost World", "Mini Toy Story", "The Poor Girl", "Cat Walk Fashion Show" , "A Dream" and many others.
6. Many other computer games including shooting, car racing, on-line multiplayer based, web-based, mobile and console based.

Latest Developments

1. Organized the 2nd VR-CAMP for secondary school students in summer 2008 for them to learn 3D and virtual reality techniques for producing computer games
2. Research in advanced Artificial Intelligence and Coloured Perti net based techniques for NPC characters control, animation and resources estimation
3. Supervise PhD students in computer game research

Joint Research Opportunities
The Game Lab has established links with Hebei Univeristy, through Dr. Li Yan, for joint computer games research and development.

For enquiries, please contact our Lab Director Dr. Simon Shiu.
Telephone: (852) 2766-7299
Email: csckshiu@comp.polyu.edu.hk