For our first session of this semester, we are excited to welcome Prof. Leung Pok Yin, Victor, along with PhD student Jia Yizhen (Jane) to share their ongoing research projects.

Seminar 1

14 October 2025 (Tuesday), 3:30p.m-5:30 p.m

Co-evolution through Symbiotic Negentropy: Weaving the Technosphere into the Ecosphere via the Collective Individuation of Humans, Avatars, and Agents

Jia Yizhen (Jane)

This research addresses an ontological crisis in the AIGC era, where the logic of cognitive capitalism accelerates entropy—a measure of disorder spanning physics, biology, and information science. This manifests as the decay of cognition and social cohesion, pushing our digital future along a Downward Path of spectacle.

Moving beyond critique, this project tentatively proposes a tripartite model of "human-avatar-agent symbiosis" as a potential Upward Path. Drawing from Gilbert Simondon, it frames a co-evolutionary process to weave the Techosphere into Ecosphere:
- Humans as ethical "care-drivers."
- Avatars as non-mimetic "intermediaries."
- Agents as guided "guardians" against disorder.

This symbiotic ensemble aims to redesign the Technosphere as an open, metabolic network that, like a living organism in the Biosphere, exports entropy and cultivates value. By integrating principles from thermodynamics, evolutionary biology, and information ethics, we propose operational tools like the Uniqueness Quotient (UQ) to reward niche expression and generative difference, thereby fostering a Contributory Economy where value is measured by the cultivation of noetic potential rather than behavioural surplus.

This is an ongoing, early-stage exploration. I am beginning to investigate implementations through computational simulations and artistic interventions and am deeply aware of the limits of my own perspective. I would be honored to connect with and learn from scholars and practitioners across computer science, complex systems, philosophy, art, and ecology. Any meaningful progress will undoubtedly rely on collective, interdisciplinary wisdom. Your insights and companionship on this path would be most welcome.

Orbital Oscillation: Dematerialisation of Craft through Imperceptible Actuation of a Glass Object

Prof. Leung Pok Yin, Victor

Orbital Oscillation is a kinetic sculpture that explores the phenomenology of time through a deceptively simple act: a glass object rolling in slow, deliberate orbits on a round table. The object’s movement is not self-initiated but subtly actuated by a concealed robotic system beneath the table’s surface. Using real-time sensing and feedback control, the table imperceptibly tilts to inject energy into the glass object’s trajectory.

I will present the mechatronic and algorithmic design of the system, detailing how sensing, control, and form are orchestrated to create an experience that appears autonomous, fluid, and continuous, yet is precisely choreographed. The work invites reflection on how machine intelligence can shape perception without revealing its own presence.

We highly recommend PhD students and faculty members to join the informative and inspired academic seminar to gain creativity and opportunity. We are looking forward to seeing you in our research colloquium.