In this session, we are excited to welcome two PhD students, Lai Chung Man (SCM) and Chen Xinzhi (PhD in Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University) to share their research projects.

Seminar 5

3 March 2026 (Tuesday), 3:30-5:30 p.m.

The cybernetic amusement - a device art approach towards the imaginative interfaces: exploring toys and musical instrument inspiration from the 80s to 2000s

Lai Chung Man, PhD student (SCM)

Music and toy gadgets are important objects that shape our childhood imagination. Since the introduction of cybernetics, interface systems have evolved significantly. The advancement in personal computing and digital electronics afforded the development of new and inspiring gadgets economically. Throughout the 1980s to 2000s, various animations and toys attempted to converge the ideas of play with human-computer interaction (HCI) through designed narratives. Though many of these products acted as marketing gimmicks, significant lateral design thinking occurred by applying available technology. From sci-fi and sports to adventure stories, these imaginative plots have built a massive catalogue of unexplored technological ideas. In this study, I will investigate selected ideas, products, and creations. Furthermore, this research module aims to identify their importance and trace their trajectories as a Media Archaeology attempt. The cybernetics amusement is an interdisciplinary effort to locate new linkages in novelty and media art.

From Recording to Programming: Generative AI as a Temporal Engine for an Ontological Reconstruction of Cinema

Chen Xinzhi, PhD student (HKBU)

In the post-cinema era, the rise of Generative AI has reignited long-standing debates surrounding the “indexical” foundations of cinema. While animation and CGI have long demonstrated that imagery can exist independently of the camera’s passive recording, the probabilistic nature of latent emergence in GenAI compels us to reconsider: Is cinema undergoing a definitive shift from Recording to Programming Time?I will trace my personal evolution from a narrative film director to a generative media researcher: from early live-action filmmaking to a pivotal exploration three years ago, in which I visualized personal memoirs using diffusion models. Building upon this background, this presentation proposes an early-stage research framework that employs a Practice-as-Research approach. It explores how fragmented historical archives and ruined landscapes can be transformed into programmable narrative cinema assets. Currently focusing on theoretical grounding and methodological design, the core of this inquiry lies not in the fidelity of visual restoration, but in exploring a potential Director-GenAI symbiosis path: how directorial consciousness seeks to collude with algorithms to reshape a non-linear “time-image” within digital folds.

We highly recommend PhD and Master's students and faculty members to join the informative and inspiring academic seminar to gain creativity and opportunities. We are looking forward to seeing you at our research colloquium.