On May 7th, Sony Shanghai welcomed faculty and students from Duke Kunshan University Computation and Design major for an inspiring day centered on creativity, technology, and collaboration. This marked the second event in a growing interest between the global tech giant and DKU, following an earlier session held on the DKU campus as part of Sony’s Student Creativity Competition.
The first event Held on DKU’s campus(March 28th) featured an interactive showcase of Sony’s latest XR (Extended Reality) technologies, including a hands-on demonstration of Mocopi, Sony’s portable motion capture system. Students explored how these tools open up new possibilities for creative storytelling, interface design, and immersive interaction—aligning closely with the values of the Computation and Design major.
This week’s follow-up at Sony’s headquarters in Shanghai brought DKU students directly into the heart of industry innovation. The visit was accompanied by Assistant Professor Dr. Giovanni Santini and Assistant Professor Ziv Ze’ev Cohen, who, together with the students, participated in a day of presentations and tech exploration.
The event featured the final project presentations by students from Dr. Santini’s course, Experimental Interface Design. Groups showcased their session-4 long work, developing novel interfaces that challenge conventional user experience paradigms and respond to contemporary technological contexts and user needs.
Following each group presentation was a Q&A session, during which both faculty and the Sony representative provided comments on the students’ projects. They offered critical feedback and suggestions for improving the prototypes, particularly in terms of aligning them with the growing demands of today’s XR user market.
Additionally, most projects were presented using Sony’s new XR product, the Spatial Reality Display (SRD). Both students and the Sony representative had the opportunity to experience the projects on this 3D display for the first time.
Reflecting on the experience, Dr. Santini shared:
“What makes this collaboration meaningful is the ability for students to directly interact with professional-grade tools and see how theory translates into practice. Events like these help them understand how design is not just about aesthetics or function—it’s about how we shape our relationship with technology.”
