through God’s grace alone,
my team and i received the news today that - as Co-Principal Investigator - i have been awarded a grant from the Institute for Adult Learning, Singapore.
six months’ ago, we were invited by our Principal Investigator - A/P Jung Younbo - to be a part of the grant application.
A/P Jung is the Director of the Virtual Interaction Science Lab at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
titled Virtual and augmented reality training systems for the elderly in Singapore, the quantum of the grant entrusted to my team is worth just over US$180000.
fellow Co-Principal Investigators are Prof Theng Yin Leng (Director, Ageing Research Institute for Society and Education, WKWSCI), Asst/P Marius Erdt (Deputy Director, Fraunhofer IDM@NTU), and Asst/P Benjy Li (WKWSCI).
The main objectives of this project are:
(1) to understand barriers to independent living that the elderly are facing in an increasingly technological Singapore, via social science research utilizing focus groups, interviews, and surveys with seniors and relevant stakeholders.
(2) to form an interdisciplinary team consisting of scholars from Communication, Computer Science, Education, Psychology, and Human Computer Interaction to develop VR / AR training programs for the elderly to assist them in handling the challenges identified in our preliminary research, using social science theories as a guiding principle.
(3) to examine the effectiveness of the developed VR / AR training programs in multiple senior centers in Singapore, and ultimately implement the project in real-life settings, in cooperation with government organizations and welfare organizations so as to benefit the elderly, pave the way towards active ageing, and improve subjective wellbeing, even after the funding period.
it looks to be a wonderfully exciting and meaningful journey ahead of us.
all thanks be to God.
