UM establishes Macao Car Racing Metaverse Platform to promote research on new autonomous driving technologies
澳大首建澳門賽車元宇宙MoCAM平台 提升自動駕駛新技術研究

The University of Macau (UM) State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City (SKL-IOTSC) and Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) today (25 November) held an inauguration ceremony for the Macao Car Racing Metaverse (MoCAM) Platform cum an opening ceremony for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Metaverse Autonomous Driving Challenge. During the event, which combined both virtual and in-person elements, a metaverse-based platform that allows for the superimposition of real autonomous driving vehicles in simulated scenarios was demonstrated. The platform is expected to promote the research and development of new autonomous driving technologies and provide an ideal experimental environment for autonomous driving competitions, laying the ground for the development of e-sports and diversified tourism in Macao.

In his speech, Yonghua Song, rector of UM and director of SKL-IOTSC, said that the project aims to use metaverse technology to create world-leading simulated and real scenarios. According to him, the flow of traffic and people can be simulated in these scenarios and is superimposed with real autonomous driving vehicles to create a multi-dimensional metaverse platform. This platform is expected to promote the research and development of new autonomous driving technologies and provide an ideal experimental environment for autonomous driving competitions as well as conditions for the development of e-sports and diversified tourism in Macao. During the event, Xu Chengzhong, dean of the FST, presented the multi-dimensional mixed-reality analog system of the MoCAM platform and demonstrated the interaction between real autonomous driving vehicles and virtual vehicles on a simulation sand table, a technology that can calculate the adaptability of self-driving vehicles to various scenarios on the road to prevent accidents from happening.

The metaverse platform is also equipped with the function of generating virtual scenarios. The technologies and systems established so far can provide technical support for metaverse-based autonomous driving competitions, especially in verifying the adaptability, stability, and efficiency of autonomous driving algorithms in different scenarios. UM will work with the City University of Hong Kong and the Southern University of Science and Technology to organise the GBA Metaverse Autonomous Driving Challenge, which will provide an opportunity for students as well as researchers to compete against each other on a metaverse platform.

Guests attending the events included Chu Zhubin, head of the department of education and youth affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Cheang Kun Wai, member of the Administrative Committee of the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao; Xavier Carlos Roberto, a department head of the Education and Youth Development Bureau; Chan Chou Weng, head of the Technology Application and Support Division of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau; Eunice Cheang and Janet Choi, two representatives of CTM; as well as representatives of BoardWare Information System Limited, Pui Ching Middle School, Yuet Wah College, and UM faculty members and students.

In addition, the Second Macao Symposium on Cloud Computing and Intelligent Driving, an event co-organised by UM and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was recently held with both virtual and in-person elements. The event attracted nearly 100 participants, including experts, scholars, researchers, and students. During the symposium, which served as a platform for exchanges on academic topics and technological innovation, the participants shared their research results and had in-depth discussions on intelligent driving as well as the artificial intelligence and cloud computing technology behind it.

澳門大學智慧城市物聯網國家重點實驗室和科技學院今（25）日於線上線下舉行“澳門賽車元宇宙MoCAM平台發佈會暨粵港澳大灣區元宇宙自動駕駛挑戰賽啟動會”，展示了模擬車況與真實的自動駕駛車輛疊加的元宇宙平台。平台有助研究新的自動駕駛技術，也為自動駕駛比賽提供良好的實驗環境，為澳門電競業和多元旅遊的發展提供有力的基礎。

澳大校長、智慧城市物聯網國家重點實驗室主任宋永華致辭時表示，研究項目利用元宇宙技術，致力打造全球領先的模擬與真實場景。場景模擬了車流及人流，同時與現實中的自動駕駛車輛疊加，形成了一個多維空間的元宇宙平台。此平台將大力推進自動駕駛新技術的研發，同時也為自動駕駛比賽提供理想的實驗環境，促進澳門電競業和多元旅遊的發展。澳大科技學院院長須成忠於會上示範元宇宙MoCAM平台的多維空間混合現實模擬類比系統，展示現實中自駕車輛與模擬沙盤中的虛擬車輛進行交互，協助推算自駕方案對各類交通情景的適應性，以減低意外發生。

元宇宙平台的開發也具備虛擬場景生成功能，目前所建立的技術及系統可為元宇宙自動駕駛比賽提供必要的環境及技術支撐，尤其在驗證自動駕駛的算法在不同場景下的適應性、穩定性及高效性等。澳門大學將聯同香港城市大學及南方科技大學共同組織及舉辦元宇宙自動駕駛挑戰賽，一同構建元宇宙平台，為學生及科研人員提供相互切磋的機會。

中央人民政府駐澳門特別行政區聯絡辦公室教育與青年工作部處長儲著斌、澳門科學技術發展基金行政委員會委員鄭冠偉、教育及青年發展局廳長許嘉路、經濟及科技發展局科技應用及支援處處長陳祖榮，澳門電訊代表鄭玉平及蔡軍，博維資訊系統有限公司代表，培正、粵華中學代表及澳大一眾師生亦出席了活動。

此外，由澳大和中國科學院深圳先進技術研究院合辦的“澳門第二屆雲計算與智能駕駛研討會”亦於線上和線下舉行。會議吸引近百名來自各地的專家學者、學術研究人員及學生參與並分享研究成果，並就智能駕駛及其背後的人工智能和雲計算等議題展開深入討論，為學術和科技創新提供重要的交流合作平台。