Adrian David Cheok

Adrian David Cheok AM is an Australian academic and a professor[2] at iUniversity,[3] Tokyo, Japan.

Adrian David Cheok

AM
Cheok in 2011
Born1971/1972 (age 48–49)[1]
NationalityAustralian
Occupation
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide

He is among the faculty of Ducere Business School in Prahran, Victoria[4] and is a visiting professor at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia.[5] He is also the director of the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia,[6] the Mixed Reality Lab in Singapore[7] and the CEO of Nikola Tesla Technologies Corporation in Malaysia.[8]

Cheok has sparked controversy for his conservative politics.

Education

Cheok obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic)[9] with First Class Honors[10][11] in 1992, and PhD in Engineering in 1998 from the University of Adelaide.

Career

Academic

In 2004, Cheok developed Human Pacman, an early augmented reality game.[12][13][14][15] In 2005, he created the Poultry Internet project which used a customised haptic jacket to allow him to remotely hug a chicken.[16]

In 2015, Cheok and his students created Scentee, a device which allowed individuals to transmit fragrances via smartphones with the installed device and aroma cartridges.[17] He has also performed research on taste simulation.[18] In 2016, Cheok and student Emma Yang Zhang co-created Kissenger, a device which allows people to remotely transmit the physical sensation of kissing.[19][20][21][22]

Cheok is a professor at iUniversity[3] in Tokyo, Japan. He is also among the faculty of Ducere Business School in Prahran, Victoria,[4] and is a visiting professor at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, at the Mihailo Pupin technical faculty.[5]

Cheok's research, in recent years, has focused on human sexual interaction with robots. Cheok has been criticised by colleagues for equating human-robot marriage with inter-racial and same-sex marriage, and concerns were raised over his professional conduct, specifically the ethical and consent issues of demonstrating cybersexual inventions with young female students.[23]

In 2019 Cheok announced plans to set up an institution called the Nikola Tesla Graduate School, with right-wing Australian politician Fraser Anning as honorary chairman and president. At the time, the school was asking for donations but did not yet have any physical address and was not registered with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.[24]

Conferences

Cheok was a General Co-Chair[25] of David Levy's Love and Sex with Robots conference.[24] The conference presented papers which explored the ethics and practical considerations surrounding sexuality and the field of robotics, specifically sex robots.[26] Its 2015 conference in Malaysia was cancelled by police who declared it illegal and inappropriate for the country's culture,[27] and in 2016 the conference was hosted by Goldsmiths, University of London.[28] In 2020 Cheok and most of the Committee resigned on mass.[29]

in 2017 Cheok provided a keynote speech for the Foundation of Digital Games conference. After the conference the organisers issued a formal statement censuring Cheok for his behaviour after he personally attacked an academic on Twitter when she criticised aspects of his presentation.[30][31]

Cheok served as chairman of the academic conference Advances in Computer Entertainment, and contributed to its demise in 2018[32] when members of the conferences's committee objected to Cheok appointing David Levy, who has been criticised for his views on the use of child sex robots, to the conference's steering committee without consultation, and adding a "Love and Sex with Robots" strand to the conference.[33] Cheok responded by inviting Steve Bannon to give that year's keynote speech, prompting widespread international criticism from universities.[32] Springer cancelled their involvement due to a low number of papers and concerns over irregularities in the paper submission and reviewing process.[34] When many delegates declined to attend, Cheok cancelled the conference, criticising academia as "a bunch of weak willies".[33]

Politics

Cheok is a supporter of Australian politician Fraser Anning,[35] sharing his strong anti-immigration stance.[23] At the 2019 Australian federal election, Cheok ran as a candidate for Anning's Conservative National Party in the Adelaide division of Boothby,[36] receiving 0.79% of the vote.[37]

Cheok has been criticised for Islamophobic Facebook posts,[23] and his use of Twitter has been unfavourably compared to Donald Trump tweets by critics.[30]

Cheok was a member of Clive Palmer's United Australia Party, but stood down from the right-wing[38] party after being asked by Palmer to "dumb down" his policies.[39]

Cheok is a Director of the Institute for Populist Economic Nationalism[40] together with Senator Fraser Anning and Steve Bannon.

Awards and honours

In 2003 Cheok received a Young Scientist Award from the Singapore National Academy of Science.[41] He is a member of the World Technology Network,[42] and was a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.[11][43][44] He is a Fellow, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.[45] In 2016, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Awards by University of Adelaide, in recognition of his achievements and contribution in the field of Computing, Engineering and Multisensory communication.[46] Cheok was recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.[47] Cheok has an h-index of 47, meaning that 47 of his papers have been cited at least 47[48] times: this is the among the highest 0.05% of h-indices in computer science.[49]

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for his work in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence.[33] This resulted in a formal request by the Australian chapter of the Digital Games Research Association to the Governor-General of Australia, for it to be withdrawn.[50][51] In response Fraser Anning wrote to the Governor-General and to Queen Elizabeth II, in defense of Cheok.[52] The Order of Australia has not been rescinded, and Cheok remains a Member of the Order of Australia.[53]

References
  1. "Federal election 2019: Campaign Day 14: Clive Palmer loses candidate over eligibility issue". www.theaustralian.com.au. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. "人物・分野から教員を探す｜情報経営イノベーション専門職大学｜ICTで、まだない幸せをつくる。【iU】". www.i-u.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. "Adrian David Cheok｜情報経営イノベーション専門職大学｜ICTで、まだない幸せをつくる。【iU】". www.i-u.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. "Professor Adrian Cheok - Ducere Business School". www.ducere.edu.au. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. "PREDAVANJE SVETSKOG STRUČNJAKA NA TEHNIČKOM FAKULTETU". Zrenjaninski (in Serbian). 30 May 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. "Imagineering Institute Team".
  7. "People – Mixed Reality Lab". Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  8. "Nikola Tesla Technologies". nikolateslatechnologies.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. "lumen -- Mixing with reality". www.adelaide.edu.au. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  10. "Adrian David Cheok | USC Global Conference 2013". Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  11. "Adrian David Cheok". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  12. "CNN.com - Pacman breaks out of the arcade - Nov 16, 2004". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  13. Knight, Will. "Human PacMan hits real city streets". New Scientist. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. "Pacman comes to life virtually". 6 June 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  15. "ARE 2012 1st Keynote Speaker Announced: Adrian David Cheok Inventor of "Krazy" Augmented Reality!". Games Alfresco. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. "Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  17. "Share touch, smell and taste via the internet".
  18. Matchar, Emily. "Using Electric Currents to Fool Ourselves Into Tasting Something We're Not". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  19. Metro. "Send pecks to long-distance lovers with Kissenger". Metro US. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  20. "Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  21. "The Kissing App "Kissenger" - The Gadget Show - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. "Kissenger device enables kissing over internet - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  23. "EXCLUSIVE: Queen's Birthday honour for Adrian Cheok may be challenged after academic outrage". 7NEWS.com.au. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  24. Martin, Lisa (14 June 2019). "Robot sex expert on honours list plans college with Fraser Anning to teach 'Trumpism'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  25. "Committee – 5th International Love and Sex with Robots Conference 2020 (Online)". Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  26. October 21, Hope Reese in Innovation on; 2015; Pst, 7:40 Am. "Academic conference on 'Love and Sex with Robots' abruptly cancelled after being declared illegal". TechRepublic. Retrieved 10 May 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. Kumar, Kamles (13 October 2015). "'Love and Sex with Robots' conference illegal, IGP says | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  28. Wakefield, Jane (22 December 2016). "Robots gear up for sex and love". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  29. "5th International Love and Sex with Robots Conference 2020 (Online)". Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  30. Pettit, Emma (31 October 2018). "Why Did a Small Conference in an Obscure Field Invite Steve Bannon to Give the Keynote?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  31. Matsakis, Louise. (31 October 2018). "The Weird Saga of the Gaming Conference Hosting Steve Bannon", Wired. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  32. Adshade, Marina (13 December 2018). "We Need More Academic Conferences About Robots, Love, and Sex". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  33. "EXCLUSIVE: Queen's Birthday honour for Adrian Cheok may be challenged after academic outrage". 7NEWS.com.au. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  34. Matsakis, Louise. (31 October 2018). "The Weird Saga of the Gaming Conference Hosting Steve Bannon", Wired. Retrieved 25 June 2020. "The number of submissions to ACE 2018 compared to previous years is extremely low and remains well behind expectations ... [m]oreover, the decision to withdraw has been made following a number of irregularities reported to us regarding the paper reviewing and selection process and regarding the organization of the ACE 2018 conference."
  35. "Sex robot professor honoured in Queen's birthday list". NewsComAu. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  36. "Fraser Anning candidate given Queen's birthday honour says party's leader is not a racist". SBS News. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  37. Boothby, SA, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.
  38. Economou, Nick (22 June 2018). "Clive Palmer has a Trump-style slogan, but is no sure bet to return to parliament". The Conversation. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  39. Gailberger, Jade. (3 May 2019). "The bricklayer, the professor and the revived Democrat", The Advertiser. p10.
  40. "Institute for Populist Economic Nationalism". www.instituteforpopulisteconomicnationalism.org. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  41. "2003 Award". Singapore National Academy of Science. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  42. "Members". The World Technology Network. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  43. Yumpu.com. "list-of-active-young-global-leaders-world-economic-forum". yumpu.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  44. "The Forum of Young Global Leaders". The Forum of Young Global Leaders | World Economic Forum. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  45. "Website of the Prime Minister Office of Australia".
  46. "Outstanding graduates recognised for leadership in their fields". www.adelaide.edu.au. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  47. "Prof. Adrian David Cheok, MTI Editor-in-Chief, Recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award 2018". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  48. "Adrian David Cheok - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com.au. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  49. "The h Index for Computer Science". web.cs.ucla.edu. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  50. "Governor-General to face formal request to cancel Adrian Cheok's Queen's Birthday honour" (28 June 2019). SBS News Retrieved 25 June 2020
  51. Martin, Lisa (19 June 2019) "Queen's birthday honour for robot sex expert Adrian Cheok to face challenge", The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2020
  52. Martin, Lisa (19 June 2019). "Fraser Anning implores Queen to not strip honours from robot sex expert Adrian Cheok", The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2020
  53. "AUSTRALIAN HONOURS SEARCH FACILITY, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia".
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