The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) said on 10 November that two of its research projects received CES 2027 Innovation Awards, in the Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence categories.

The award status rests on PolyU's media release1. The Consumer Technology Association's (CTA) program page2 does not name PolyU, and the release does not say which honoree level either project received. Both projects use AI, and the winners will show them at CES in Las Vegas in January.

The CES Innovation Awards are an annual CTA competition. A panel of judges and media scores entries, and the CTA's program page lists two honoree levels: Honoree, for products that score above a category threshold, and Best of Innovation, for the highest scorers in each category. The CTA also says on that page that it does not test or endorse winning products. Automatica Press reported3 that the 2027 cycle drew nearly 4,000 submissions.

Some company award claims for this cycle have been only partly matched to the CTA's records. Automatica Press reported that Ceragem5 said it won nine awards, while the CTA's official record confirmed four of them. PolyU said the 2027 awards mark its fourth consecutive year of participation at CES.

The two projects

The Smart Motion Capture App for Rehabilitation (SMCAR) was honoured in Digital Health, according to PolyU. A team led by Prof. Kenneth Fong and Dr Winnie Lam developed it. PolyU described it as a mobile app that turns smartphones and tablets into rehabilitation tools. It said the app does markerless motion capture without wearable sensors or specialised equipment. PolyU said health professionals can use it to monitor patients remotely. The university also said the app combines AI and augmented reality to give real-time visual feedback, logs activity data automatically and evaluates movement performance.

The release gives no clinical trial results, regulatory status or pricing for SMCAR. Its accuracy and reliability claims are PolyU's own.

TruTru, an AI-powered handheld interactive companion, was honoured in the Artificial Intelligence category, PolyU said. Prof. Ma Yuan and his team developed it. PolyU said the soft-bodied device contains electronics that sense touch and prompt AI to generate tactile feedback in real time. It also emits coloured light that changes with its modes. According to PolyU, the device aims to ease stress, anxiety or emotional distress. The release does not say whether TruTru is a commercial product or a research prototype, and it gives no availability date or price.

CES plans

PolyU said the award-winning teams and 13 PolyU start-ups will take part in CES 2027, to be held in Las Vegas from 6 to 9 January 2027.