{ "name": "Jack Liu", "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/", "language": "en", "projects": [ { "title": "The Last Incense: Incense in the Erasure", "aliases": [], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/the-last-incense/", "category": "research", "format": "VR Installation", "role": "Co-Creator (VR Systems, Spatial Design & Audio)", "description": "The Last Incense is a speculative VR reconstruction exploring Hong Kong's disappearing nightclub culture, cultural memory, and the representation of sex workers. It was shown at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) University Library in May 2026.\n\nMade with grassroots rights advocates, the project draws on oral histories and fieldwork to reconstruct the space in Unreal Engine 5. As co-creator, I worked on the VR systems, environment assembly, lighting, and spatial audio. I also joined on-site research visits; my collaborator led the historical fieldwork and spatial modeling.\n\nThe installation removes every human figure. Earth God shrines, lockers, and traces left in the space bear witness instead. This is its strategy of “presence through absence”: presenting the industry’s history without turning it into an exotic spectacle. The work also draws on Erving Goffman’s frontstage/backstage framework.", "summary": "The Last Incense is a speculative VR reconstruction exploring Hong Kong's disappearing nightclub culture, cultural memory, and the representation of sex workers.", "tools": [ "Unreal Engine 5", "VR", "Field Study", "Cultural Preservation", "Spatial Audio" ], "status": "completed", "completion_date": "2026-05-01" }, { "title": "NO FIELD (working title)", "aliases": [], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/no-field/", "category": "research", "format": "Interactive Art / Research in Development", "role": "Original Character & World Creation; Research Development", "description": "NO FIELD (working title) is an original character and interactive world I am developing alongside my Cultural Studies FYP at CUHK. It grows from Hong Kong life and place, Japanese galgame/anime, and my interest in character relationships. The game has its own creative purpose. The Main RQ is not yet selected.\n\nThe current work includes Black, White and a Tuen Mun-inspired riverbank and Red Bridge environment. A cat viewpoint and possibilities for approaching, waiting, exploring or leaving are part of the design work. Existing environment and animation tests do not establish a complete participant-ready encounter.\n\nThe corrected v0.6 is a field review and discussion brief for Peichi. Player interpretation, character expression and participation, local place and interaction, and relations through characters are candidate directions. None is selected or combined into a four-part study. The earlier visible-metric sequence and human/AI comparison remain possibilities, not the default research design.\n\nI hope to connect Research through Design, documented creative decisions, actual play and in-depth interviews. The question, method and contribution need further academic discussion. No formal participant findings are reported.", "summary": "An original character and Hong Kong-inspired interactive world in development. Through making and player participation, I hope to develop a Cultural Studies inquiry; the Main RQ remains open.", "tools": [ "VR", "Research through Design", "Qualitative Research" ], "status": "in-development" }, { "title": "Clotho", "aliases": [], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/clotho/", "category": "game", "role": "VR Developer & Narrative Designer", "description": "Clotho is a VR experience made with collaborators in Unity. Through interactive storytelling and spatial design, it presents the stories and cultural heritage of female garment workers in Hong Kong. I worked on VR development and narrative design.\n\nOn 26 June 2025, I received the Social Innovation Award in the Design & City in Culture / Global Cultural and Creative Industries context, with recognition from faculty at CUHK and Yonsei University.", "summary": "A VR experience made with collaborators in Unity, honoring the stories and cultural heritage of Hong Kong’s female garment workers.", "tools": [ "Unity", "VR Development", "C#", "3D Modeling", "Narrative Design" ], "status": "completed", "completion_date": "2025-06-15" }, { "title": "Detective's Dilemma", "aliases": [ "Project 180" ], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/detectives-dilemma/", "category": "game", "role": "Solo Developer (Concept, Multimodal Pipeline & Ren'Py Integration)", "description": "I call my 180-minute exam project Project 180. Its title is Detective’s Dilemma, an AI-assisted Galgame made in Ren’Py. The comedic thriller follows a detective dodging killers while trying to reach an appointment.\n\nI developed the concept, coordinated the generative-media workflow, and integrated the game in Ren’Py. This included generated voice and audio, image upscaling with Real-ESRGAN, frame interpolation with RIFE, and screen-shake effects.\n\nThe challenge was to bring the story, generated assets, sound, and interaction together as a playable game within the exam.", "summary": "Detective’s Dilemma, also known as Project 180, is an AI-assisted Galgame I completed in Ren’Py during a 180-minute exam.", "tools": [ "Ren'Py (Python)", "Generative AI Pipelines", "Real-ESRGAN / RIFE", "Audio Synthesis", "Game Mechanics" ], "status": "completed", "completion_date": "2025-11-10" }, { "title": "Glitch: A Solo-Directed Cyberpunk Music Video", "aliases": [], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/glitch/", "category": "video", "role": "Video Director & Editor", "description": "Glitch follows a game developer who realizes he is becoming trapped in his own script. The cyberpunk music video brings Hong Kong social realism together with a chaotic virtual game world, blurring the line between creator and character. Its aesthetic draws on metamodernism.", "summary": "An AI-assisted cyberpunk music video combining Hong Kong urban realism with a chaotic virtual game world. A developer finds himself trapped in his own script.", "tools": [ "Veo", "Sora", "Wan 2.2", "After Effects", "Premiere Pro", "Sound Design" ], "status": "completed", "completion_date": "2025-12-15" }, { "title": "Distributing Games in China: Licensing, Piracy, and Informal Circulation", "aliases": [], "url": "https://jackliu-dev.pages.dev/projects/game-distribution-in-china/", "category": "research", "role": "Research Assistant", "description": "This academic project examines how games are distributed in China, including licensing policy, platforms, and formal and informal circulation.\n\nAs a research assistant, I reviewed policy documents, compared official storefronts, and recorded distribution practices using sourced examples and annotated screenshots. The material compares Steam China, WeGame, and TapTap, and includes observations of circulation on BiliBili, e-commerce platforms, forums, and cloud-storage services.\n\nThe notes combine policy documents with platform evidence. They are research material and should not be read as current legal guidance.", "summary": "Research on game distribution in China, reviewing licensing policy, comparing official storefronts, and documenting formal and informal circulation through documents, examples, and platform screenshots.", "tools": [ "Research Methodologies", "Data Analysis", "Academic Writing", "Market Research" ], "status": "completed", "completion_date": "2025-10-05" } ] }