On June 28th, 2025, Vinnie Hia Kai Xuan, a Malaysian Master student majoring in Art and Design from the International Department, was invited to attend the "Design Symbiosis and Future Development" Graduate Academic Forum at Xihua University and delivered an academic presentation.

The forum was hosted by Xihua University, with joint organization by the Industrial Design Industry Research Center - a Sichuan Provincial Department of Education Key Humanities and Social Sciences Research Base, the Beautiful Rural Construction and Development Research Center - a Chengdu Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Base, and Xihua University's own School of Art and Design. With the theme "Design Symbiosis and Future Development," it highlighted how design innovation is being applied in industrial upgrading, ecological protection, and cultural preservation. The forum aimed to establish an international platform for exchange among design scholars and graduate students, thereby advancing the development of the design discipline.

At the forum, under the supervision of his advisor Professor Wan Guo from the Department of Environmental Design, Vinnie Hia Kai Xuan was selected to deliver an academic presentation titled Exploring AI-Enabled Cultural Heritage Reconstruction: The Case of Malaysia's Penang Clan Jetty Water Community. Using the Penang Clan Jetty water community in Malaysia as a case study, the presentation departed from the dialogue between AI and traditional culture to explore innovative pathways for digital technologies to revitalize cultural heritage.

The Clan Jetty is one of the most representative Chinese water communities in Penang, Malaysia, with origins dating back to the 19th-century Nanyang migration wave, and carries profound local cultural significance. In recent years, however, the effects of tourism commercialization and the relocation of original residents have posed dual challenges: the weakening of cultural identity and the loss of architectural character.

Against this background, Vinnie Hia Kai Xuan utilized the LiblibAI platform and integrated LoRA model fine-tuning techniques to combine field data, cultural elements, and information annotation, exploring the potential application of AIGC technology in reconstructing images of traditional scenes. Through a series of experimental image generation and comparison studies, he demonstrated both the advantages and limitations of AI models in restoring cultural features, visual communication, and creative generation.

His participation in the forum not only reflected the International Department's academic depth and global vision in cultural heritage design research, but also showcased the active efforts of faculty and students at the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts in promoting cross-cultural exchange and driving technological innovation in design.