HKUST(GZ) Wins Landmark Awards at IEEE PerCom 2026
The IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom) 2026 was held in Pisa, Italy from March 16 to 20, marking a momentous occasion for The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST(GZ)) as it pocketed two coveted awards and added to its already formidable legacy of academic excellence.
At this prestigious conference, Professor Lionel Ni, President of HKUST(GZ), along with his then master's students, Yunhao Liu, Yiu Cho Lau, and Abhishek P. Patil, was honored with the Test of Time Award, which recognizes their co-authored paper titled "LANDMARC: Indoor Location Sensing Using Active RFID". Notably, Yunhao Liu is now a professor at Tsinghua University and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2025.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen, a PhD student at HKUST(GZ), along with Yandao Huang, Minghui Qiu, Shuxin Zhong, Jun Chen, and Professor Kaishun Wu, won the Mark Weiser Best Paper Award for their paper titled "Wandatch: Infrastructure-Free Point-to-Command with Smartwatches and Speakers".
This marks the first time a research institution from the Chinese mainland has led the way in securing such prestigious awards at the IEEE PerCom Conference, symbolizing a historic leap in China's research prowess in the field of pervasive computing.
IEEE PerCom Test of Time Award
The IEEE PerCom Test of Time Award recognizes papers from the past 20 years that have had a sustained and significant impact on the field of pervasive computing. The paper must meet the criteria of having widespread academic recognition and wielding substantial influence on the research domain. This year marks the inaugural presentation of this award at the IEEE PerCom conference.
This pioneering research proposed the use of Active RFID technology for indoor object localization within buildings. A key innovation of the system was the creative use of "reference tags", which has significantly enhanced the overall accuracy of indoor localization.
Published over two decades ago, this paper laid a solid theoretical and practical foundation for subsequent indoor positioning technologies and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT). It remains widely cited, with over 4,000 citations on Google Scholar, and has had a profound impact on the field's evolution.
Mark Weiser Best Paper Award
Building on the solid foundation laid by pioneering scholars, the new generation of researchers at HKUST(GZ) is shining brightly on the international stage and creating history in the process. The competition for papers at this year's IEEE PerCom Conference was exceptionally fierce, with 224 valid submissions from around the globe. After multiple rounds of rigorous peer review and on-site discussions by the Technical Program Committee (TPC), only 35 papers were accepted, representing a highly competitive 15.62% acceptance rate.
Among them, the paper titled "Wandatch: Infrastructure-Free Point-to-Command with Smartwatches and Speakers", with HKUST(GZ) PhD student Lin Chen as the first author, under the guidance of Professor Kaishun Wu from the Thrust of Data Science and Analytics at HKUST(GZ), won the Mark Weiser Best Paper Award. This accolade not only recognizes the team's years of dedication to the field of mobile sensing but also marks a new milestone as the first time a research institution from the Chinese mainland has led the way in winning the top award at this world-renowned conference.
With the proliferation of smart home devices, achieving natural and seamless human-computer interaction has long been a challenge for both academia and industry. To address the limitations of traditional systems that rely on line-of-sight, bulky hardware, or cumbersome calibration, the team proposed the innovative system Wandatch. This system cleverly repurposes everyday smartwatches and smart speakers into a "virtual wrist ray" capable of sensing hand pointing and posture. To overcome technical barriers, the team designed a "Physics-driven Localization" module that fuses acoustic ranging with motion data from inertial measurement units (IMU) to project precise rays for appliance selection. Additionally, the team introduced a "Universal Gesture Interaction" design capable of recognizing gestures ranging from lightweight activation micro-gestures to complex multi-stroke gestures for rich control. These designs enable Wandatch to achieve ultra-high selection accuracy in deployment, while significantly reducing user interaction time compared to traditional smartphone applications and voice control.
From LANDMARC to Wandatch, from pioneering indoor positioning to reshaping the future of smart home interactions, the dual awards highlight HKUST(GZ)'s deep research in pervasive computing, mobile sensing, and IoT. The historic breakthrough of a research institution from the Chinese mainland leading the way in winning such awards underscores HKUST(GZ)'s academic legacy and its innovative prowess at the forefront of global research.
Award-winning Papers
Test of Time Award:
Lionel M. Ni, Yunhao Liu, Yiu Cho Lau, and Abhishek P. Patil, "LANDMARC: Indoor Location Sensing Using Active RFID", in IEEE PERCOM, 2003.
Mark Weiser Best Paper Award:
Lin Chen, Yandao Huang, Minghui Qiu, Shuxin Zhong, Jun Chen, and Kaishun Wu, "Wandatch: Infrastructure-Free Point-to-Command with Smartwatches and Speakers", in IEEE PERCOM, 2026.
