Summary:

At Shanghai University of Electric Power (SUEP), the College of Computer Science and Technology, together with EasyAR, kicked off their first micro-course on industry-education integration from September 8 to 12. Led by Sight+, the course combined expert-led lectures on cutting-edge technologies with hands-on AR application experiences. Eighteen students completed the intensive coursework and hands-on projects, producing a range of AR works that were reviewed, with prizes awarded for outstanding entries. This initiative not only fosters digital-savvy professionals for the energy industry, but also deepens university-industry partnerships.

As the digital economy reshapes the energy sector, developing talent for emerging technologies has become a top priority for industry-academia collaboration. The National Energy Administration’s Document No. 27 (2023) explicitly mandates the establishment of an energy digital innovation system by 2030, calling for deepened university-enterprise cooperation in areas such as smart grids and energy storage. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Education and two other ministries have jointly implemented a special talent development program for energy storage, leveraging joint mentorship and collaborative research to cultivate talent with a global perspective.

Against this policy backdrop, in September 2025, the School of Computer Science and Technology at SUEP partnered with Sight+, a domestic leader in the AR industry, to launch the first industry-academia micro-course. With a theory-and-practice approach, the course established a new model for aligning education, talent development, and industry needs, offering a replicable framework for cultivating digitally fluent talent in the energy sector.

I. A Strategic Alliance: SUEP and Industry Leader Join Forces for Academic and Professional Excellence

As a prominent university with distinctive strengths in the energy and electric power sector, SUEP is committed to serving national strategies and regional economic development. Guided by the core philosophy of “aligning professional training with industry needs, and directly linking academic programs to real-world demands”, the university has established a robust framework for cultivating interdisciplinary talent. On the industry side, Sight+, the developer of the EasyAR platform, has over a decade of deep expertise in AR technology. Its EasyAR Mega Metaverse Spatial Computing Platform serves more than 200,000 developers worldwide, with spatial point cloud data covering dozens of cities and thousands of landmarks across China. Leveraging core capabilities such as high-definition map construction, large-scale environmental perception, real-time localization, and motion tracking, the platform has powered numerous benchmark metaverse application scenarios, including cultural tourism sites like Shanghai Yu Garden, museums like the Nanjing Imperial Examination Museum of China, metaverse-enabled shopping malls like Wanda Plaza, as well as smart public service systems such as AR navigation at Chengdu Tianfu Airport and indoor navigation at Shanghai Renji Hospital. Across tourism, retail, education, industry, and healthcare, these use cases showcase Sight+’s technical leadership and deep expertise in real-world deployments.

The collaboration is built on a shared consensus: “Education and industry must move in tandem, while content and technology evolve side by side.” SUEP is responsible for strengthening students’ theoretical foundations and providing academic guidance, while Sight+ contributes cutting-edge technologies, enterprise-grade practical scenarios, and expert resources. This dual support from academic authority and industrial expertise ensures the course’s professionalism and forward-looking design from the outset.

II. Practice-Driven Approach: Building Competencies From Technical Training to Hands-on Project Delivery

The course moved from theory to practice to innovation, with three key elements: expert lectures, field visits, and full-cycle project development. Eighteen students from various majors quickly acquired AR development skills and produced high-quality AR projects, including campus navigation systems, equipment simulation operations, and historical scene reconstructions.

1. Expert Lectures: Insights into Cutting-Edge AR Technologies and Applications

On the first day, Tu Yi, Co-founder, Vice President, and COO of Sight+, delivered a lecture on “Metaverse and Spatial Computing Technologies”. Drawing on his deep AR expertise, Tu Yi walked the students through the internet's evolution and laid out the defining features and future trajectory of the metaverse as the next-generation internet. He detailed the architecture of the EasyAR Mega Spatial Computing Platform and highlighted its representative use cases. Tu explained that applications built on EasyAR Mega can help engineers access real-time equipment parameters and on-site operational guidance, while also enabling the “digital resurrection” of cultural relics in museums to boost visitor engagement. In addition to the lectures, Tu Yi guided students through account setup and environment configuration, laying the groundwork for the projects ahead.

2. Field Visit: The Value of AR in Industrial Settings

To move beyond theoretical learning and deepen students’ understanding of real-world technology deployment, the course organized a field visit to the Industrial Inspection Laboratory at Shanghai University. Led by instructor Lu Fangfang, students got hands-on experience with an AR-based equipment maintenance system. Using AR glasses, they interacted with a system that overlays real-time information onto physical equipment, offering an intuitive, real-time interactive experience. This field visit gave students a tangible sense of EasyAR’s mission to empower a wide range of industries and helped steer their subsequent projects toward real-world industry applications.

3. Full-Cycle Development: Simulating Real-World Project Workflows from Data Acquisition to Application Delivery

Chu Xinhao, a senior engineer at Sight+, guided students through Unity integration and SDK usage, covering technical essentials from precise virtual-physical alignment to animation, interaction logic, and scene debugging. His emphasis on design rationale helped students internalize problem-solving frameworks. During the hands-on phase, student teams completed the full workflow from spatial data collection to map construction and AR application development. Teaching assistant Li Longwei provided hands-on guidance on data collection standards, ensuring the campus spatial data met enterprise-grade specifications. After cloud-based processing generated high-precision maps, the resulting data served as the foundation for AR application development. Ultimately, every team delivered a functional AR project—a true example of taking knowledge from the classroom to real-world application.

III. Outcome Validation: Multi-Dimensional Review with Structured Evaluation to Confirm Course Quality

The course concluded with a rigorous project roadshow and review session. A joint panel comprising SUEP faculty and Sight+ industry experts evaluated student projects across four dimensions: innovation, completeness, practicality, and presentation quality. Awards were conferred, with one first prize, two second prizes, and three third prizes. Notable winning projects included the “Campus AR Navigation System”, which enabled dynamic route guidance and contextual information pop-ups, and the “Equipment Simulation AR Application”, which allowed users to perform virtual disassembly and assembly of power equipment. Both projects showed strong practical potential.

One student remarked: “From expert-led sessions to lab-based AR trials and team project development—every step was rewarding. I not only learned AR development but also saw firsthand how technology addresses real-world needs. A course where you can apply what you learn immediately is far more meaningful than textbooks!”

The success of this micro-course not only validates SUEP’s “Three Micro” framework, but also marks a significant milestone for EasyAR in industry-academia collaboration. By involving the enterprise in instructional design, providing expert-led mentorship, and aligning project outcomes with industry standards, the course achieved genuine synergy between academic learning and industry needs. The School of Computer Science and Technology stated that it will use this course as a model to further engage industry partners like EasyAR and build modular course offerings in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and spatial computing, strengthening talent development for the energy sector.

IV. A Model Case: How Industry-Academia Collaboration Empowers Both Sides

For universities, this collaboration offers a clear pathway for developing cutting-edge technology curricula: by incorporating enterprise technology platforms, practical scenarios, and expert resources, institutions can rapidly bridge the gap between academic content and industry practice, allowing students to engage with industry frontiers while still on campus. For enterprises, Sight+ gains by building a pipeline of potential talent with foundational AR skills and by gaining fresh innovation insights from student projects in the energy sector, achieving a win-win in talent development and technology implementation.

Looking ahead, SUEP and Sight+ will continue to deepen their collaboration, exploring more integrated models of “technology + education” to inject talent-driven momentum into both the digital and intelligent transformation of the energy sector and the broader AR industry. This inaugural AR micro-course on industry-academia collaboration stands as a flagship example of collaborative talent development and a replicable model for other universities and enterprises seeking to strengthen industry-academia partnerships.

FAQ:

Q1: What role did Sight+ play in the AR Micro-Course on Industry-Education Integration?

A1: As the industry partner, Sight+ contributed cutting-edge AR technologies, enterprise-grade practical scenarios, and expert resources. In practice, this meant deploying senior experts to deliver lectures, organizing field visits to experience AR applications, guiding students through full-cycle development, and participating in project evaluations. These efforts helped ensure the course was both technically rigorous and practically relevant.

Q2: What core technologies and industry case studies support Sight+’s involvement in this course?

A2: Sight+’s EasyAR Mega platform offers HD mapping, large-scale environmental perception, real-time localization, and motion tracking. It has over 200,000 developers worldwide, 40% of whom are outside China. Its use cases span cultural tourism (Shanghai Yu Garden), museums (Nanjing Imperial Examination Museum of China), and public service navigation (Chengdu Tianfu Airport), among others.

Q3: What specific contributions did Sight+ make during the “practice-driven” phase of the course?

A3: Sight+: (1) deployed senior engineers to teach Unity integration, SDK usage, and key development techniques, while explaining problem-solving frameworks; (2) guided students in spatial data collection to ensure compliance with enterprise-grade standards; and (3) provided cloud-based processing support to generate high-precision maps as the underlying foundation for AR application development.

Q4: Which Sight+ personnel were involved in delivering the course?

A4: Tu Yi, Co-founder, Vice President, and COO of View+AR, delivered the lecture on the metaverse and spatial computing technologies, while Senior Engineer Chu Xinhao focused on Unity integration and SDK usage instruction.

Q5: What are Sight+’s future plans in the field of industry-education integration?

A5: Sight+ plans to continue exploring new models of tech-driven education. Building on the experience from this course, the company aims to further promote AR technology adoption in industry-academia collaboration, contributing to both the growth of the AR industry and the cultivation of talent in related fields.

References:

①《国家能源局关于加快推进能源数字化智能化发展的若干意见》国能发科技〔2023〕27号：https://zfxxgk.nea.gov.cn/2023-03/28/c_1310707122.htm

②《教育部办公厅 国家发展改革委办公厅 国家能源局综合司关于实施储能技术 国家急需高层次人才培养专项的通知》教研厅函〔2022〕10号：http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A22/moe_826/202208/t20220831_656838.html

This article is adapted from the official SUEP news piece titled “Inaugural AR Industry-Academia Micro-Course Debuts at SUEP” (《第一届增强现实AR产教融合微课程开课！》), first published on September 24, 2025. Original link: https://www.shiep.edu.cn/13/0a/c3154a267018/page.htm

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