Green initiative and bot top award winners

Two local start-ups using artificial technology have won the innovation challenge launched by developer New World Group, including one that installed robots for customer service in malls.

Fano Labs, the first runner-up, introduced a customer service bot, which uses auto language detection technology to understand customer queries and help them find information they need when visiting malls. It can also simulate the human voice when answering questions.

Albert Lam Yun-sang, chief scientist and chief technology officer at Fano Labs, said traditional interactions with customers through websites and phone calls are often not monitored well.

He also said automating human interactions in Hong Kong was challenging due to people mixing Cantonese and English in conversations.

"We are the only company in the world that can handle the city's unique language environment. Our auto-language detection technology can handle mixed languages with over 90 percent accuracy rate," he said.

Lam believes the technology can also be used for customer service in different industries, such as banks and telecommunication companies. He also said his company planned to include more languages for the robot's detection tool and promote it to overseas markets.

"Our tool is already capable of handling Thai and Arabic, and we look forward to exporting it to southeast Asia and the Middle East," he said.

Carnot Innovations, the startup champion and recipient of the most sustainable award, created a data-driven building optimization technology that can help save over 15 percent in energy costs, uncover 90 percent of hidden faults and reduce 50 percent of key operation faults.

"Our innovation can help save over US$30,000 (HK$234,000) worth of energy on average for a commercial building every year as well as reduce its carbon footprint and protect the environment," said cofounder Ashish Justin.

"The technology can help adjust temperatures in a building's air-conditioning and also change intervals of water pumps," said Chris Choy Tsz-leung, another cofounder.

The platform has been deployed in 28 Grade A buildings in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. For example, it has helped a building in Central make energy savings of 12 percent a year and HK$300,000 in yearly electricity costs.

The competition finale was held on Saturday, and included university students and New World Group employees among nearly 200 applications.