‘VR Handwashing: Guardians of Cleanliness’ Project

Question 1

What exactly will the students do?

Answer

Across the three sessions, students will first attend a short lecture. Then, they will either watch a hand-washing video OR take part in a VR hand-washing game. After watching the video OR playing the VR game, they will be requested to complete a questionnaire. In any case, every participating student is guaranteed to take part in the VR hand-washing game at least once during the project period. In addition, students will undergo a hand fluorescent lotion test and an interview both before and after watching the video or participating in the VR game.

Question 2

Why are fluorescent lotion and ultraviolet light test adopted to assess hand-washing performance?

Answer

After the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the public have become somewhat less vigilant about maintaining hygiene. The Health and Medical Research Fund supports this project for better understand of students’ hand-washing habits and examining whether VR technology or related multimedia technologies can improve their relevant behavior. Therefore, a fluorescent lotion and ultraviolet light test (such as Glo Germ™) is adopted to simulate contamination on hands and the hand-washing performance. This test is commonly employed in medical schools and in public hygiene education. The lotion is applied to hand only and will be completely washed off after the activity, and is entirely harmless to the human body.

Question 3

What are the questionnaires about?

Answer

The questionnaire mainly probes into the student’s knowledge of hand hygiene, attitudes and initiatives regarding hygiene maintenance, and experience and satisfaction on learning through VR devices.

Question 4

Is there a specific schedule?

Answer

To reduce disruption to school’s regular class schedules, our research team will liaise with the schools to determine the specific schedule. For instance, if September 2026 is too rushed for schools due to the beginning of school year, we can arrange the visit in October 2026 instead. Activities can be scheduled in the morning, after lunch, or after school.

Question 5

What are the topics of thematic talks provided?

Answer

The thematic talks cover a wide range of topics focused on information technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and future media. Examples include the definition of AI, AI and misinformation, VR technology and future media, and the impact of AI and VR technology on healthcare and health, etc. We will also communicate with the participating schools to understand the specific interests of teachers and students, so as to tailor the contents accordingly.

Question 6

Are all students required to take part in this test?

Answer

We encourage all students to take part in the fluorescent lotion and ultraviolet light test, but this will be also subject to the decisions of the school and parents. The test takes about one minute to complete for each student. Our team will provide consent letter to the parents of the participating students for parental approval.

Question 7

Approximately how many students can take part in each activity?

Answer

As students need to be taught how to use the VR devices and assisted with any questions they may have, we recommend that each activity involve about 20 to 25 students. If more than 25 students wish to participate, our team can arrange multiple sessions per day or multiple visits.

Question 8

Can school choose to participate in only one activity or one session?

Answer

To maintain the integrity of the research project and in accordance with the agreement between our university and the Health and Medical Research Fund, students of participating schools are required to complete all the activities and evaluation stated in the invitation letter.

Date	Research Progress
Late September - October 2026	1st activity session
Two months after 1st session （November - December 2026）	Evaluation on the effectiveness of activity
February - March 2027	2nd activity session
Two months after 2nd session （June - July 2027）	Evaluation on the effectiveness of activity / 3rd activity session (per school’s request)

Prof. King-wa Fu	School of Future Media, HKU
Prof. Patrick Pak-keung Ip	Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, HKU
Dr. Mike Yat-wah Kwan	Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital
Prof. Reichert Frank	Faculty of Education, HKU
Prof. Hai Liang	School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK
Prof. Issac Fung	Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, Georgia Southern University
Prof. Zion Tse	Queen Mary, University of London