KASIKORN Business-Technology Group (KBTG) has a mission of taking Thailand to the forefront in the world of innovations. That\u2019s why the company is supporting Thai researchers who are the cream of the crop to join world-class organizations like MIT Media Lab, a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal is to create innovations of the future for the improved well-being of the Thai people and society in the next century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MIT Media Lab is a world-renowned research institution focused on multidisciplinary works, and not any particular technology. Its research studies combine technology with arts, engineering and design for results that can be applied to help improve quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Thadpong Pongthawornkamol<\/strong>, Managing Director of KBTG, said the\u00a0company\u2019s mission is to blend innovations and research works, creating\u00a0solutions to\u00a0help improve the quality of life for Thai people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This mission has brought KBTG to join MIT Media Lab\u2019s Research Consortium, which is open to leading companies from across the world. The consortium members are eligible to exchange knowledge and innovations between MIT Media Lab and\u00a0its research associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KBTG\u2019s status as a research lab member allows it to also nominate researchers to work with MIT Media Lab researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe did so in March and chose a research unit at MIT Media Lab that is going to work with us. We considered the research topics, process and content that matches KBTG\u2019s mission. The technology that KBTG is strong at involves blockchain, UX\/UI and artificial intelligence,\u201d Thadpong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, KBTG focuses its research on AI, human-computer interaction, and the use of AI to help improve human life experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the executives, KBTG hopes to improve technological capabilities of the company and the country, as well as empower KBank\u2019s customers and businesses. The goal is to use deep tech to build products that can be used by its customers to improve their lives financially and in other aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said it was Pat Pataranutaporn<\/strong>\u2019s idea for KBTG to take part in the research association. Pat is a skillful Thai researcher with background in various technologies. His study reports were published in leading global research journals, with many research works conducted under MIT Media Lab and other organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPat is not only good at technology, but he also has passion, creativity and the courage to try new things. We have found a Thai who is well prepared and wants support on the global stage in the research world. KBTG is pleased to support Pat with KBTG fellowship,\u201d Thadpong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fellowship is for studies at post-graduate and doctorate levels at any university in the United States. The company that offers the fellowship agrees on research areas with the recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKhun Pat is the first KBTG fellow. Initially, the fellowship will last\u00a0two years and can be extended upon a mutual agreement between KBTG and MIT Media Lab\u201d Thadpong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KBTG is the first Thai company to adopt this method at MIT Media Lab, offering the first fellowship to a Thai researcher in collaboration with MIT Media Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to see this fellowship model pushed by other Thai companies for more projects, both in Thailand and overseas,\u201d said the KBTG executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, KBTG will continue to push the fellowship model to support Thai researchers in creating innovations to serve Thai society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFellowships are a kind of investment for society and the country. If our research fellows can become world-class researchers, they will be able to bring immeasurable benefits. That\u2019s the ultimate goal of KBTG fellowships,\u201d Thadpong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pat Pataranutaporn<\/strong>, an MIT Media Lab graduate research student and KBTG fellow, said that his research work involved interactions between humans and AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research focuses on how human-AI interactions can improve their efficiency mutually and how to reduce the gap between humans and AI by mutual learning. Findings about how to make use of different intelligence could help improve\u00a0decision-making on different matters, including education, health and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pat has been infatuated with science fiction since his high-school days. His interest in MIT Media Lab began when he listened to Professor Pattie Maes talking on \u201cMeet the Sixth Sense interaction\u201d during a TED Talk event. He was excited and amazed that there are people who do advanced sci-fi that was far different from the science he learned in school about stars, nature and atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt that time I was studying in secondary school. I had the courage to e-mail Professor Pattie Maes and told her that I was a fan,\u201d Pat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He told the professor that he wanted to join MIT Media Lab and used her idea from TED Talk to develop his small project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe offered me encouragement, telling me to continue working on my projects. That changed my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pat continued his path toward becoming a researcher on human-computer interaction (HCI). He has now realized his dream of being a researcher in Professor Maes\u2019 team at MIT Media Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am just a pioneer. After this, there will be more Thais in the MIT Media Lab. The knowledge we learn will be brought back to Thailand to help improve our society,\u201d Pat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among his research works is \u201cBio+Digital Interface for Space Exploration\u201d, a collaboration with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The research involves creating future spacesuits that are capable of producing medicine on the astronaut\u2019s body, with sensors to detect their physical changes while in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pat is also interested in the virtual character, studying the uploading of the human body into the virtual world and turning humans into IT. He is working on projects called \u201cVirtual Human & AI-Generated Media\u201d and \u201cAI-Generated Character\u201d. His research study on \u201cAI-generated character for supporting personalized learning and well-being\u201d with KBTG\u2019s research team involves the use of AI in creating characters and its potential benefits to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this, students can be taught by AI-generated characters who resemble someone they want to teach them, Pat explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another research, \u201cSimulating the Multi-Self in the Multiverse\u201d, studies the creation of an AI-generated character in various versions, which allows people to learn from their past or future as if they used a time machine. They can choose to talk with themselves from any period of time and travel to different places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are research questions I am studying with KBTG. We are bringing to Thai society research works from MIT Media Lab that seem very futuristic,\u201d Pat said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Concepts studied at MIT Media Lab may appear far-fetched in the beginning but many of them were turned into products that are in use today, according to him. These include Google Maps and wearables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ruangroj Poonpol, the KBTG group chairman, said that KBTG is the first and only company in Thailand to send its researchers to work with MIT Media Lab, a leading global research institution that has created many world-changing technologies. KBTG looks for know-how from world-class researchers and research institutions, according to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKBTG will serve as the wind beneath Pat\u2019s wings. We have a firm commitment with MIT Media Lab to do cool things together. Thailand has always been a consumer of technologies. But now Thai companies and Thai people have the courage to develop advanced technologies,\u201d Ruangroj said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thadpong added that for KBTG, impact\u00a0on\u00a0consumers can be created when technology and innovation start from the research stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the first key factor in a strategy to push Thailand to the forefront of the technological world. The next factor involves KBTG\u2019s preparedness in funding research works, thanks to its technological and technical capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis fellowship model deserves the support of executives with the vision of pushing the technological potential of their companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pat and KBTG have succeeded in creating a \u201ctech ambassador\u201d from Thailand in an attempt to earn acceptance for Thais and Thai companies in the global stage of technological research for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KASIKORN Business-Technology Group (KBTG) has a mission of taking Thailand to the forefront in the world of innovations. That\u2019s why the company is supporting Thai researchers who are the cream of the crop to join world-class organizations like MIT Media Lab, a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. The goal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":70515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-story-special","category-technology-en"],"yoast_head":"\nEmpowering KBANK customers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The First KBTG Fellow<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
A model and the beginning<\/h4>\n\n\n\n