SYDNEY, May 24 (Xinhua) -- When Chinese electrical engineer Xiao Jiajie completed graduate school in Australia two years ago, it seemed only natural to him to extend his education and expertise in science and technology by continuing to work in the field.
When the opportunity came up to showcase his specialty in one of Australia's largest creative platforms, Xiao grasped it without hesitation.
Banking on China's strengths in light-emitting diode or LED lighting technology, Xiao and his project co-leader Zhang Jiawei managed to snag an installation spot in Vivid Sydney, the annual festival of light, music and innovation in the capital of Australia's New South Wales state.
"China is certainly a world leader in LED lighting, 3D display and interactive technology. Chinese LED manufacturers themselves produce most of the LED hardware now," Xiao, 26, told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.
"Vivid Sydney is in its 10th year and some of us have seen it in past years. We realized there haven't been that many artists, participants, with Chinese backgrounds involved in it," said Xiao.
"When we attended university here we also studied subjects such as electronics and computer programming, so we thought, why not focus on presenting something that China has strengths in, technological strengths and advantages, to bring it here to Australia and allow people here to see what these strengths are."
"The Space Arena," an interactive LED installation presented by Xiao and his team, is a hollow, container-like structure with an interior draped by LED "curtains" that display images, animation and other visual art. Viewer interactivity comes in the form of graffiti, emoji digital expressions and other messages sent from mobile devices such as smartphones that become visualized in the structure.
The installation is one of the festival's lighting highlights and will be put up for free public access near the Circular Quay area during the three-week event, which will start Friday.
The festival itself boasts top draws citywide, including the multicolored light up of the iconic Sydney Opera House in the harbor, talks with filmmaker James Cameron, and some of the latest innovations in jazz.
Xiao, who is from China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and has been in Sydney for a decade, said they had to go through a highly selective process that began late last year to take part in the festival.
Organizers were impressed with the LED installation idea and even provided some financial support for his team's work, which involved more than 200,000 Australian dollars (150,969 U.S. dollars), including hardware and setup costs, Xiao said.
A Chinese technology company also helped sponsor the installation.
Now working in a design and technology company in Sydney that uses similar cutting-edge LED applications, Xiao said his team aimed to bring the latest know-how to provide stunning visual effects and engage user interaction.
"This is a leading technology and a promising field of engineering. We want to show what China can offer."
