Adrian David Cheok is an Australian political figure, electrical engineer, and academic. He is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In the 2019 federal election, he ran to represent the

Division of Boothby The Division of Boothby is an Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named after William Boo ...

as a member of the far-right

Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party, known informally as the Conservative National Party, or the Conservative Nationals, was a far-right nationalist political party in Australia founded by Fraser Anning in April 2019, when he was a se ...

. Cheok has been described as a

sex robot Sex robots or sexbots are anthropomorphic robotic sex dolls that have a humanoid form, human-like movement or behavior, and some degree of artificial intelligence. , although elaborately instrumented sex dolls have been created by a number of i ...

expert.

Early life and education

Cheok was raised in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Cheok obtained a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

(Electrical and Electronic) with First Class Honors in 1992, and PhD in Engineering in 1998 from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. Also studied in Singapore Science school

Career

Academic

In 2004, Cheok developed ''Human Pacman'', an early

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

game. In 2005, he created the ''Poultry Internet'' project which used a customised haptic jacket to allow him to remotely hug a chicken. In 2015, Cheok and his students created ''Scentee'', a device which allowed individuals to transmit fragrances via smartphones with the installed device and aroma cartridges. He has also performed research on taste simulation. In 2016, Cheok and student Emma Yang Zhang co-created ''Kissenger'', a device which allows people to remotely transmit the physical sensation of kissing. Cheok is a professor at in Tokyo, Japan. Cheok's research, in recent years, has focused on human sexual interaction with robots. Cheok has been criticised by colleagues for equating human-robot marriage with inter-racial and same-sex marriage, and concerns were raised over his professional conduct, specifically the ethical and consent issues of demonstrating

cybersex Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex and, colloquially, cyber or cybering, is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more people have long distance sex via electronic video communication (webcams, VR headsets, etc) and other e ...

ual inventions with young female students. In 2019, Cheok announced plans to set up an institution called the

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

Fraser Anning William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been criticised ...

as honorary chairman and president. At the time, the school was asking for donations but did not yet have any physical address and was not registered with the

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education. The agency's purpose is to protect student interests and the reputation of Australia' ...

Conferences

Cheok was a General Co-Chair of David Levy's ''Love and Sex with Robots'' conference. The conference presented papers which explored the ethics and practical considerations surrounding sexuality and the field of robotics, specifically

s. Its 2015 conference in Malaysia was cancelled by police who declared it illegal and inappropriate for the country's culture, and in 2016 the conference was hosted by

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

. In 2020, Cheok and most of the Committee resigned ''en masse''. In 2017, Cheok provided a keynote speech for the Foundation of Digital Games conference. After the conference the organisers issued a formal statement censuring Cheok for his behaviour after he personally attacked an academic on Twitter when she criticised aspects of his presentation. Cheok served as chairman of the academic conference Advances in Computer Entertainment, and contributed to its demise in 2018 when members of the conferences's committee objected to Cheok appointing David Levy, who has been criticised for his views on the use of child sex robots, to the conference's steering committee without consultation, and adding a "Love and Sex with Robots" strand to the conference. Cheok responded by inviting

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...

to give that year's

keynote speech A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

, prompting widespread international criticism from universities.

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

cancelled their involvement due to a low number of papers and concerns over irregularities in the paper submission and reviewing process. When many delegates declined to attend, Cheok cancelled the conference, criticising academia as "a bunch of weak willies".

Politics

Cheok is a supporter of Australian politician

, sharing his strong anti-immigration stance. At the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

, he ran as a candidate for Anning's Conservative National Party in the Adelaide division of Boothby, receiving 0.79% of the vote. He has been criticised for

Islamophobic Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

Facebook posts, and his use of Twitter has been unfavourably compared to Donald Trump tweets by critics. He was a member of Clive Palmer's United Australia Party, but stood down from the

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

party after being asked by Palmer to " dumb down" his policies.

Awards and honours

In 2003, Cheok received a Young Scientist Award from the

Singapore National Academy of Science Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS) is a government funded body in Singapore founded in 1967 and re-purposed in 1976 when some functions were invested into the Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAS). Since 2011, SNAS h ...

. He is a member of the World Technology Network, and was a Young Global Leader for the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. He is a Fellow, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. In 2016, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Awards by University of Adelaide, in recognition of his achievements and contribution in the field of Computing, Engineering and Multisensory communication. Cheok was recognized with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Member (AM) of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his work in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. This resulted in a formal request by the Australian chapter of the

Digital Games Research Association Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) is a nonprofit international learned society whose work focuses on game studies and associated activities. DiGRA was formally established in 2003 in Finland. It is a leading academic organization in th ...

to the

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, in defense of Cheok. The Order of Australia has not been rescinded, and Cheok remains a Member of the Order of Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheok, Adrian David 1970s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Adelaide alumni Members of the Order of Australia Australian roboticists Academics of the University of London Far-right politics in Australia