Participants experience the latest technological achievements in the Sharing the Future Experience Zone at the 18th Pujiang Innovation Forum. [Photo/WeChat account: pudongfabu]

The 18th Pujiang Innovation Forum, a leading platform for scientific and technological exchange among global scientists and entrepreneurs, set new records in scale and participation. More than 550 guests from over 300 institutions across 45 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil, took part.

Compared with previous editions, this year's forum embedded cutting-edge technology into every aspect of the forum. For the first time, it introduced a "Foreseeing the Future Exhibition Zone" and a "Sharing the Future Experience Zone," allowing participants to gain a firsthand understanding of Shanghai's scientific and technological achievements in future industries.

Enterprises from the Zhangjiang AI Innovation Town also displayed their latest technologies. In the "Sharing the Future Experience Zone," the Shanghai Yansi Institute of Brain-like Artificial Intelligence invited volunteers to try its non-invasive brain-computer interface game. Participants wore EEG caps and, without using a mouse, controlled the video game Black Myth: Wukong solely through concentration. After only ten minutes of training, users were able to master the basic controls.

The ability to send commands directly from the brain to machines, or enable paralyzed patients to use robotic arms to lift a cup through thoughts alone, is no longer science fiction but a breakthrough moment for China's brain-computer interface industry.

Participants from China and abroad participate in the 18th Pujiang Innovation Forum. [Photo/WeChat account: pudongfabu]

Throughout this year's forum, the theme of "the future" was evident at every corner. At the InnoMatch Global Tech-Matching Fair, a key highlight of the event, the Shanghai Zhangjiang Institute of Mathematics introduced the "Math-Medicine AI Agent." As a leading product in the rapidly growing field of medical intelligence, this technology integrates mathematical modeling and medical knowledge to build an intelligent diagnosis assistance system, improving both diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Experts believe this interdisciplinary innovation could enable smart, personalized healthcare with practical applications already underway.

While the "Sharing the Future Experience Zone" allowed visitors to witness firsthand how technology makes life better, the "Foreseeing the Future Exhibition Zone" highlighted Shanghai's representative sci-tech achievements in six major future sectors: information, manufacturing, energy, materials, space, and health. The zone also showcased the city's future industry planning and the inspirations emerging from the forum.

At the forum, six concept-validation platforms targeting future industries made their debut at the fair, accelerating the incubation of promising technologies.

The brain-computer interface validation platform connects universities, medical institutions, industry leaders, and investors to significantly reduce trial and error costs for innovation teams. For innovators, the greatest value of these platforms lies in their connectivity and access to vital resources.

Participants experience the latest AI-powered technological products. [Photo/WeChat account: pudongfabu]

According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the Shanghai Future Industry Fund, launched at last year's forum with a scale of 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), is already driving cutting-edge innovation across the city's entire value chain from basic research and industrial incubation to the development of strategic, disruptive, and forward-looking sectors.

The event brought together representatives from government authorities, scientific institutions, enterprises, investment incubators, and financial organizations. Featuring over 30 specialized sub-forums and closed-door meetings on frontier topics such as AI for Science, quantum intelligence, and controlled nuclear fusion, it invited Nobel, Wolf, and Turing laureates to discuss trends in the new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, as well as directions for basic research and future industries.

Additionally, the 2025 International Forum on Mesoscopic Brain Mapping, another key part of the forum, announced the establishment of the International Primate Mesoscopic Brain Mapping Alliance, marking the launch of a global systematic collaboration in primate brain mapping research.

Source: Official WeChat account of pudongfabu at "pdnews"