THE WINNERS OF 2019
WINNER OF THE VRNOW GRAND PRIZE
Ayahuasca – Kosmik Journey by Jan Kounen
A visionary experience through the realms of the medicinal plants, led by an indigenous Shipibo traditional healer in the Amazon rain forest. This mind blowing experience is a voyage through one of the most mysterious spiritual practices on the planet: Ayahuasca.
The jury’s verdict: “VR has not only the power to truly capture the spectacular psychedelic elements, but also the cultural and spiritual aspects of a drug that is popular among South American natives and Western hipsters alike. Many have tried to translate or describe the effect through writing, film, 360 video and more – but with this beautiful game-engine based experience the animators and artists have translated its essence successfully. This shows what only VR can do!”
WINNER OF THE VRNOW VISUALIZATION AWARD
Peppers Holosuite by Peppers Holosuite
Peppers Holosuite is a unity based multi layer visualization software for 2 and 3 dimensional virtual objects. It enables the performers on stage to interact with mixed reality (in a live context) and allows the audience to experience the performance simultaneously without technical aids.
The jury’s verdict: “Peppers Holosuite transports an old illusion technique, which was already used in theaters and the early days of film, into the 21st century. Supported by the latest interactive motion tracking technology, it advances „immersive theater“ as a whole, opening it up for a mass audience.”
WINNER OF THE VRNOW LEARNING SOLUTION AWARD
Siemens – VR/AR Training by Exozet Berlin
Exozet Berlin’s experience is a VR/ AR training scenario for the Siemens 4000 turbine. The engineers no longer have to be in the same country and can easily learn how the turbine works. In addition, the application is database-supported and can be modified without Unity.
The jury’s verdict: “This learning experience is another proof of the value that XR has for enterprises today. Not only it is an engaging marketing tool, but cleverly interlocks a meaningful virtual training simulation with other forms of corporate training. The experience is precisely and used centric developed and can be managed without then need of a master degree in computer sciences.”
WINNER OF THE VRNOW CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE AWARD
Songbird by Lucy Greenwell
You are retracing the steps of world renowned ornithologist Dr. Jim Jacobi, one of the last known people to ever see the ʻōʻō bird. Jim’s past experience and your present begin to merge as you first hear and then see the legendary ʻōʻō.
The jury’s verdict: “This experience creates a deep emotional connection towards nature and hopes to remind us about our own environmental responsibility. The beautiful fairy tale about mankind’s last encounter with the Moho bird catches our eye with its charming hand-painted look.”
WINNER OF THE VRNOW INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE AWARD
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets by James Hunt
Start playing simply by using your intuition: a game completely free from fail states, but that instead offers a range of colorful miniature worlds in front of you, filled with life and details for you to explore at your own pace. In the center of it all is a heartwarming tale where you travel back to the imaginative adventures of your childhood.
The jury’s verdict: “Beautifully designed, with a rich interactivity that has a direct impact on the experience, this outstanding VR project has the potential to make VR games even more accessible and bring it to a broader audience.”
Here are the projects that were nominated in 2019
The customer wants to see the new prototype, the team of architects needs to know how light falls through the windows in the main hall, the city council members needs evidence of how the new traffic-calmed zone reduces inner-city pollution, the patient needs info on how the surgeon wants to save her live. XR transforms data into living visions of what will be. This requires an award.
Beethoven VR
Exozet
Peppers Holosuite
Peppers Holosuite
Trimble XR10 with HoloLens 2
Trimble
The new high tech workbench, the complicated winding mechanism, the expensive high-maintenance thing on the other end of the world – so many people, so much to learn, so little time and so much money to save. Well designed and easy to handle XR training experiences help enterprises all over the world. The rewards: more time, energy, money, and the VR NOW Award.
Global eLearning – leARning
shoutr labs
Siemens – VR/ AR Training
Exozet
VR Plant Journey
Breakpoint One & Simmation
Being in the story with your whole body. Crying because it’s so sad, so beautiful, or so true. Realizing why XR experiences are called “experiences”. Cinematographers have found a new playing field, which they master better and better. The awe and wonder of next generation storytelling is worth an award.
Ayahuasca – Kosmik Journey
Atlas V, a_BAHN, Small
Mare Nostrum – the nightmare
Tama Filmproduktion
Songbird
TinDrum & The Guardian
Grown up in a world of video games, interactive experiences and VR games are the logical next step for a generation that needs agency, not latency. Surrounded by friends and enemies, caught in the action, we get physical in a virtual world. XR games sound like fun, don’t they? So why not give them an award?
Ayahuasca – Kosmik Journey
Atlas V, a_BAHN, Small
Songbird
TinDrum & The Guardian
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Fast Travel Games
The VR NOW Grand Prize is for ambitious and daring experiences, the extraordinarily beautiful, the tech wonders, the most empathetic and moving.
Therefore all listed nominees will compete for the VR NOW Grand Prize.
THE JURY
The submitted projects will be reviewed by independent judges consisting of renowned authors, founders, curators, journalists, investors and other representatives of the XR, technology and media industries. They are specialicts in their field and have the honor and challenge to nominate submitted projects in one of the four categories: Best VR Technology, Best Industry VR, Best Immersive Cinema, Best VR Entertainment. All nominated projects compete for the VR NOW Grand Prize. The new VR NOW H@ly Sh1t! Award is actively nominated by the hosts and jury members.
