Taking place at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, Google I/O is an outdoor developer festival that lasts for three days. On May 17th – 19th, there will be hands-on learning, tech keynotes, and insight on Google’s latest developer products in the 2nd annual event.
The festival will also be home to the Google Play Awards and it has undergone a bit of change. Last time New York Times VR represented for the AR/VR industries with a win in the Most Innovative category (Within was also nominated) but, this year, there are entire categories dedicated to virtual and augmented content.
For 2017, the Google Play Awards categories have expanded from 10 to 12 to include Best AR Experience and Best VR Experience. Those nominated for the VR category exhibit “optimal use of the Daydream UI” with the AR nominees being recognized for “harnessing the creative and imaginative technology of AR”.
Best VR Experience Nominees
- Gunjack 2: End of Shift (Read our review here)
- Mekorama VR (Made it onto our list of must-play Daydream titles)
- The Arcslinger
- The Turning Forest (A touching VR fairy tale)
- Virtual Virtual Reality
Best AR Experience Nominees
Having dedicated categories such as these will stand as solid exposure not only for the experiences nominated but for the availability of VR and AR content on Google platforms. The hope is that the casual consumer will be paying attention, give some of this content a try, and remain open to new experiences utilizing this tech in the future.
