Finalists in the 2016 Vision VR/AR Awards were announced with some previously under-the-radar titles in the running at the Unity-hosted event. The awards will be held at the Vision VR/AR Summit taking place February 10 and 11 in Hollywood.
The finalists include more widely shown experiences, such as Owlchemy Labs’ Job Simulator, but also featured are lesser known masterpieces like Radial Games’ Fantastic Contraption.
The panel of judges consists of notable VR executives and personalities including: Brandon Bray from Microsoft, Jed Ashforth from Sony, Chris Pruett from Oculus, Timoni West from Unity Technologies, Per Nielsen from PTC, and Upload VR’s own Will Mason.
Hopeful award winners went through an online submission process and this week the final nominees for each category were officially revealed.
If you’re unfamiliar, Fantastic Contraption makes full use of the Vive’s standing, room-scale, capabilities to allow players to construct creative devices in a walkable world filled with realistic physics.
Another game that has been absent from wider industry discussion, but seems fully deserving of its nomination, is Neat Corporation’s Budget Cuts. The game, which will require hand controls to be fully enjoyed, looks like a delightful crossover between Portal and Metal Gear Solid. If that sounds a bit too strange to be true just check out the video below.
Other interesting nominees are Table Zombies (an AR smartphone game), Eleanor of Ayer (an AR smart device alternate reality game), The Shoebox Diorama (interactive VR dioramas), and Lucid Trips. Lucid Trips in particular straddles that line between awesome and odd the way only a VR experience can.
The full list of nominees spans eight categories, each with three nominations and a list of honorable mentions as well.
VISION INSPIRE AWARD
I Expect You to Die – Schell Games
Fantastic Contraption – Radial Games
Faster Than Light – Anomaly Productions
Honorable Mentions: Job Simulator, Lucid Trips – Whateverland, BRAVEMIND
BEST VR EXPERIENCE
Fantastic Contraption – Radial Games
Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs
Thunderbird: The Legend Begins – Kai and Tony Davidson
Honorable Mentions: Classroom Aquatic, Apollo 11 VR, Modbox
BEST AR EXPERIENCE
Table Zombies – SRG United Solutions
Eleanor of Ayer – Gelly Bomb Games
Faster Than Light – Anomaly Productions
Honorable Mentions: Kraft Interactive Placemat, Clandestine: Anomaly
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Technolust – IRIS VR Inc
SENS – Red Corner
Lucid Trips – Whateverland – Lucid Trips Team
Honorable Mentions: Jake and Tess’ Finding Monsters Adventure, Arizona Sunshine, Residential Condominium Architectural Simulation
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Modbox – Alientrap
Residential Condominium Architectural Simulation – Arch Virtual
EasyAR Engine – EasyAR
Honorable Mentions: Kraft Interactive Placemat, Fantastic Contraption
BEST GAME
I Expect You to Die – Schell Games
Budget Cuts – Neat Corporation
Classroom Aquatic – Sunken Places
Honorable Mentions: Jake and Tess’ Finding Monsters Adventure, Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Games, Vanguard V
BEST FILM/INTERACTIVE STORY
Apollo 11 VR – Immersive VR Education
The Shoebox Diorama – Daniel Ernst
The Fabulous Journeys of Tess & Leonie
Honorable Mentions: Waves of Grace, Happyland360
BEST LIVE-ACTION EXPERIENCE
U2 Song for Someone – Chris Milk, U2, Universal Music Group, Vrse Inc., vrse.Works
Get Barreled in Tahiti – Rapid VR
Sinking – Maren Demant
Honorable Mentions: Waves of Grace, Imago
The Vision VR/AR Awards is not the first VR specific awards program – The Proto Awards were founded in 2014 – but it is notable for the sponsors it is attracting. Facebook, Valve, and Google are all listed as sponsors through their respective Oculus, Steam VR, and Google Cardboard VR efforts. Sony is also a sponsor and the entire summit is being hosted by Unity.
The winners in each category will be announced during the official ceremony on February 10 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California.
