Japanese virtual reality (VR) software developer Psychic VR Lab will expand its Newview awards ceremony with additional prizes and judges ahead of the event in January 2022.
A host of new sponsors such as Nreal, Gizmondo, and Media Ambition Tokyo will offer numerous opportunities to showcase the work of rising developers, Psychic VR Lab announced this week.
Chinese augmented reality (AR) firm Nreal will also award a developer the chance to present their AR project, developed on the Psychic VR Lab’s STYLY creative cloud service, at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) and Consumer Electronics Show (CES) events.
US tech news outlet Gizmondo will also offer the winner an exhibition space in Japan, while cutting-edge tech and culture promoters Media Ambition Tokyo (MAT) will allow winners to display their AR project at an upcoming MAT event in Japan next year.
New Judges
The developments come as NEWVIEW introduced David O’Reilly, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, and Tina Sauerlaender to this year’s jury panel along with several VR artist and curators.
The three judges will bring a range of expertise, with O’Reilly previously working on TV programmes such as Adventure Time and South Park to the immersive AR experiences Mountain and Everything.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen is an artist and director who explores environmental storytelling through 3D animation and immersive installations.
His work has received international acclaim and awards such as Best VR Graphics at the Cinequest Festival for Technology and Cinema, the Prix du Jury award at Les Rencontres Arles, and Webby’s People’s Choice VR Award.
Judge Tina Sauerlaender has been at the forefront of VR technologies since 2010 when she began curating VR exhibitions as Head Curator at the Peer to Space exhibition hub in Berlin.
Additionally, Tina is the co-founder of VR arts research platform Radiance VR and leads the Saloon international network for women in art.
Current Prizes
Submitting a cross reality (XR) project to NewView 2021 is free for individuals, groups, and enterprises. Entries are currently open from August 10 to November 1 and include a grand prize of $20,000 USD.
Runners-up will receive additional prizes from Japanese mall chain Parco, which hosts VR experiences at its Discont and Natsuki Ono locations, and will provide winners with a chance to stage an AR experience at its Shibuya Parco Store location.
Featured on Styly VR
The news comes after Psychic VR Lab launched the STYLY VR creative cloud platform for various wearables such as Nreal Light smartglasses and more recently, the HTC Viveport store.
The platform contains community-focused applications to build a developer ecosystem across various online shared spaces.
Applications such as NEWVIEW’s Featuring Works Collection and Virtual Exhibition will provide a platform to view submissions as well as a growing digital networking and developer ecosystem.
