10 Mar 2022 | Sam Sprigg

Submit your nomination TODAY for the 13th Annual Auggie Awards

Augmented Reality Virtual Reality

At the end of this month, movie stars will leave their mansions to attend one of the world’s most prestigious award ceremonies in the entertainment industry at the 94th Oscars Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California. Do you know what else ties in with the Oscars? That’s right, it’s the deadline for submissions to AWE’s own XR-studded California-based Awards ceremony - The Auggie Awards (aka “The Auggies") at AWE USA 2022!

This year’s AWE USA in-person event is fast approaching and one of the most exciting things about attending the leading XR conference and expo is being able to discover the latest in cutting-edge technology emerging from the world of virtual and augmented reality.

One way of recognizing all the incredible achievements being made across the XR space is with AWE’s annual Auggie Awards ceremony - the most recognized AR & VR industry awards in the world since 2010. Now in their 13th year, the Auggies continue to showcase the best-of-the-best in AR and VR. Plus, the Auggies are not just limited to large providers or big tech companies – anyone in the XR industry can nominate a product or solution across one of 15 categories. You’ll have to act fast though, as the deadline for submissions to the Auggies is April 6, 2022.

What are the Auggie Awards

The Auggie Awards are AWE’s long-standing awards ceremony that honors the industry’s best and brightest companies and individuals, and the innovative XR solutions that they have put out that year. The Auggie Awards have been running for more than a decade now and over the years we have seen hundreds of winners, many of whom are still achieving extraordinary things across the XR industry today. Notable brands have also won several awards at the Auggies for their incredible AR/VR experiences.

Originally, the awards ceremony consisted of a series of demos live on stage (that’s right!), where any company was eligible to participate and present their AR product or app demo. When the Auggies started over a decade ago there were only six categories that covered best hardware, video, enterprise solution, SDK, mobile app and campaign.

However, as augmented and virtual reality technology has evolved, so too have the categories for nomination. The number of awards presented has now more than tripled to the current format, in order to accurately reflect the breadth and depth of the XR market and the ever-increasing use cases for VR and AR technology.

There are now a total of 15 categories for which companies and individuals can be nominated, covering a range of different aspects of the VR and AR industry. Categories are listed below, along with some worthy mentions of winners from previous years:

1. Best Headworn Device
   HoloLens by Microsoft (2017); VIVE Pro by HTC VIVE (2018); HMT-1 by RealWear (2019); Nreal Light by Nreal(2020);
2. Best Interaction Product
   TactSuit X40 by bHaptics (2021);
   
3. Best Developer Tool
   SLAM SDK by Wikitude (2017); 8th Wall Web by 8th Wall (2019);
   
4. Best AR/VR Collaboration Tool
   ShapesXR by Tvori Inc. (2021);
   
5. Best Creation and Authoring Tool
   Lens Studio 2.0 by Snap Inc. (2019);
   
6. Best App
   IKEA Place by Ikea (2018); The NYTimes app by The New York Times (2019); Google Maps Live View by Google (2021);
   
7. Best Marketing Campaign
   'Always-on' AR by 7-Eleven (2019);
   
8. Best Enterprise Solution
   Spatial by Spatial (2020);
   
9. Best Game or Toy
   Star Wars: Jedi Challenge by Lenovo (2018); Otherworld Heroes by Bublar Group (2020);
   
10. Best Art or Film
    The Navigator by MEOW WOLF (2019);
    
11. Best Societal Impact
    Breonna’s Garden by YesUniverse (2021);
    
12. Best Indie Creator(s)
    Hand Physics Lab by Dennys Kuhnert - Holonautic (2021);
    
13. Best Use of AI
    Eve by TechSee (2020);
    
14. Best in Location-Based Entertainment
    The Edge VR Matterhorn Experience by Red Bull (2021);
    
15. Best Healthcare and Wellness Solution
    MediView Surgical Navigation System by MediView XR, Inc. (2020).

There are also four further categories that are only chosen during the AWE USA event. These cover:

1. Best in Show: Augmented Reality
   Lightship by Niantic (2021);
2. Best in Show: Virtual Reality
   HaptX (2021);
   
3. Startup to Watch
   Varjo (2018);
4. AWEsome Award
   The Looking Glass by Looking Glass Factory (2018).
   

In addition to the main annual Auggie Awards, there are also local Best in Show awards handed out for AWE’s events elsewhere around the globe, including for AWE Europe, AWE Asia, and AWE Israel.

The most recent Auggie Awards ceremony that took place at AWE USA 2021.

Why you should submit your company or product as a nomination

If you are a company or individual who is nominated for an Auggie Award, you aim to benefit not only from the recognition you will receive from within the XR industry, but also from the increased publicity that a nomination will bring to your augmented or virtual reality product or solution. That is not to mention if your solution also wins its category, which would see leading press outlets who cover the awards name dropping you and your AR/VR innovation in their coverage of the event.

The Auggies are the XR industry’s most prestigious awards, and winners proudly display their accolades in order to stand out amongst the crowd, sharing the news on social media and in dedicated blog posts. They are definitely seen as something to brag about within the industry.

How are the winners selected?

Anyone from the XR industry can nominate a product or solution in one of the active categories mentioned above. Selected nominees then move forward to public voting, the results of which determine five finalists for each category. An AWE judging panel is also given the opportunity to “save” some nominations they wish to see included as a finalist. Finalists then move to the judging round, where they are rated in order to determine a winner, which gets announced on stage at AWE USA.

The Auggies are a great way for everyone across all areas of the XR industry to have their opinions heard on what they consider to be the most impressive AR and VR innovations over the last year, so make sure you also take part in the public vote to ensure your favorite XR company stands a good chance of winning in their respective category.

So, if the thought of industry-wide recognition and massively enhanced coverage of your AR or VR product or solution sounds appealing to you, then make sure you don’t miss out on the 13th annual Auggie Awards. The deadline for submissions for this year's Auggie Awards is approaching soon, closing April 6, 2022. If you would like to submit a company as a nominee for this year’s awards, click here.

Until then, please enjoy this throwback to the 2012 Auggie Awards, just to see how the format differed compared to today's awards. Any company at the event was able to submit their AR product or app and carry out a live four minute demo in front of a panel of judges and audience members, who were ultimately the ones to decide the winner via a text-in vote.

The early days of the Auggie Awards, back when AWE was called "ARE".

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