The annual Proto Awards, set up to highlight and honour the best and brightest the VR industry has to offer, is over for another year, with Google’s Tilt Brush walking away as the overall winner. But who else made the grade? Here’s a breakdown of all the nominees and winners across all categories.
Now in its 3rd year, the annual Proto Awards have shadowed Oculus’ developer conference Connect since the first event, with an aim to celebrate the best that this new immersive industry has to offer. Held at AVALON in Hollywood, CA, the event featured nominees vying for recognition across 17 categories, and one special award. Here they all are.
Best Social Experience:
AltspaceVR – AltspaceVR (Winner)
Lecture VR – Immersive VR Education Ltd.
Rec Room – Against Gravity
Pool Nation VR – Perilous Orbit & Cherry Pop Games
New Retro Arcade: Neon – Digital Cybercherries Limited
Speech Center VR – Cerevrum Inc
[irp posts=”47912″ name=”AltspaceVR Debuts Key Tech to Massively Scale Virtual Events”]
Best Mobile Experience:
Tactera – E McNeill (Winner)
The Night Cafe: A VR Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh – Borrowed Light Studios
Ctrl – Breaking Fourth
Zen Zone – Aaron Lemke
Pearl – Google Spotlight Studios
Music From Every Angle – m ss ng p eces
[irp posts=”48297″ name=”‘Tactera’ Review”]
Most Transportive Experience:
theBlu: Season 1 – Wevr (Winner)
Apollo 11 VR – Immersive VR Education Ltd.
The Climb – Crytek
ADR1FT – Three One Zero
Old Friend – Tyler Hurd
Irrational Exuberance: Prologue – Ben Vance, Wevr
[irp posts=”24999″ name=”My Hands-on With WEVR’s ‘theBlu: Encounter’ – Face to Face with a Giant of the Sea”]
Best Game:
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions (Winner)
Raw Data – Survios
The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed – Cloudhead Games
Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs
The Climb – Crytek
Bullet Train – Epic Games
[irp posts=”50684″ name=”‘Raw Data’ Early Access Review”]
Best Interaction Design:
Fantastic Contraption – Northway Games & Radial Games (Winner)
Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs
Waltz of the Wizard – Aldin Dynamics
SoundStage – Logan Olson
Tilt Brush – Google
Rec Room – Against Gravity
[irp posts=”35503″ name=”Open-world Building and Minimalist Game Design with Fantastic Contraption”]
Most Innovative:
Tilt Brush – Google (Winner)
Pixel Ripped 1989 – Pixel Ripped Inc
Blocks – Leap Motion
VR Noir: A Day Before the Night – StartVR
The Lab – Valve
FIREBIRD: La Peri (Book 1) – Innerspace VR
[irp posts=”52195″ name=”‘Firebird: La Peri’ Adds LoTR Actor in a Re-launch of One of VR’s Finest Experiences”]
Best Original Score:
Pearl – Google Spotlight Stories (Winner)
Zen Zone – Aaron Lemke
Pixel Ripped 1989 – Pixel Ripped Inc
Apollo 11 VR – Immersive VR Education Ltd.
Windlands – Psytec Games Ltd
The Rose And I – Penrose Studios
Best Live Action Experience:
The Argo File – Argos VR (Winner)
Music From Every Angle – m ss ng p eces
Hard World for Small Things – Wevr
Zoolander Infinity – David Rosenbaum, Jaunt
Waves – Wevr
The Presence – Pseudoscience Pictures
[irp posts=”42323″ name=”Jaunt’s New ‘Zoolander 2’ 360 Video is a Farcical Romp”]
Best Sound Design:
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions (Winner)
Zen Zone – Aaron Lemke
Trials on Tatooine: A Cinematic Star Wars Experiment – ILMxLAB
Chronos – Gunfire Games
Reeps One: Does Not Exist – Aurelia Soundworks
Land’s End – ustwo games
[irp posts=”44438″ name=”Hands-on: Star Wars ‘Trials on Tatooine’ Let Me Wield the Iconic Lightsaber”]
Best Educational Experience:
Apollo 11 VR – Immersive VR Education Ltd. (Winner)
Lecture VR – Immersive VR Education Ltd.
Grav|Lab – Gravitational Testing Facility & Observations – Mark Schramm
House of Languages VR – Fox3D
C O S M Worlds Within Worlds – Dynamoid
The Field Trip to Mars – Framestore VR Studio & McCann
[irp posts=”53648″ name=”‘Grav|Lab’ Lets you Build Incredible Machines with Oculus Touch and HTC Vive”]
Best Student Experience:
Fruit Golf – Coal Car StudioWe Are Alfred – Embodied Labs (Winner)
Shining360 – Claire Hentschker
Lions & Deer – Lean House Media
Chapel – Dean Moro and Lauren Krikorian
My real virtual body: Body Swapping in virtual reality – Alice Chirico
Best Music Experience:
Soundscape – SNAKE Productions (Winner)
Old Friend – Tyler Hurd
Music From Every Angle – m ss ng p eces
Grace – MacInnes Scott
SoundStage – Logan Olson
Apex – Arjan van Meerten
Best Art Direction:
FIREBIRD: La Peri (Book 1) – Innerspace VRKismet – Psyop (Winner)
Chronos – Gunfire Games
Apex – Arjan van Meerten
Cosmic Trip – Funktronic Labs
theBlu: Season 1 – Wevr
[irp posts=”44973″ name=”Ben Gabbard on the VR Design & Gameplay of ‘Chronos’”]
Best Narrative Experience:
The Gallery – Episode 1: Call of the Starseed – Cloudhead Games (Winner)
Waves – Wevr
Knives – Adam Cosco
Pearl – Google Spotlight Stories
The Martian VR Experience – Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Innovation Lab, RSA Films, The Virtual Reality Company
Kiya – Emblematic Group
[irp posts=”40784″ name=”Hands On: The Martian VR Experience is a Triumph in Motion”]
Best Independent Experience:
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions (Winner)
Tactera – E McNeill
SoundStage – Logan Olson
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope – Croteam
Shape Space VR – Zen Parade – Kevin Mack
Windlands – Psytec Games Ltd
Best User Interface:
Modbox – Alientrap (Winner)
Dota VR Hub – Valve
Envelop VR – Bob Berry
Orian Trail VR – Schell Games
Transport – Wevr
Speech Center VR – Cerevrum Inc
[irp posts=”51134″ name=”Inside the ‘DOTA 2 VR Hub'”]
Best Overall:
Tilt Brush – Google (Winner)
Raw Data – Survios
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions
Bullet Train – Epic Games
Modbox – Alientrap
The Lab – Valve
[irp posts=”54196″ name=”Epic’s New Action-packed ‘Robo Recall’ FPS is Beautiful, Brutal Arcade Fun”]
The Founders’ Award:
Dr. Thomas A. Furness III