This year’s 2017 Google Play Awards include new categories for top VR and AR apps, to which Google has nominated five apps each. The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 18th at 6:30PM PT during Google I/O, the company’s annual developer festival.

Ever since the reveal of Google Daydream at last year’s I/O event, and the launch of the first Daydream phone and headset late last year, Google has been making a big push for VR on Android.

Among 12 categories, the company had added two new ‘Best Experience’ categories for AR and VR to the Google Play Awards 2017.

Nominees were selected much like last year by cross-functional teams throughout Google who work hand-in-hand with the relevant categories and product areas. While category specific criteria can be found below, the common requirements across all categories focused on high star rating, technical performance and freshness, requiring a launch or major update since April 2016.

Here’s a look at the nominees:

Best VR Experience

Virtual Virtual Reality – Tender Claws

The Arcslinger – Big Red Button Entertainment

Mekorama VR – Martin Magni

Gunjack 2: End of Shift – CCP Games

The Turning Forest – Media Applications Technologies for the BBC Entertainment

Best AR Experience

Dinosaurs Among Us – American Museum of Natural History

HOLO (beta) – 8i

WOORLD – Funomena

WayfairView – Wayfair

Crayola Color Blaster – Legacy Games

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Pretty much everything I’ve ever seen on AR so far looks like the most casual and/or gimmicky of games/experiences. VR on the other hand already has a bunch of genuinely high quality games and experiences to enjoy.