Winners of Halo Awards 2020 announced

Despite the current context and with the hybrid edition of VRDays Europe, the Halo Awards ceremony took place online on November 4th in the Laval Virtual World. 10 immersive projects were rewarded by the brightest minds in VR, AR and MR. The jury includes international XR experts from PTC, Moodify, Virtual Switzerland and Techer Team.

The Halo Award is an award for AR, VR and MR projects. Halo’s goal is to shine a special light on outstanding European works, performances, projects and the creative people that produced them. The Halo Awards’ ambition is to set the standard for quality works and to unite the VR, AR, and MR community in passion, excellence, and innovation.

Awards have been awarded in the following categories: Best Training Application, Best Co-Working Application, Best Industrial Application, Best Education Application, Best Therapy Application, Best Research Application, Best Non-fiction, Best Fiction, Best Game and the Special New Horizons Award.

Meilleure Application de Formation – XR Fire Trainer (Agogy)

AGOGY is a creator of innovative solutions for risk prevention training. XR Fire Trainer is the world’s first simulator of light extinction in augmented reality in which the virtual interacts with the real world. It was developed in collaboration with CLARTE, a virtual reality laboratory based in Laval. XR Fire Trainer is a mobile solution that allows to simulate a very realistic fire directly in the work environment of trainees.

Best Co-Working Application – Aptero Virtual Collaboration (Aptero)

Aptero Virtual Collaboration is a a Virtual 3D Room accessible for anyone with any device (standalone headsets, connected headsets and smartphones). It provides meetings, trainings in 3D, and web based, making it available on all devices. Aptero works with international multi-sector clients such as Paris Airport or l’Oréal which are finding this 3D solution the easiest to use on the market.

Best Industrial Application – XR for Industry 4.0 (TU Delft)

At Delft University of Technology, a team of researchers looks into supporting technologies for ‘Operator 4.0’. With the current changes in the industry, called Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution, production systems become more advanced and more information is available about the processes. This information could be used in various applications that improve the capabilities of the worker (Operator 4.0), improve the operation efficiency of factories, and having a more sustainable development process with remote prototyping and less hardware needed for testing and simulation.

Best Education Application – WDR AR 1933-1945 (WDR Doku&Digital)

Their intention is to preserve the experiences of young people in World War II and make them accessible, because the ability for contemporary witnesses to go to schools, for example, in order to be able to tell their experiences up close, does not last forever. For the App “WDR AR 1933-1945”, they used Augmented Reality to develop a new kind of storytelling – not flat, but bringing the contemporary witnesses’ stories into the user’s room.

Best Therapy Application – The Challenge Project (Khora Studio)

The Challenge project is all about developing a new therapy using VR simulations to aid people who suffer from auditory hallucinations, specifically, hearing malevolent voices. This a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia and paranoid schizophrenia.

Best Research Application – Holoball (Toshikazu Oshima)

Biology is the most basic scientific discipline that directly relates to our bodies and lives. And biology education generally uses various kinds of teaching materials. HoloBALL offers virtual models with tangible interfaces to enable students to learn biology; this interface provides them with the feel of performing experiments in a real laboratory without killing any living organisms.

Best Non-Fiction – When We Stayed Home (TARGO)

“When We Stayed Home” is a series of four cinematic short VR documentaries that take viewers on an eerie exploration of iconic cities under lockdown at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in the world. This series immortalizes this anomalous moment in our history. By bringing viewers at the heart of the world’s empty streets of Paris, Venice, Jerusalem and Tokyo, the series invites viewers to reflect on this moment.

Best Fiction – Passenger (Diversion Cinema)

PASSENGER is a 360 degree stop-motion VR film that tells the story of arriving in a new country to live. Your taxi driver, himself a migrant to Australia, navigates the new terrain with you, acting as your guide while also revealing small parts of his own story. PASSENGER recreates and investigates the geographic and visual dislocation of arriving somewhere unfamiliar, and beginning the journey of finding a new home in a foreign land.

Best Game – Under the Pillow: Kitten Mormitten (Georgy Molodtsov)

Under the Pillow (VR preview) is the first element of the project we are creating for multiple platforms about a toy-helper kitten Mormitten which helps parents and kids to navigate through kids problems.

Special New Horizons Award – META.SPACE VR Platform (INVR.SPACE)

INVR.SPACE is a Virtual Reality Production Studio consisting of creatives and technologists who follow their own visions but also serve others to master the beauty and complexity of VR production. They do concept design and consulting but can support your production as well very hands on as they have inhouse facilities to produce and postproduce 360 / VR Content (real life or CGI in mono and stereoscopic 3D).