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Winner to be Announced June 1

NEW YORK, May 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AWE, the world's first and largest community of AR and VR professionals as well as the world's largest XR-specific trade show with 300+ exhibitors showcasing the full breadth of the XR ecosystem, today announced the 11 project teams that advanced to the final round of the $100,000 XR Prize Challenge: Fight Climate Change. These finalists include representation from all around the world and from a range of educational institutions, companies and individuals.<read more>

The XR Prize Challenge is a global competition organized by AWE co-founder Ori Inbar and the AWE team as the means towards harnessing AR and VR (XR) solutions to help fight climate change. The $100,000 cash prize will be awarded to the best submission demonstrating a creative, functional, and impactful XR-based solution to help humanity in our fight against climate change.

A total of 90 out of 150 teams submitted MVP demos to be judged for a chance to advance to the finals. Finalists were selected by expert independent judges; with teams from all 4 categories advancing.

• Replacing Wasteful Material Practices
• Visualizing The Causes & Impacts Of Climate Change
• Educating About Solutions To Climate Change
• Optimizing Design & Execution Of Climate Solutions

The MAJORITY (6 of 11) of finalist project teams are led/represented by women, a point of pride for AWE leadership who have long advocated to provide equal representation in the XR industry. The finalist teams represent 3 continents & 4 countries:

• 7 from the United States
• 2 from the UK
• 1 from Brazil
• 1 from Denmark

The finalists announced below will all demonstrate their solutions at a special event at AWE USA, on Tuesday May 30, 2023, with the winner announced on June 1, 2023 at the Auggie Awards. All of the 150 MVP submissions can be viewed in an online project gallery - https://auggies.awexr.com/gallery/BLgzmenL .. 

Finalists include:

• Between Two Worlds        
• Our Augmented Reality app invites viewers to experience wildlife art as they've never seen before. Scanning the endangered animals brings them to life and reveals the threats to their habitats.
• Figmin XR    
• Figmin XR is a versatile AR app that lets you create, collect, and play with immersive digital objects, reducing wasteful material practices and promoting sustainability.
• The Immersion Project
• A rigorous scientific research project, a traveling educational art exhibition incorporating AR, and an actual solution to restore deep-sea corals and protect their role in mitigating climate change.
• inCitu: Augmented-Reality-powered City Development           
• inCitu brings future cities to life through Augmented Reality to foster collaboration around the process of urban change.
• Lowjacking: Correcting Creative Control         
• Lowjacking - Correcting Creative Control: Digitally exposing the environmental-impacts of the worlds most polluting brand advertisements, redesigning them to champion environmentally friendly alternatives.
• Mangrove City inCitu: Augmented-Reality-powered City Development   
• Mangrove City is a VR experience designed for middle school students to explore the crucial role of mangrove forests in protecting coastal communities and mitigating climate change.
• Ocellus XR: Visualizing Climate Risk, Vulnerability and Equity in NYC          
• Visualizing Climate Risk, Vulnerability and Equity in NYC
• Origen Xr
• Explore the immersive story-world of Origen XR where stories meet meaningful interactions to connect with the common origin that unites all living beings on Earth, nature.
• Qikiqtaruk - Experiencing the Arctic under threat      
• Travel to Qikiqtaruk, at the forefront of climate change, with an Arctic scientist and an Inuvialuit park ranger as your guides, experience the tundra thawing away beneath your feet.
• The Sea is Coming!
• The Sea is Coming! Can you save this coastal town? Make tough decisions and prepare for climate change impacts! Didn't succeed? No Problem. Try again and learn from your mistakes!
• Waste Warrior         
• Waste Warrior is a location-based trash-sorting game we are piloting in Singapore to educate the public about the local recycling program.

"We are very proud of the 11 teams who have gained the respect of our expert judges - their combined impact on climate change is worthy of attention and demonstrates that XR is indeed an important - if not vital - tool in this fight for the future of planet Earth," said Ori Inbar, co-founder of AWE.

AWE offers an endless stream of online webinars and local meetups in 30+ cities around the world at https://www.awe.live/, as well as high-quality educational classes and workshops with the best instructors from the XR community - for the XR community. Free access to the largest collection of free videos of talks and webinars in AR & VR and the XR industry's most prestigious and long-standing awards competition - The Auggie Awards.

AWE (Augmented World Expo) is the world's leading AR+VR conference and expo with events in the USA, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. AWE events consistently bring together a mix of CEOs, CTOs, designers, developers, creative agencies, futurists, analysts, investors and top press in a unique opportunity to learn, inspire, partner and experience firsthand one of the most exciting industries of our times.

All trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are hereby recognized and acknowledged.

For more information, please contact AWE PR Counsel Jonathan Hirshon at jh@horizonpr.com

SOURCE AWE