This year’s NEWVIEW AWARDS 2020 had 145 entries from 9 countries. The winners for all the awards were selected by a panel of 8 judges. This year’s judges included Naohiro Ukawa (Chief Judge), Daito Manabe, Ayaka Wada, David O’Reilly, Lu Yang, Jesse Damiani, Ton Van Gool, and Keng-Ming Liu.
This year’s highest honor, the Gold Prize, went to the XR artist “toidcoder” for his VR / AR work called “Birds of a Scape.” This piece presented the potential of interactive art in both VR and AR.
Gold and Silver Prize: Experiencing Experimental Expression and Narrative
The Gold Prize was awarded for the interactive art “Birds of a Scape” with a narrative that can be experienced in both VR and AR. The Silver Prize was awarded to the AR artwork called “DANDELION.” This work beautifully expressed the contradictory experience of being an extension of the human body but not in reality. The second silver prize went to “Displays XR”, which deals with the motif of a flat display in the VR world. The third silver prize went to “gaze on me”, which thinks about the presence of people who look at each other at very close distances.
One winner of the silver award, “Displays XR,” also won the SUPER DOMMUNE Prize which entitles the winner the ability in future programming collaboration with SUPER DOMMUNE.
Other awards included:
・au Smart Pass Premium Prize “nwe 2021 SPRING SUMMER WOMEN’s FASHION SHOW” | AR
・Media Ambition Tokyo Prize “Nether World” | VR
PARCO Prize “TECHNOVINEGAR” | VR
・Sanrio Puroland Prize “Contemporary” | VR
・WaiWai Prize “Alien’s Tokyo Tour” | VR
The NEWVIEW Program will continue to support the development of award-winning creators. We will continue our efforts to discover and nurture next-generation XR creators and develop designs for new creative expression and experiences in three-dimensional space.
The GOLD Prize: Winner Received $20,000 USD
“Birds of a Scape” VR
Artist: toidcoder – Japan
This work is an interactive narrative that changes music and scenery depending on the viewer.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/d456b769-0ce1-447d-bd17-ddae32d43438
Jury Comments:
“This artwork was designed with the expectation that the work will evolve through the creation of more mechanisms and outputs without destroying the world view and experience of the work.” – Daito Manabe (Artist, Interaction Designer, Programmer, and DJ)
“You ride on the back of a phoenix and fly in the sky. The experience requires the presence of a person which causes other birds to come in and the light and sound changes. Every time I call a friend with my controller, the sky changes scenery, and every time I move around in it, I hear various sounds. This poetic view of the world showcasing the narrative of birds, light, and sound warmed my heart.” – Ayaka Wada (Idol)
“The overall design of this work, combining music and landscape experience, is very high quality, and I felt that further refinement of the visuals over time would make it an even more interesting and perfected VR game. We selected it for GOLD in the sense that we would like to see more effort put into upgrading it in the future.” – Lu Yang (Artist)
“Birds of a Scape is an experience with heart and a unique language of interaction, inviting body movement and co-creation. It embraced VR’s unique capability to activate the user’s body in virtual space, and it did so in an evocative, artistic way. Because the narrative of Birds of a Scape is informed by each user’s motion, every person leaves behind their own synesthetic signature. The inclusion of generative elements added an extra degree of surprise and richness.” – Jesse Damiani (Writer, Producer, and Curator)
“Especially for this work, we expect further innovation, breakthroughs, and applications. On the visual side, the experience is very interesting.” – Keng-Ming Liu (Bito Founder and Creative Director)
The SILVER Prize: Winners Received $5,000 USD (3 artworks)
“DANDELION” AR
Artist: Ryo Takegawa from xorium – Japan
Using a smartphone device, you can express the contradictory and frightening experience of being an extension of the human body but not in reality.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/4257c2d2-8a3d-47b7-ab2b-38114a20e8a8
Jury Comments:
“I felt that this work successfully connected reality and the virtual, and the interaction between reality and the virtual. I felt that the interaction between the vending machines we are used to seeing in our daily lives, which look exactly like real ones, and the ability to interact with these virtual objects via AR, gives us an opportunity to think about virtual reality on many levels.” – Lu Yang (Artist)
“So often when we think about the future of AR, we think about world-scale games and intrusive ad environments. DANDELION inverts this paradigm by asking users to interact with common objects like vending machines. Rather than existing as background elements, they become the focal point of the user’s experience in the real world. In setting the scene this way, DANDELION leans into AR’s unique capability to evoke new understandings of familiar space, leaving behind residual impressions of the experience even when users have put their phones away.” – Jesse Damiani (Writer, Producer, and Curator)
“In this work, I felt that the use of AR technology added interest to physical interaction. If you add sound design, I suspect that the experience would be amazing!” – Keng-Ming Liu (Bito Founder and Creative Director)
“Displays XR” VR
Artist: Tomoro Hanzawa (Graphic Designer / Filmmaker) – Japan
In the VR world, the motif of a flat display is intentionally handled, and this work attempts to express an experimental expression by taking the symbolism in reverse.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/294dc728-e38d-4f25-af78-0efbb851e137
Jury Comments:
“In a three-dimensional room, there is a two-dimensional, flat object called a liquid crystal screen, and a three-dimensional image of a grassland and sky is projected on the screen. The LCD screen was bent and the images that were supposed to be displayed on the LCD screen were spread all over the walls of the room, so I felt the expansion and continuity that transcended the framework and dimension. In artwork, such as painting, the artist tries to create beauty on a two-dimensional canvas. This artwork, although simple, really helps to showcase what can be art. It is a wonderful example.” – Ayaka Wada (Idol)
“It was an elegant idea and I felt it was very well done. This artist has an excellent sense of design.” – David O’Reilly (Artist)
“gaze on me” VR
Artist: Miki Nigo – Germany
In this artwork, the scene showcases the interaction between people who look at each other at a very close distance. This work is designed to make us think about our own existence.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/a4fa051f-30c3-4a83-88af-8a35866f81a0
Jury Comments:
“This work skillfully demonstrates observation from a unique perspective which can only be done in VR. There were many VR works, but this particular one had a very unique approach making it a memorable experience.” – Daito Manabe (Artist, Interaction Designer, Programmer, and DJ)
“I thought this artwork was wonderful. The originality of this artwork and the creation of the setting where we get a chance to get into the brain and nerves when looking at people is really amazing. Through this artwork, I got a better understanding of the thought and emotion of an object. The feeling of seeing and being seen is interesting. I found that the nature of gazing varies greatly. Also, I thought it was wonderful that the image of the character in this work was not limited to gender” – Ayaka Wada (Idol)
PARCO Prize (1 artwork)
“TECHNOVINEGAR”
Artist: 0b4k3 – Japan
A virtual energy experience that starts with a psychedelic trip after you drink a mysterious energy drink.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/7870af38-d19a-4453-93da-a664abb4e9b7
Jury Comment:
“Congratulations on winning the PARCO Prize.
All of the judges selected this work based on the following criteria: whether the work had a sense of PARCO’s character, whether the experience was designed to make use of XR, and whether there was something about the work that moved us emotionally.
“TECHNOVINEGAR” was selected as the winner of the PARCO Prize because it encompassed all the criteria described above.
I am looking forward to seeing this work and other collaborations with PARCO on display at PARCO next year, and I hope that it will inspire, surprise, delight, and move the hearts of PARCO customers.
Let’s make it together! Congratulations on your award.” – Naotaka Hayashi (Executive Officer of PARCO Corporation, in charge of CRM Promotion Department and Digital Promotion Department)
au Smartpass Premium Prize (1 artwork)
“nwe 2021 SPRING SUMMER WOMEN’S FASHION SHOW” AR
Artist: Augmented Fashion Research – Japan
Augmented Fashion Research launched an experimental digital fashion brand and designed and created their first collection as AR content.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/ab38b57c-a21c-43e2-aabc-d3f34496d5f8
Jury Comment:
“We at au believe that the concept of au 5G is to have customers use 5G and XR content as part of their “everyday life.” In this context, we selected the works that can be used by au customers right now. “nwe” is not just a work of art, but a work of art with a highly realistic story, starting with the actual sending of the postcard, experiencing the show through AR, and then making the purchase. We were very impressed with the futuristic and sophisticated design quality as well as the practicality and reality of the work, and selected it as a work that we could immediately offer to our customers.” – Taiji Matsuyama (Manager, Life Design Service Planning and Promotion Department, Service Headquarters, KDDI Corporation)
Media Ambition Tokyo Prize (1 artwork)
“Nether World” VR
Artist: Mayuka Otsuki (A high school student who wants to become a VR artist) – Japan
The theme of this work is to send the message of “love for the people who live in the present” through the experience of the dead.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/c0c11c95-276f-42ac-a6dc-dd58fdeb1c8d
Jury Comment:
“This work, which embodies a hair-raising dystopian world with its own story, is made more narrative by the fact that the experiencer himself dies at the beginning of the story.
The series of astonishing events that occurred one after another not only created excitement and anticipation due to unpredictable developments but also gave a sense of realism as if you were experiencing the world as a movie.
In addition, the message revealed at the end of the story, “This virtual world is strongly connected to the thoughts of real people,” transcended the concept of time and seemed to express the way humanity will interact with the future. I would like to highly evaluate this work with its strong message.” – Ou Sugiyama (Media Ambition Tokyo)
Sanrio Puroland Prize (1 artwork)
“Contemporary” VR
Artist: Takashi Kikaku (VR Revolutionaries) Japan
This work proposes a contemporary work as a new expression in VR/AR media.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/ada2d38a-c6c4-4637-85ce-6854978caffe
Jury Comment:
“There are three points that I appreciated this work. Extensibility (the sense of depth that keeps expanding, and the technical possibilities of further expansion from here), Immersiveness (the feeling of being able to completely enter the world created by this dance in a different space), and Beauty (the images are so beautiful that it draws you in and makes you want to watch more).
The image of this world appearing in the space of Puroland will make you feel right at home in this digital content, and for a moment, you will be able to enjoy a different kind of entertainment, but at the same time, you will feel comfortable with the real Puroland.
I thought this work embodied the new way of entertainment that we are aiming for, which is to go back and forth between the real and digital worlds, so that visitors can return to the real Puroland without feeling uncomfortable.” – Aya Komaki (President and Representative Director of Sanrio Entertainment Inc.)
SUPER DOMMUNE Prize (1 artwork)
“Displays XR”
Artist: Tomoro Hanzawa (Graphic Designer / Filmmaker) – Japan
*This artwork received two awards – the Silver Prize and SUPER DOMMUNE Prize.
WaiWai Prize (1 artwork)
“Alien’s Tokyo Tour”
Artist: Yuhi Namai (Creator) – Japan
This work is about the unusual experience of going to a strange place with aliens when traveling abroad is restricted.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/1f74de72-100f-48de-af7a-5f3c67300166
Jury Comment:
“It is simple, enjoyable, and easy to understand for anyone to experience.
This work reminds us of the potential of XR to remove the constraints of time, distance, and even the corona pandemic when unnecessary travel is frowned upon.
In addition, the idea that aliens take the buildings of tourist spots into the spacecraft is interesting. Being able to take objects and scenes of tourist spots that cannot actually be taken home is something that is rare. Traveling by photogrammetry can be incredibly enjoyable. I was thrilled to imagine a new way to enjoy a trip through “XR x sightseeing.” It is great to be able to take home a virtual object or a place as a memory and souvenir.” – Taro Inudo (Cable Media Wai Wai Planning Office Manager)
Virtual Exhibition Information
NEWVIEW AWARDS 2020 VIRTUAL EXHIBITION
“NEWVIEW 2020 VIRTUAL EXHIBITION,” which exhibited the finalist works of the “NEWVIEW AWARDS 2020” in a virtual space, was recently released. You can experience this exhibition from the “STYLY” VR app, Mobile app, and Web Player.
In the VR app, when you select an image of a work, it will transition to the work scene. In the Mobile app and WebPlayer, when you select an image of a work, the STYLY page of the work is displayed in the browser.
URL: https://gallery.styly.cc/scene/79fe8fc8-0b6e-4fb8-b574-8caaf36a5a3d