AWE Europe 2022 Launches the XR Prize Challenge: Fight Climate Change

$100K Competition Now Open for Concept Submissions

LISBON, Portugal, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Augmented World Expo (AWE), the leading series of worldwide events focused exclusively on the business of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) all known collectively as XR, today announced that as a major part of AWE Europe this year, the $100,000 XR Prize Challenge: Fight Climate Change is now officially kicked off.

The XR Prize Challenge is a global competition harnessing AR and VR (XR) solutions to help fight climate change. It is hosted by AWE, the renowned producer of global in-person and online XR events, and the world's most impactful XR community.

AWE is inviting submissions from teams and individuals, and especially collaborations between XR technologists and climate change experts from around the world to compete for the $100,000 cash prize awarded to the best submission demonstrating a creative, functional, and impactful XR-based solution to help humanity in our fight against climate change.

Climate change is one of the most urgent and long-term threats to life as we know it, and deserves our attention as a species, as professionals, and as technology experts. While the causes and effects of climate change are understood intellectually, they are difficult to grasp viscerally or emotionally because they seem so disconnected from our daily lives and behaviors. One of the biggest challenges in raising awareness of the impacts of climate change is that it is hard to fight a threat you can't see.

Additionally, while there are communities and communication platforms for those who wish to address climate change, these forums are often not as powerful as immersive solutions for educating people through direct and personal experience.

Climate change subject matter experts and entrepreneurs struggle to inspire people and policy-makers to take action. Finally, engineers and other professionals need spatially immersive tools to help improve and optimize design and execution for solutions to fight climate change.

XR, a technology that encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, is the ultimate tool to visualize information and generate empathy through immersive story-telling and spatial experiences.

In recent years, XR has had a positive impact on the world thanks to its potential to mitigate climate change. Whether by reducing the need to travel, reducing manufacturing and product waste, or even reducing the need for real estate spaces, XR technology is helping numerous industries fight climate change. However, the XR industry can and should do much more!

XR's strength is to help simulate and visualize the invisible and make the problem of climate change personal to every individual. It can help people see and feel the effects on their own lives, engage with other like-minded citizens and prompt them to take action against it. It can help professionals make the most effective decisions in their fight to develop solutions that address climate change.

Fighting climate change is not only a necessity for survival; it's also one of the biggest economic opportunities in the next few decades.

• October 20, 2022 | Competition Open for Concept Submissions
• December 31, 2022 | Concept Submission Deadline
• April 16, 2023 | MVP Submission Deadline
• May 1, 2023 | Finalists Announced
• June 1, 2023 | XR Prize Winners Announced at AWE

There are four categories for submissions—concepts and MVP solutions must demonstrate XR's role in: 

1. Replacing wasteful material consumption
2. Visualizing the causes & impacts of climate change
3. Educating about solutions to climate change
4. Optimizing design & execution of climate solutions

Submissions will be judged on their creativity, functionality, and impact – for more information, visit https://www.awexr.com.

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
• 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 [email protected]

SOURCE Augmented World Expo