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It's a Wrap! AWE Welcomes Record Number of Attendees, Speakers and Exhibitors, Reflecting 'Tipping Point' for Explosive XR Industry GrowthSANTA CLARA, Calif., June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The 9th AWE (Augmented World Expo), the world's #1 conference and expo dedicated to augmented reality and virtual reality (XR), officially wrapped after delivering a glimpse into the future of XR. Nearly 250 exhibitors showcased world-changing technologies that spanned more than 100,000 net square feet of exhibit space at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley – the largest show floor in AWE's nine-year history. Hosting the most innovative thinkers and doers, from major international brands to hundreds of startups, AWE 2018 truly mirrored the growth and maturity of the expanding XR industry. "Large and small companies from around the globe arrived in Silicon Valley to use AWE 2018 as a launchpad for the augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies transforming our world," said Ori Inbar, founder and producer of AWE. "With XR deployments already delivering meaningful ROI to Fortune 1000 companies (from 25% to 99% in productivity gains) it's no surprise that XR is on the cusp of skyrocketing to a $215 billion industry. Every organization, startup and investor must consider XR or be left behind--and with its panoramic view of the industry, there is no better place than AWE to dive in." AWE 2018 Highlights On May 31, the AWE 2018 Press Conference invited 15 companies, including Kopin, RealWear, eSight, Wikitude, Vyking Vuzix, Kaayatech, Ultrahaptics, NuHeara, Zappar, ScopeAR, vSports, Resonai, Varjo and Mantis Vision onto the main stage to reveal new product, service and partner announcements with press, analysts and attendees. In addition, AugmentedReality.org–the non-profit behind AWE–kicked off an initiative to promote collaboration on an Open AR Cloud, inviting those interested to stay informed at: OpenARCloud.org. To view the full AWE 2018 Press Conference, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9EsfGR7fgg. Also, on May 31, under the banner "Go XR, Be Awesome," AWE celebrated the winners of the 9th annual Auggie Awards, celebrating the very best in augmented and virtual reality. Awards were presented in 10 general categories, ranging from Best Consumer App to Best Developer Tool. And during the June 1 closing ceremony, AWE announced its Auggie Awards winners for Best-in-Show Augmented Reality (Upskill) and Best-in-Show Virtual Reality (Where Thoughts Go), as well as the winners of two new categories: Startup to Watch (Varjo) and the AWEsome award (HoloPlayer One by Looking Glass Labs). "As one Auggie winner colorfully stated at the ceremony: 'This means more to me than any other award win, because the people who vote for this know how hard it is to build what we build, so thank you,'" shared Ori Inbar, co-founder and executive producer of AWE, adding: "Every submission grabbed the attention of AWE, all truly representing what the Auggie Awards are all about: driving innovation and improving humanity. The quality of nominations and winners exceeded our expectations and we thank everyone--our entrants, judges, sponsors and partners for supporting this annual celebration of AR, VR, MR creativity and brilliance!" Winners of the 2018 Auggie Awards are: Best-in-Show Augmented Reality – Skylight by Upskill Best-in-Show Virtual Reality – Where Thoughts Go Startup to Watch – Varjo AWEsome Award – HoloPlayer One by Looking Glass Labs Best Consumer App sponsored AugmentedReality.org – IKEA Place by IKEA Best Art or Film sponsored by IEEE-SA – "Karim & Noor" by Blink Studios Best Creator & Authoring Tool sponsored by Microsoft – Gravity Sketch Best Campaign sponsored by PTC Vuforia – Acura AR Race by Current Studios Best Developer Tool sponsored by DAQRI – Unity Best Enterprise Solution sponsored by Kopin – Holoroom Test Drive by Lowe's Innovation Labs Best Game & Toy sponsored AugmentedReality.org – Star Wars: Jedi Challenge by Lenovo Best Headworn Device sponsored by Qualcomm – Vive Pro by HTC Best Input or Output Hardware sponsored by Bosch – Holo-Stylus by Holo-Light Best Interaction Software Tool sponsored HTC – ManoMotion The full list of winners and finalists including videos can be found here: https://augmentedworldexpo.com/auggie-award-finalists/. In addition to the Auggie Awards, the Virtual World Society presented its Nextant Award to two XR pioneers, Nonny de la Peña, an American journalist, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and Founder of Emblematic Group and Mark Bolas, a researcher, MR pioneer and Professor of Interactive Media in the USC Interactive Media Division. AWE also announced the official dates for AWE Europe 2018 on October 18-19 in Munich, Germany and AWE Tel Aviv 2018 on November 5. Also announced was the latest schedule of AWE Nite meetups which take place monthly in San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Chicago. Details for AWE Asia will be announced shortly. To see AWE 2018's full agenda of almost 400 speakers, visit http://www.augmentedworldexpo.com/agenda and the full list of exhibitors at https://augmentedworldexpo.com/exhibitors/. Follow AWE on Twitter at @ARealityEvent! More about AWE USA 2018 More about AugmentedReality.ORG AR.org facilitates and catalyzes the global and regional transformation of the AR industry by
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