Proto Awards
More actions
The Proto Awards (also called the Protos) were an annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles for virtual reality (VR) software, games, films and other experiences. They were produced by the Virtual Reality Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by the founding members of the VRLA community, and were held three times, in 2014, 2015 and 2016.[1][2] The organizers said the name came from the Greek word for pioneer, protopóros.[1] Road to VR wrote in 2016 that the ceremonies had shadowed Oculus' developer conference, Oculus Connect, since the first event.[3][4]
Winners of the top prize were Survios' Zombies on the Holodeck (2014), Schell Games' I Expect You To Die (2015) and Google's Tilt Brush (2016).[5][6][4] In August 2017 the organizers announced that they would skip 2017 and planned to return in 2018 with a show covering both virtual and augmented reality.[2]
History
Organizer
Road to VR announced the awards on 13 August 2014, describing the Virtual Reality Foundation as "a non-profit organization formed by the founding members of VRLA".[1] In July 2015 the same outlet wrote that the awards had been founded "largely by members of VRLA", a Los Angeles VR community group that ran regular expos.[3] The foundation's own site described it as a non-profit set up "to reward individuals and teams making strides in the field of virtual reality", and by 2015 it stated that the foundation produced both the Proto Awards and the VRLA Expo.[7][8]
The archived 2015 site listed Jonnie Ross as founder of the Proto Awards and co-founder of VRLA, Adam Levin as chief executive of the foundation, and Cosmo Scharf, Jessica Ward, John Root and James Bairian on its board of directors.[8] In 2017 UploadVR reported that the event was organized by New Realities Inc, "an outgrowth of The Virtual Reality Foundation", whose members overlapped with the people behind VRLA and the startup Mindshow. Levin was then credited as executive producer of the Protos.[2]
The awards were chosen with the help of a volunteer Board of Governors. The 2014 site named members including Ted Schilowitz of 20th Century Fox, Amir Rubin of Sixense, Karl Krantz of SVVR, Matt Sonic of SFVR and Ben Lang of Road to VR.[7] Road to VR's articles on the awards carried a disclosure that Lang served on the board that selected nominees.[1][9]
Hiatus
On 9 August 2017 UploadVR reported that there would be no ceremony that year. A prepared statement said the organizers were skipping 2017 "in order to assess the changing landscape of immersive technology and entertainment", and that the next show would cover virtual and augmented reality. UploadVR added that the organizers were busy with other projects and that vetting nominees and staging a ceremony had become a large logistical task.[2] Ross told the outlet: "To do the show right and to do right by the community at this scale, we need to reboot."[2] The official site carried the same announcement in October 2017 and still showed it in June 2018.[10][11] By October 2019 the protoawards.com address showed a domain registrar's "coming soon" placeholder page.[12]
Format and voting
Entries were open submissions. For 2015, any VR experience made available for public download between 20 September 2014 and 15 July 2015 could be entered, free or paid; private installations were excluded, entries had to stay downloadable until the end of 2015, and student teams had to be led by an enrolled student. Entrants for Best Independent Experience could not have raised more than angel funding. The entry fee was US$50, waived for students.[3][13] The 2016 rules accepted experiences first shown or made public between 23 September 2015 and 10 July 2016, kept the US$50 fee, and asked for a complete experience plus 30 seconds of footage. Titles had to be available on a public store such as Oculus Home, Google Play, the iOS App Store, PlayStation Network or Steam, and installation pieces could be shown to voters at the developer's office.[14]
The 2016 site described a three-stage process. After submission, members of the Board of Governors (described as "VR luminaries and past Proto Awards winners") each served on three category committees and narrowed every category to six honorees. A General Membership made up of the governors and past honorees then voted for each category winner, and also chose Best Overall from the six honorees with the highest vote totals in any single category. Votes were counted by instant runoff, with each voter ranking a top five, and the foundation's trustees and the founders of the awards did not vote.[15]
The category list grew each year, from 11 awards in 2014 to 17 in 2016, with additions such as Best Educational Experience, Best Mobile Experience and Best Student Experience in 2015 and Best Narrative Experience and Best Music Experience in 2016.[1][3][14] In 2015 and 2016 the foundation also gave a special Founders' Award to a pioneer of the field.[16][4]
Editions
| Year | Date | Venue | Host | Categories | Best Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 19 September 2014 | Blossom Ballroom, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood | Thomas Middleditch | 11 | Zombies on the Holodeck (Survios)[5] |
| 2015 | 22 September 2015 | Avalon Hollywood | Jonah Ray | 15 | I Expect You To Die (Schell Games)[3][8] |
| 2016 | 8 October 2016 | Avalon Hollywood | Ron Funches | 17 | Tilt Brush (Google)[4] |
Category counts include Best Overall and exclude the Founders' Award.
2014
The first Proto Awards were announced in August 2014 with a founding sponsorship from NVIDIA; VRLA, SVVR and SFVR also sponsored the event.[1] Open submissions closed on 2 September 2014, and the ceremony was set for 9 p.m. on 19 September in the Blossom Ballroom of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.[17][1] The date was chosen to coincide with the first Oculus Connect conference (Oculus Connect 1), whose venue was across the street, and the organizers said the show would host 400 guests.[1] Road to VR noted that a separate ceremony, the Virtual Reality Awards, was to be hosted virtually through Riftmax that November.[1]
Nominees in 10 categories were published on 16 September 2014, with Thomas Middleditch of the HBO series Silicon Valley named as host.[18] At the ceremony, Protos founder Jonnie Ross asked the audience from the podium, "Is it too early for a VR awards show?" Awards were given in 11 categories, two of them ties. Winners received Nvidia's then-new GeForce GTX 980 graphics card, and each attendee received a Google Cardboard kit from DodoCase. Road to VR reported that the Proto Award trophy had apparently broken before the show, leaving only one backup trophy.[5] Tilt Brush, made by Drew Skillman and Patrick Hackett's studio Skillman & Hackett (founded in May 2014), was unknown to the public before it won Best GUI, according to Road to VR, and Hackett told the outlet that the studio had not expected to win anything.[19]
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Overall Experience | Zombies on the Holodeck (Survios) |
| Best GUI | Tilt Brush |
| Best Art Direction | Synthesis Universe |
| Best Live Action Experience | Strangers with Patrick Watson |
| Best Interaction Design (tie) | Sixense Lightsaber Demo (Sixense) and Zombies on the Holodeck (Survios) |
| Best Gameplay | Darknet |
| Best Social Experience | Riftmax |
| Best Score | Senza Peso (Kite & Lightning) |
| Best Sound Design (tie) | The Gallery: Six Elements (Cloudhead Games) and Dreadhalls |
| Most Transportive | Zombies on the Holodeck (Survios) |
| Most Innovative | Diplopia |
Winners as listed on the archived official site and by Road to VR.[7][5] The other Best Overall honorees were Riftmax, Tilt Brush, Strangers with Patrick Watson, Diplopia, Darknet and VRChat.[7]
2015
- Main article: 2015 Proto Awards
The second Proto Awards were presented by AMD and held on 22 September 2015 at Avalon Hollywood, the evening before Oculus Connect 2 and a few blocks from it.[3] Submissions opened on 1 July 2015; Road to VR reported a closing date of 15 July, while the archived official site later listed 30 July.[3][8] The foundation announced 70 nominations across 14 categories in August and named comedian Jonah Ray as host.[9] The official site listed the sponsors as AMD, NextVR, HQ Music, Boost VC, Samsung and Jaunt.[8]
NBC News called the event the self-proclaimed "Oscars of the VR industry" and reported that it was "not a black tie affair". Jesse Schell accepted Best Overall Experience for I Expect You To Die.[6] Ivan Sutherland, who built the Sword of Damocles head-mounted display with his student Bob Sproull in 1968, made a surprise appearance to accept a Special Founders Award and received a standing ovation after a short speech.[16]
| Category | Winner | Credited to |
|---|---|---|
| Best Overall Experience | I Expect You To Die | Schell Games |
| Best Score | Surge | Arjan van Meerten |
| Best Live Action Experience | Inside The Box of Kurios | Cirque du Soleil Media / Felix & Paul Studios |
| Best Sound Design | Technolust | Iris VR |
| Best GUI | Virtual Desktop | Guy Godin |
| Best Social Experience | Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes | Steel Crate Games |
| Best Gameplay | I Expect You To Die | Schell Games |
| Best Educational Experience | theBlu VR | WEVR |
| Best Mobile Experience | theBlu VR | WEVR |
| Most Innovative | Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes | Steel Crate Games |
| Best Interaction Design | I Expect You To Die | Schell Games |
| Best Student Experience | Nighttime Terror | VR Bits |
| Best Art Direction | Technolust | Iris VR |
| Best Independent Experience | Vox Machinae | Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation |
| Most Transportive | The Gallery: Emberstone Teaser | Cloudhead Games |
| Founders Award | Ivan Sutherland |
Category winners as marked on the archived official winners page; Founders Award from Road to VR.[8][16]
2016
- Main article: 2016 Proto Awards
The third edition was again presented by AMD, through its Radeon Technologies Group. Submissions were announced for 10 to 24 July 2016, with Best Narrative Experience and Best Music Experience added to the categories.[14] The archived official site later gave the submission window as 10 July to 14 August, with board voting from 18 to 29 August and general membership voting from 14 to 28 September.[20] Nominees were announced on 15 September 2016, with six in each category. The ceremony took place on Saturday, 8 October 2016, at Avalon Hollywood, hosted by comedian Ron Funches, and was to be recorded in 360-degree video for viewing in VR headsets.[21][20] Space Pirate Trainer won three awards, and the Founders' Award went to Thomas A. Furness III.[4][22]
| Category | Winner | Credited to |
|---|---|---|
| Best Overall | Tilt Brush | |
| Best Original Score | Pearl | Google Spotlight Stories |
| Best Live Action Experience | The Argos File | Argos VR |
| Best Narrative Experience | The Gallery - Episode 1: Call of the Starseed | Cloudhead Games |
| Best Sound Design | Space Pirate Trainer | I-Illusions |
| Best Social Experience | AltspaceVR | AltspaceVR |
| Best Game | Space Pirate Trainer | I-Illusions |
| Best Educational Experience | Apollo 11 VR | Immersive VR Education Ltd. |
| Best Music Experience | SoundStage | Logan Olson |
| Best Mobile Experience | Tactera | E McNeill |
| Most Innovative | Tilt Brush | |
| Best Interaction Design | Fantastic Contraption | Northway Games & Radial Games |
| Best Student Experience | Fruit Golf | Coal Car Studio |
| Best Art Direction | FIREBIRD: La Peri (Book 1) | Innerspace VR |
| Best Independent Experience | Space Pirate Trainer | I-Illusions |
| Most Transportive Experience | theBlu: Season 1 | Wevr |
| Best User Interface | Modbox | Alientrap |
| Founders' Award | Thomas A. Furness III |
Winners as marked on the archived official winners page and by UploadVR; MIXED's list agrees in every category where it marks a winner.[20][22][23] Road to VR's winners list gave Soundscape for Best Music Experience and ran two titles together under both Best Student Experience and Best Art Direction. The official page, UploadVR and MIXED give SoundStage and FIREBIRD: La Peri for those awards, and the official page and UploadVR give Fruit Golf as the student winner.[4] The Best Overall nominees were Tilt Brush, Raw Data, Space Pirate Trainer, Bullet Train, Modbox and The Lab.[21]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Ben Lang (2014-08-13). "Nvidia Sponsored 'Proto Awards' to Honor VR Luminaries in Venue of First Academy Awards". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/nvidia-sponsored-proto-awards-honor-vr-luminaries-venue-first-academy-awards/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ian Hamilton (2017-08-09). "There Will Be No Proto Awards In 2017, Return Planned In 2018". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/proto-awards-2017-2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Ben Lang (2015-07-07). "2015 Proto Awards Ceremony to Be Held September 22nd Alongside Oculus Connect, Submissions End July 15th". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/2015-proto-awards-ceremony-to-be-held-september-22nd-alongside-oculus-connect-submissions-end-july-15th/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Paul James (2016-10-09). "2016's Proto Award Winners Revealed, Tilt Brush Receives Top Honour". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/2016s-proto-award-winners-revealed-tilt-brush-receives-top-honour/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ben Lang (2014-09-24). "Zombies on the Holodeck Wins 'Best Overall' at Proto Awards, Winners Took Home Nvidia's New GTX 980 GPU". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/zombies-on-the-holodeck-best-overall-proto-awards-nvidia-geforce-gtx-980/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Keith Wagstaff (2015-09-25). "George Clooney Was Definitely Not at the 'Oscars' of Virtual Reality". NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/night-oscars-virtual-reality-n432921. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "The Proto Awards: 2014 Proto Award Honorees". The Proto Awards (archived 21 November 2014). The Virtual Reality Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20141121053249/http://protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "The Proto Awards: Winners of the 2015 Proto Awards". The Proto Awards (archived 4 October 2015). The Virtual Reality Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20151004122530/http://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ben Lang (2015-08-25). "Proto Awards Nominees Announced, Jonah Ray to Host September Award Ceremony in Hollywood". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/proto-awards-nominees-announced-jonah-ray-to-host-september-award-ceremony-in-hollywood/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ "The Proto Awards". The Proto Awards (archived 2 October 2017). https://web.archive.org/web/20171002160416/https://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ "The Proto Awards". The Proto Awards (archived 12 June 2018). https://web.archive.org/web/20180612063417/http://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ "protoawards.com is coming soon". NameBright (archived 8 October 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20191008103823/http://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2015-04-09). "2015 Proto Awards Submissions Open July 1st, 2015". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/2015-proto-awards-submissions-open-july-1st-2015/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Ben Lang (2016-06-05). "2016 Proto Awards Submissions Open July 10th to July 24th". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/2016-proto-awards-submissions-open-july-10th-to-july-24th/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ "The Proto Awards: Submissions Now Open". The Proto Awards (archived 21 July 2016). The Virtual Reality Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20160721223009/https://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Paul James (2015-09-23). "Watch the 'Godfather of VR' Ivan Sutherland Speak at the 2015 Proto Awards". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/watch-the-godfather-of-vr-ivan-sutherland-speak-at-the-2015-proto-awards/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ "The Proto Awards presented by The Virtual Reality Foundation". The Proto Awards (archived 31 August 2014). The Virtual Reality Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20140831015213/http://protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ Ben Lang (2014-09-16). "Proto Awards Nominees Are In, Thomas Middleditch of HBO's 'Silicon Valley' to Host Ceremony". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/proto-awards-nominees-event-hosted-thomas-middleditch-hbos-silicon-valley/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ Ben Lang (2014-09-24). "'Tilt Brush' Surprises and Delights with Best GUI at Proto Awards - Lets You Create VR Paintings with Depth". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/tilt-brush-interface-best-gui-proto-awards-3d-paint-virtual-reality/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "The Proto Awards: Proto Awards 2016 Winners". The Proto Awards (archived 29 January 2017). The Virtual Reality Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20170129155833/https://www.protoawards.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Scott Hayden (2016-09-15). "The Proto Awards Announces 2016 Nominees, Comedian Ron Funches to Host". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/proto-awards-announces-2016-nominees-comedian-ron-funches-signs-host/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Joe Durbin (2016-10-08). "The 2016 Proto Awards: See Who Took Home VR's Biggest Honors". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/2016-proto-awards/. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
- ↑ Tomislav Bezmalinovic (2016-10-09). "Proto Awards 2016: Das sind die Gewinner der Preisverleihung". MIXED. https://mixed.de/proto-awards-2016-das-sind-die-gewinner-der-preisverleihung. Retrieved 2026-10-19.