Innovation contest promotes growing industry

As part of China's efforts to develop and promote the augmented reality industry, the final of China ARi Augmented Reality Innovation Contest 2016 was held on May 6 in the Xi'an High-Tech Industrial Development Zone.

The two-month-long contest was co-sponsored by Xi'an's bureau of commerce, Xi'an High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, China's augmented reality industry alliance ARA.ORG.CN, global industry body AugmentedReality.org and Ginwa Investment Group. The event showcased more than 100 works and products from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Nanjing and Chengdu, and a panel of judges selected 16 items to enter the final contest.

The final displayed some of China's most innovative augmented and virtual reality products and solutions, and judges awarded prizes for the best AR application, AR equipment and VR technology. The winners will go to Santa Clara, California, for the 2016 Augmented World Expo, which runs from June 1 to 2.

The contest was also supported by the Shaanxi provincial government and Xi'an city government, and the administrative committee of the Xi'an high-tech zone.

AugmentedReality.org, which also owns and produces Augmented World Expo, authorized the Chinese alliance ARA.ORG.CN to organize all affairs of AWE in Asia, and also made Xi'an the permanent Asian headquarters of AugmentedReality.org.

The AWE is the world's largest and most respected international event for augmented reality, virtual reality and smart wearable computing devices.

Ori Inbar, founder and CEO of AugmentedReality.org, praised the contest in Xi'an, saying that China is the world's fastest-growing market for AR/VR.

"I am very glad to see more technological teams in China get involved in the AR/VR industries and I believe that the cooperation between AugmentedReality.org and ARA.ORG.CN will help introduce more outstanding Chinese AR and VR talent to the world," Inbar said.

Wu Yijian, chairman of Ginwa Investment Group and secretary-general of ARA.ORG.CN, announced at the contest's closing ceremony the establishment of China AR/VR industry investment fund, which was jointly sponsored by ARA.ORG.CN and venture capital institution Super Ventures of the United States.

According to Wu, ARA.ORG.CN has seized the opportunity presented by the expanding AR/VR market in 2016 by identifying outstanding projects in China, and, together with Super Ventures, investing in promising VR/AR startups and other forward-looking tech firms.

As well as focusing on creating a sustainable industrial environment for AR/VR development, ARA.ORG.CN is also pressing the government to introduce policies and standards to promote the industry's development and enhance the Chinese industry's competitiveness in the global market.