Three NZ Winners Selected for World Summit Awards

Posted Tuesday 14 Jun 2011

The three New Zealand winners for the upcoming World Summit Awards were selected recently at the international judging in Hong Kong. The WSA International Jury in Hong Kong selected three projects from NZ for the final lineup. The winners in the World Summit Awards will have the opportunity to attend the Awards Celebration in Cairo, Egypt later in the year where they will receive their award and participate & present their projects in a three day get together for 'Global Creatives.'

The World Summit Awards honour excellence in multimedia and e-Content creation.  Forty winners (5 in each category) are selected from 100 countries. A special emphasis is placed on those projects which show the benefits of information and communication technology for the development of society at large. Over and above the judging criteria the judges look for the 'value add' to NZ - what are the products & services that can we put on the global stage to increase both NZ visibility & create international sales. This is a great showcase for the innovative & clever thinking that is going on in NZ. Full details available http://www.wsa-awards.org.nz/.

The three winners were:

e-Business & Commerce: Areoscan is a web based service that enables the user to create a 3D model of any area or object using digital photographs. In industries such as surveying, architecture, and design; Areoscan is proving a cost effective, flexible and time efficient solution for all sorts of jobs, ranging from complex land surveys, through to creative art projects. Whatever the need, Areoscan takes a real-life subject and automatically generates a 3D model in the same way a 3D laser scanner does, but without the need for specialized equipment. View the website http://areoscan.com/

e-Culture & Heritage: Vaeggen Interactive WALL in Copenhagen is a massive but mobile interactive video installation on the streets of Copenhagen that allows citizens and visitors to explore in depth the cultural past, present, and future of the city and its diverse populations.Based initially on the rich heritage collections of the Museum of Copenhagen, the WALL is also the public multimedia repository for cultural assets emerging from the large-scale archaeological excavations being undertaken in the old city centre for the next 7 years. Created by Gibson Group. View the website http://vaeggen.copenhagen.dk/en/

e-Health & Environment: SPARX is a computerized self-help programme, to help young people combat depression. It was developed by a team of therapists, researchers, game developers, e-learning theorists and young people. It takes the form of an animated 3D game where users learn real-life skills by solving challenges to rid a fantasy world from gloom and negativity. Culturally-relevant elements have been incorporated into the game world to ensure the programme has wide cultural acceptability. University of Auckland, NZ Ministry of Health, Metia Interactive Ltd. View the website http://www.frozenflameweb.com/sparx