Long Beach AR Challenge Winners Announced

On Sunday, August 8, members of the public plunged into a world of augmented reality (AR) and immersed themselves in 17 AR applications that activated Downtown Long Beach and celebrated its historic past, diverse present, and limitless future. The AR experiences enhanced popular murals, visualized historic objects, and let participants take photos with Long Beach-themed face filters. The Promenade and nearby streets in Downtown Long Beach will host the AR exhibits for the next two weeks, until August 22.

A panel of local judges representing diverse industries interacted with all 17 experiences and deliberated on how to award $14,000 in total prize money in a variety of categories.

Congratulations to the winners of the FIRST ever Long Beach AR Challenge!

Best in Show

• Singer Through the Decades, EXAR Studios, London, ON, Canada  

Best Face Filter

• 1^st Prize – Hot Dog Eating Contest, Florencia Raffa, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
• 2^nd Prize – Dancing Cactus, Amanda Collaborative, Taiwan
• 3^rd Prize – Save Oceans, Daniel Felipe Murcia Rey, Bogotá, Colombia 

Best World Effect

• 1^st Prize – inCitu AR City Future, inCitu AR-powered City Planning, Brooklyn, NY, USA 
• 2^nd Prize – Larry Longbeach – The Pop-up Tour Guide, Brian Chung and Claire O’Sullivan - Imvizar, Jersey City, NJ, USA 
• 3^rd Prize – #BestinLB AR Stickers, Abe and Stephanie Cajudo [Framekicker], Long Beach, CA, USA 

Best Image Recognition Effect

• 1^st Prize – Singer Through the Decades, EXAR Studios, London, ON, Canada
• 2^nd Prize – Spruce Goose, Look Ahead Labs, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• 3^rd Prize – Nature’s Way, David Pripas, Bucharest, Romania

Spirit of Long Beach - This was awarded to the AR experience that demonstrated the best connection to Long Beach's historic past, diverse present, or emergent future. 

• The Long Beach Pride Wall, Lightweight Digital, Arras, France

Best Business Application - This was awarded to the best AR solution that may be used to advance the interests of local businesses. 

• Larry Longbeach – The Pop-up Tour Guide, Brian Chung and Claire O’Sullivan - Imvizar, Jersey City, NJ, USA

Best Local AR Experience - This was awarded to the best submission from a Long Beach-based team. 

• #BestinLB AR Stickers, Abe and Stephanie Cajudo [Framekicker], Long Beach, CA, USA 

Exhibition Planning Committee Special Mention 

• Silent Wall, kenxxxooo, Tokyo, Japan

Audience Favorite

• Save Oceans, Daniel Felipe Murcia Rey, Bogotá, Colombia 

The Long Beach AR Challenge was presented by the City of Long Beach, CSULB Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, ARLB, and the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, and sponsored by US Ignite and Facebook Reality Labs