On September 25, the DIVR (Deutsches Institut für Virtuelle Realitäten) awarded the XR Science Award for European research projects in AR & VR. Among the nominees were also two CGL projects: Border Zone and garTRYon!

Border Zone is an XR game app that takes visitors to Potsdam’s Park Babelsberg on a unique journey through the park’s multifaceted history at the time of the German-German division. Using location-based XR technology, the project fuses past and present into a touching experience that brings lost or hidden traces of contemporary history back to life. In particular, the Border Zone project aims to bring visitors to Park Babelsberg closer to the actions of citizens of the GDR, which are often difficult to comprehend from today’s perspective, by means of a life-size AR on-site experience, thus providing a deeper understanding of life in a totalitarian system. The Border Zone XR experience is the result of a cooperation and research project between the Cologne Game Lab of the TH Köln and the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation. Find out more here.

garTRYon is the Master Project of CGL alumnus Fabian Wiedenstridt. His app provides anyone with a digital garment with an AR Try-on at home. It’s free, transparent, made for designers, and driven by the digital fashion community. Find out more here.

Although the two teams didn’t take home the prize, it was still an amazing evening with many exciting university research projects from all over Germany.

The German Institute for Virtual Reality DIVR launched the award six years ago to provide a platform for the European AR/VR scene to promote new technologies in the early stages. In addition to the main categories “Best Concept,” “Best Practice,” and “Best Tech,” there are also special awards for “Performance & Art,” “Immersion & Interface,” and “Athletic Performance, Psychology & Health”.