The ARE Chairs and Qualcomm are delighted to share with you two important announcements: 1) Nominations for the Start up Launch Pad hosted by VentureBeat have been selected: Whistlebox (Chas Mastin) YOUReality (Michelle Fallon) WhereMark (Ken Carter) Iryss (Dave Elchoness) e23 (Joe Dunn) After lunch, five startups will present their business models and AR products for 5 minutes each in front of a panel which will include: Cole Van Nice (VC at CVP), Jay Wright (Qualcomm), Cory Ondrejka (cofounder of Second Life) – and moderated by JP Manninen (VentureBeat.) Winner award: “ARE Best startup” and a $10,000 prize courtesy of Qualcomm! *** 2) Nominations for The Auggies demo competition have been selected as well: TagDis (Joe Dunn, e23) Retail Visualization (Michelle Fallon, YOUReality) Do/Crew (Chas Mastin, Whistlebox) Recognizr (James Haliburton, TAT) Tagwhat (Dave Elchoness, Iryss) Zombie Shoot AR (Peter Meier, Metaio) Kamra AR Browser (Alex Hill, Georgia Tech) Wikitude Drive (Martin Lechner, Mobilizy) Touching Augmented Reality (Yvan Franco, YDreams) Sam Fisher AR Game (Claire Boonstra, Layar) AR-assisted panorama generation (Rob Grant, Occipital) The World of Sekai Camera (Takahito Iguchi, Tonchidot) *** During the first evening of ARE2010, a dozen teams will get 4 minutes each to present their products on stage and compete for the coolest live AR demo. A panel with Bruce Sterling, Jesse Schell, and Mark Billinghurst, will comment on the demos – American Idol-style. Winners will be determined by the audience and receive the prestigious “Auggies Award” + an Android phone courtesy of Qualcomm. *** For those wondering about the difference between these activities: The Start up Launch Pad is all about business and is intended for start ups seeking investment. The Auggies, on the other hand, is for everyone (artists, individuals as well as established companies), and it’s all about a cool demo to impress the audience; more fun than business, and definitely a powerpoint free zone! *** Special thanks for Jay Wright (Qualcomm) for the generous prizes. *** Looking forward to stellar performances; the stakes are high – may the best win!...