FAQ

Organizer of the contest:
nextReality.Hamburg e.V.
Am Sandtorkai 27/28
20457 Hamburg

The nextReality.Contest is a showcase of immersive media, such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Essentially, this contest is meant to support and promote newcomers and their latest projects.
​
Entries in the following categories are eligible for submission.
​
The category “Interactive Business” encompasses virtual and augmented reality B2B applications, meaning applications that are mainly geared towards use within companies, not consumer use.

The category “Interactive Entertainment” accepts virtual and augmented reality for consumer use, including games used mainly by consumers.

The category “Interactive Education” includes immersive applications with an educational approach or a training tool with a focus on didactics, with the target audience being B2B or B2C.

Only contestants with a valid (school) student ID may enter submissions for the “Young Talents” category. However, we reserve the right to exclude submissions from this category. This category accepts both hardware and software projects.

The category “Best Installation” contains hardware and software projects that are either locations-based or designed to be experienced in combination with an installation. These projects need more than a headset to reach their full potential: They create a holistic experience by employing real-world installations. As the panel will not be able to test these projects due to the effort involved, the best project is chosen based on description, video footage and artwork. This award does not include a cash prize.

The “Zeitgeist” category contains projects related to current events. Whether journalism, art or narrative experiences, this category accepts all projects connected to current events, circumstances and challenges.

The Community Award can only be entered in combination with a submission in one of the other 8 categories. Your submission requires your consent to participate. For the public vote, the description of your submission as well as video footage and artwork will be published. By checking the box you consent to the publication for the purpose of the vote.

All submissions require a titel, a short project description, screenshots and/or video footage. Based on this material, the panel will narrow down the field to 5 submissions per category, which will then be tested on site in Hamburg. So: The better the description of your submission, the higher your chance of making it further.
Your description may also link to commercial marketing channels related to your submission. However, we reserve the right to reject links to apparently illegal or offensive content. The organizer has no influence regarding the design and content of linked pages and does not adopt the content of linked pages as its own.

All submissions need to be made available to the panel in an appropriate manner. The five top submissions for each category are tested by the judging panel in Hamburg. For this purpose, the submissions need to be made available to us without incurring costs. Purely conceptual solutions (“vaporware”) will not be accepted.

Any person over the age of 18 may enter a submission, as long as producer, developer, principal or agent of the project are based in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. International entries are only eligible for the category “International Production”.

After the submission deadline, the panel will evaluate all projects and narrow down the field, based on project description, pictures and videos. The five top submissions for each category are then jointly tested by the Hamburg-based panel. For this purpose, the submissions need to be made available to us without incurring costs. On the day of deliberation, the panel discusses the applications they tested, decides on three nominees per category and agrees on the winners.

The Community Award winners are determined by a public vote online.

You have to enter your submission until the 1 of August 2025.

All categories (except “Community Award” and “Best Installation”) include a cash prize for the winner. TBA

Submission is free of charge.

Submitting multiple projects is allowed.

You can select at most two categories for your submission. Additionally, you may enter your submission for the Community Award.

We are happy to help you find the suitable category, do not hesitate to contact us! Sarah.Wienberg@nextReality.Hamburg

The XRC Awards will be presented on November 5, 2025, as part of the nextReality.festival in Hamburg. The award ceremony will take place at the Astor Film Lounge in the Speicherstadt, bringing together XR experts, creatives, and industry professionals to celebrate outstanding Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality projects.

Once again, we are planning a two-day festival where the XRC Award Ceremony will be a key highlight. On November 5 and 6, nominees will have the opportunity to present their projects to a wide audience. Our goal is to showcase immersive applications, provide nominees with a platform for exchange, and highlight the diversity of the XR industry.

You can showcase your projects as part of the exhibition and/or give a talk within the conference program to share insights about your application, development experiences, or innovative approaches with the community.

Throughout the festival, you can look forward to networking opportunities, panels, and talks covering the latest topics in the XR industry.

For more information about the festival, visit: https://nextrealityfestival.com