Ben Delaney: VR Archive

The CyberEdge Journal
Virtual Reality Product of the Year Awards

Honoring the World's Best in Virtual Reality

The CyberEdge Journal Virtual Reality Product of the Year Awards (the CJs) were first presented for the accomplishments of 1991. They were the original, and most prestigious, awards in the industry, and acknowledged outstanding and innovative products that advanced both the state of the art, and the industry, of Virtual Reality. The winners represented the very best of what's right in high-tech. These were the most significant, functional and innovative developments in an explosive field that's changing the face of all computer-driven technologies.

These products proved that Virtual Reality is not science fiction. These superior products led the way for VR in our homes and offices.

The winners were chosen in the categories of Hardware, Software, Applications, Art and Events, and for the first time in 1996, the Sutherland Award for a Virtual Reality Pioneer. Winners were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges known for their integrity, experience and knowledge of virtual reality. Each winner received a handsome trophy and an award plaque.

Each winning product represented an important advance, accomplished both by entrepreneurs in small companies, and some of the best-known names in computing. That is why so many people looked to the CJ winners for tomorrow's industry leaders. We were extremely proud to recognize these VR pioneers with the most prestigious award in the industry.

The Hardware category recognizes the muscle that makes VR work. These products are the interface devices, computers, and display systems that make VR seem real.

Software is what powers VR, and the winners in this category make VR more powerful, more realistic and easier to use.

Applications epitomize the value of VR, and the innovation and imagination that makes it work. When VR is used to have fun, get a job done, or make information easier to handle, there's an application providing the interface.

Arts and Events winners represent the very best of one-time VR developments. They often push the envelope, showing the "serious" developers what can be done with enough imagination and ingenuity.

The Sutherland Award is presented to individuals who have made a lifelong commitment and contribution to the science and industry of virtual reality.

CJ winners include:

1996
Hardware
Ascension Technology: MotionStar Wireless
Virtual Space Devices: Omnidirectional Treadmill
Virtual Technology: CyberTouch

Software
Kinetix: 3D Studio Max
Sense8: WorldToolKit, Version 6/Direct

Applications
Dr. Max North, et al, Clark Atlanta University: VR Therapy
Virtual Presence: MIST VR

Art & Events
Virtuality, Motorola, Phillips, House of Blues, Riverworld

The Sutherland Award
Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.

1995
Hardware
Ascension Technology, SpacePad
Fakespace, Push
SensAble Devices, PHANToM
Silicon Graphics, Indigo IMPACT

Software
MultiGen, SmartScene

Applications
Dorothy Strickland, Training for Autistic Children
Starbright Foundation, Starbright Virtual Playground

Art and Events
Char Davies, SoftImage, Osmose

Virtual Reality Pioneer
Dr. Ivan Sutherland

1994
Hardware
Crystal River Engineering, Snapshot
Division, Pixel-Planes & Pixel-Planes 6
Virtual I/O, i-Glasses HMD

Software
Criterion Software, Renderware

Applications
Cine-Med, Virtual Clinic
Ralph Lamson, Virtual Therapy of Anxiety Disorders
Walt Disney Imagineering, Aladdin LBE

Arts and Events
Rita Addison, et al, Detour: Brain Deconstruction Ahead

1993
Hardware
Crystal River Engineering, Beachtron
Fakespace, BOOM 3C
Kaiser Electro Optics, VIM HMD

Software
Autodesk, Cyberspace Developers Kit
Division, dVise
Sense8, WorldToolKit for Windows
Superscape, Superscape VRT

Applications
NASA, JSC, Hubble Telescope Repair Mission Trainer
Virtual Worlds Entertainment, Virtual Worlds Centers

1992
Hardware
Polhemus, FASTRAK
Silicon Graphics, RealityEngine

Software
Sense8, WorldToolKit, ver 1.5

Applications
Legend Quest, Legend Quest game & LBE Center
Prairie Virtual Systems, Wheelchair VR

1991
Hardware
Virtuality, Virtuality System
Division, PROVision

Software
Sense8, WorldToolKit