The technology agency of Vienna ZIT announces a new application round for their annual Content Award Vienna, which will take place for the 6th time this year. If you have a project that is digital, creative and innovative you can apply from 4 June until 9 September online (at this link). A prize of 5.000 euros will be given out in the categories games, apps, short-films, visuals and there will be special awards for digital characters and FemPower. Moreover, partners such as Wiener Stadtwerke, Wien Holding and Infoscreen are providing prizes worth over 100.000 euros. The success story of last year’s Content Award tells the games-winner Blek that currently leads the ranking for paid apps in the iOSApp Store and is the most downloaded mobile game in 25 countries.
On the other hand, ZIT hosted their first Content Pitch on 27 May. The event supports Vienna-based entrepreneurs and brought projects form the areas of games, mobile and web-apps, digital data or animation together to pitch their ideas. Out of over 120 submissions, the critical jury consisting of Christian Bartik (Wirtschaftsagentur), Jutta Scheibelberger (Content Award Vienna), Barbara Mayerl (FORMAT), Jogi Neufeld (SUBOTRON) and Andreas Wiesmüller (Business Angel) chose 10 teams to receive a 5.000 euros grant; four of which got an additional 1.000 euros FemPower bonus for female contribution (Beyond 35.200, Budget-Tracker, Draw a ring, Lacrimosa Animation). The financial support aims to help the teams to finalise their concepts by the end of the year.
The winners of ZIT’s first Content Pitch
Beyond 35.200 is a futuristic racing game. The adventure leads you to different planets and features electronic music and colourful design.
Overlooking one’s finances can be a tough job. So following a feature from the game Cure Runner (Three Coins), the team from Budget-Tracker developed the mobile app as a money management tool especially for youths. It is connected to the dynamics and the design of the game and aims to keep users motivated to track their money on a daily basis.
Another game that got a grant from ZIT is “Die Siedler von Cagran” – an allusion to the famous board game “Settlers of Catan”. It is a multidimensional urban game and provides a possibility for land use experts and non professionals to get in contact. The software aims to minimizing conflicts in social environments by enhancing interaction and exchange of opinions.
No more microwave meals for one. The online community Dinner Collective targets people who want to cook for others and again be invited for dinner in the neighbourhood. So called “Dinner Credits” help you keep track of your status and meeting new people shall make dinner a fun experience.
The app Draw a ring comes from the creative section and allows its users to design a personal piece of jewellery with a mobile app. A ring can be created directly on the display of your phone and can be produced by a 3D printer afterwards.
The animation project Gedankenreisen is inspired by a music video and works with 3D animation through kinetic sensors. The developers aim at making motion capturing, video and storytelling easy to use and more accessible.
The innovation film project Lacrimosa combines visual effects and live action movies in an underwater setting. The project aims to bring technology and visual art together.
The mobile app SecureBeam is a cloud service that encrypts data from your smartphone and transfers it randomly to your cloud services. Only the users can see which parts have been transferred to Dropbox, Google Drive etc. which shall assure security of sensible data.
The Augmented Graffiti Project wants to create tech-performances in the city and aims to connect street art and augmented reality. The designers want to make the method adaptable to meet different needs of customers.
The game app Growing Tower is set in the magic world of construction. The task is to build a tower as high and stable as possible with new features getting into play with the progression of the game.
CEO Katharina Norden Photo: Three Coins
