Björn Stockleben on left, Artur Lugmayr on right

After a long and hard elimination process the three unique finalists of Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards competition were determined. “Each year the competition entries come closer to consumer products improving the daily life or solving today’s problems as e.g. energy consumption or health care. This year’s competition attracted 34 entrants and the jury had a hard time to find the best projects”, says Artur Lugmayr, the inventor of the competition and General Competition Chair.


The Head of Competition jury, Björn Stockleben, emphasizes the fresh approach of this year’s competition entries: “Connecting the tangible part of the world with the intangible has been part of Ubimedia's DNA right from when we first started this competition. But a closer look reveals that bridging things normally perceived as antipodes is kind of a theme to this year's event. Our nominees reconcile computer and screens with plain old paper, they overcome the dividing character of individual mobile devices and they connect impaired people to their social environment. This year's candidates were chosen because of their fresh impact on the way we think about ubiquitous media. Now that the first wave of Ubimedia technologies, like location-based services, is established on the market, all of our participants seem to be eager to go for the next.”

Winners workshop Wed September 28

You are welcome to see the nominees and discuss Ubimedia on Wednesday, 1pm to 4pm at New Factory, Finlayson area, Tampere!

The three winners in alphabetical order are:

Junkyard Jumbotron
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VideoInstitute: ProCenter for Future Civic Media, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mobiles devices share a curious paradoxon: While connecting remote people, they tend to distract you from people next to you. Junkyard Jumbotron provides a simple, yet ingenious answer by joining all kinds of screen devices into one large shared patchwork screen. All that is needed is to open a webpage, make a photo of the screen arrangement, upload it and there you go. The jury concordantly appreciates the strong emphasis on the social potential of ubiquitous media as well as the simplicity and playful quality of Junkyard Jumbotron.

Cubodo - out there! Communication
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VideoInstitute: University of Applied Sciences Bremen - Center for Informatics and Media Technology

Is Cubodo a game or is it communication? With Cubodo you can create a virtual package, choose a theme, add a photo and drop it in your environment. Other players may pick it up, carry it to other places and add photos and comments. It is the way characteristics of physical goods are applied to virtual artifacts that makes the packages unique and possibly meaningful. The simplicity and openness of the basic game idea holds great potential for emergent playful communication, limited only by the creativity of its players.

Selective Inductive Powering System for Paper Computing
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VideoInstitute: Keio-NUS CUTE Center, National University of Singapore

This project excels in applying ubiquitous computing principles to a material we thought becoming
obliterated by the rise of tablet computers – plain paper. Thin wire-loops attached to paper receive power via magnetic induction and can form or even animate the paper. The technology is unique and the first sample applications promise great potential in “natural” computing and artistic ubimedia projects.

The winner on Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards competition will be announced on the 29th of
September 2011 at 16.45 in the Hotel Scandic Rosendahl. Register now at http://www.mindtrek.org/
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The Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards

The Competition addresses digital media makers with different backgrounds. It gives them the opportunity to present their visions on the future of ubiquitous media to the unique audience of the annual MindTrek conference in Tampere. Ubimedia comprises technology that is embedded in its surroundings and that enhances our ability to sense and communicate with our environment. The competition is open to all kinds of artists, practitioners and researchers. The total prize sum is 6.000 Euros.

TAMK is one of the producers of the Awards
Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards home
Read our previous stories about the award|||