The 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards were held on Saturday December 4th, at Spy Hop in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The awards are organized annually by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and voted upon by members of the Utah Chapter.  AlUla Adventures was one of four finalists in the “Innovation of the Year” category.  Spark XR took an AlUla Adventures Pod to the event so that attendees could try the experience, and it was a huge hit – the Pod was fully booked for four hours, with people lining up even after the event had ended to try AlUla Adventures!  

"We are thrilled to receive the Innovation of the Year award for AlUla Adventures and we would like to thank Manga Productions for their vision in being the first to realize the potential of the Sensory Pod. We are very proud of AlUla Adventures and of our remarkable first collaboration with our talented partners at Manga Productions".

- Jeff Peters, COO, Spark XR

Users expressed their delight at the innovation in the experience, many said they would like to try it again, and all of them mentioned that they now are interested in visiting AlUla, a place they had never heard of until now.

AlUla Adventures

AlUla Adventures -an innovative sensory virtual travel experience, combining hardware and software - a collaboration between Spark XR and Manga Productions - allows users to ‘teleport’ and take a virtual tour of a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia, discovering and collecting artifacts while outrunning a sandstorm! The incredibly realistic 12 minute experience simulates motion with a combination of AI controlled wind and haptic effects applied in real-time with high-end virtual reality - even though users stand still throughout. At the end of the experience, participants receive a digital souvenir in the form of an interactive journal of everything they collected on their virtual journey.

More details at www.alulaadventures.com