VR Design Competition 2022 - Closed

About the Museum

The Museum of Science Fiction was established in 2013 as a 501c(3) nonprofit organization and seeks to make a measurable positive impact on STEAM-related educational activities. The Museum intends to build a virtual reality science fiction museum which will be used to: establish an immediate VR presence for the Museum, test innovative new technologies, and gain visitor experience insights to inform planning for a future, physical museum.

In 2015, the Museum of Science Fiction with a team from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center built a standalone, proof-of-concept virtual reality museum that creatively demonstrated the viability of mixing science educational content within an engaging and interactive virtual reality science fiction environment.

Given today’s positive market trends for VR and renewed interest in the 2015 prototype, the Museum of Science Fiction is redeveloping the VR Museum and holding a competition to showcase the best VR designs across all aspects of science fiction. Additionally, when fully completed, the VR Museum of Science Fiction will:

• Engage and educate visitors with compelling virtual reality content, design, programming, and state-of-the-art visual installations.

• Create a VR social hub for the science fiction community with multi-visitor shared spaces.

• Be seen as a continuous expanding repository for science fiction knowledge.

• Demonstrate the educational potential, particularly in the STEAM fields, of a science fiction museum.

• Solicit funding from potential donors and corporate sponsors.

• Showcase world-class content, design, technology integration, and live programming.

• Build and strengthen key progressive corporate partnerships.

Program Description

As part of our mission, we wish to create a VR experience that will educate and spark interest in STEAM through science fiction. VR design Entries should: 1. correspond to the Museum’s mission; 2. be interactive, engaging, intuitive and functional; 3. be immersive and within a high resolution environment.

The type of VR experience is open to the imagination of the competition participants, but must show the participant’s creativity and include elements of science fiction. It could, for example, include an immersive walk through a high definition rendered USS Enterprise from Star Trek, which would not only entertain but educate museum visitors about space travel.

A VR design white paper is available that describes the Museum of Science Fiction’s intended VR approach. This document will provide design ideas and guidance for competition participants.

The VR Museum, in its final form, will consist of a major entrance hall, seven themed galleries, and outside spaces. The seven galleries include: Creators, Time Travel, Lifeforms, Computers and Robots, Vehicles, Technology, and Other Worlds. As this competition primarily focuses on “sight and sound” (with possible special features and functionality), detailed curatorial narratives are not part of the judging criteria.

For example, a strong VR design Entry would be based on one of the above gallery spaces, ie. the Computers and Robots gallery and include a few animated, photo-realistic models - all rendered in high resolution to provide a stunning overall photo-realistic visitor experience.

General information

Grand Prize: $1,000 and the HAL 9000 museum faceplate

The 2001: A Space Odyssey mission simulator is identical to the HAL 9000 on loan to the London Science Museum for their new exhibition, Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination, opening October 2022.

Runner Up Prize: A replica USS Enterprise bridge chair from Star Trek (1966) and a Museum of Science Fiction branded swag bundle that also includes a signed and MOSF-branded DUNE board game.

Judging

All Entries will be judged by a panel of judges selected by the Museum of Science Fiction in its sole and absolute discretion. Judges’ decisions will be final and binding in all respects. Judges will award each Entry a number of points based upon the following 50-point scale:

Category 1: Mission (0 to 10 points)
Does the VR experience align with the Museum’s narrative blueprint? (see VR design white paper)

Category 2: Program description (0 to 10 points)
Does the VR experience correspond to the Program Description section?

Category 3: Interactivity and Functionality (0 to 10 points)
Is the VR environment engaging and can a user interact with it intuitively?

Category 4: Visual Quality (0 to 10 points)
Does your Entry look photo-realistic? Does your Entry create an immersive experience?

Category 5: Creativity (0 to 10 points)
Is the VR experience imaginative? The entry should showcase your creative vision of the VR Museum.

Entry File Submission Procedure

1. Entry files may be submitted as zipped Unity project files (ver. 2021) or Sketchup Pro files (ver. 2021) - both as PC executable files, Steam VR compatible for the broadest range of HMD visors.
   VR design files may also be submitted as .fbx files with the entire environment blocked out. WebXR format can also be submitted if all of your separate .fbx models are zipped in a separate zip file so we can showcase the winning designs in our VR Museum of Science Fiction (currently being built with Unity).
   

2. To receive a registration number, you must complete the registration form below.
   

3. The submitted file must not be larger than 15 GB and must include a registration number in the file name. File submission and secure upload instructions will be emailed to you with your registration number.

Registration Closed
 

Registration and Submission Deadline

The competition registration and submission period will be open from Monday, April 4 to Friday, August 5, 2022 at 5pm EST. After completing the registration form, a registration number will be emailed to you with file submission and secure upload instructions. Your registration number must be included with all submission materials.

Winners will be notified on or about Friday, September 16, 2022.

Please email any questions to: vr@museumofsciencefiction.org

Awards Ceremony

An awards ceremony will be held at the SmithGroup Offices on Saturday evening, October 15, 2022 in Washington, DC.
All of the winning VR designs will be shown in the VR Museum of Science Fiction.

Questions | Responses | Additional Information

Updates and Additional Information on: Facebook and Twitter (please like us on FB and follow us on Twitter)

Use of open source models and textures is permitted with documented source permissions to confirm usage rights.

Registration Cost:  Free

Registration Process:  Complete the registration form to obtain a registration number anytime before the registration and submission deadline on August 5, 2022 at 5 PM EST. File submission and secure upload instructions will be emailed to you with your registration number.

Commissioning: a commission is not directly attached to winning the competition.

Judging Criteria: In addition to addressing programmatic requirements, the submission will be judged on how well it addresses the Museum’s goals, listed in the Program Description.

Parental Consent Form: Click to download

Press Release: Click to download

Official Rules: Click to download

Competition Sponsors