SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards Feature 3D Printing

Avant-garde printers will be honored at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Innovations Awards across categories including , wearable technology, and . The awards, held March 15 in Austin, Texas, celebrate “the most inspiring and creative innovations in the connected world,” according to a release.

Chosen based on creativity, form, function, and overall experience, five finalists for each of the 13 categories have been announced, including:

Innovative 3-DIY: “Awarded for making 3D-printing technology more accessible or affordable, or the maker using such technology in new and exciting ways.”

• Form 2 by Formlabs;

• Proto BuildBar by Real Art;

• Respere by Metamason;

• Ultimaker2 Go and Ultimaker2 Extended by Ultimaker;

• And Wevolver by Wevolver.

Health, Med, & Biotech: “Awarded for the new technology that best improves the quality, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness or prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care in health and medicine.”

• The Brain Power System by Brain Power;

• DeskGen by Desktop Genetics;

• DNA Tinker Studio by Synbiota;

• EpiWatch by Thread and Johns Hopkins University;

• And Nima by 6SensorLabs.

Wearable Tech: “Awarded for the new hardware that revolutionizes the convenience, comfort, functionality, efficiency, and fashion of having a device literally ‘on you.’”

• The Brain Power System by Brain Power;

• Here Active Listening System by Doppler Labs;

• Quell Wearable Pain Relief Technology by NeuroMetrix;

• Thync by Thync;

• And Vivi by Method/Global Logic.

Additional categories include digital design, “scifi no longer,” visual media, virtual reality, student innovations, “new economy,” privacy and security, and music and audio innovation. Awards will also be presented for best in show, people’s choice, breakout trend, speaker of the event, and meme of the year.