Announcing the Winners of the 2012 Interaction Awards

We’re honored to announce our inaugural annual Interaction Award winners for 2012!

Last night we celebrated twenty-six winning projects from all over the world at an Awards Ceremony and Party sponsored by Google at Interaction|12 in Dublin, Ireland. The projects, ranging from applications and games to instrument panels and installations, were picked from over 300 entries from 33 countries, for their excellence in interaction design. San Francisco-based design firm Stimulant and product company Sifteo were awarded Best in Show for the project LoopLoop and Interaction Cubes by Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida, from Rio de Janiero was awarded the People’s Choice Award.

“The teams and organizations behind the winning projects deserve our attention and applause,” said Janna DeVylder, president of IxDA. “Great interaction design does not suddenly appear; it’s through a considered design process, understanding of behavior, and clear intent that these projects shine. We are thankful to all that submitted in this first year, providing our judges with a difficult task of narrowing projects and selecting the final winners.”

LoopLoop, the winner of Best in Show, is an interactive music toy created by Stimulant for Sifteo cubes and uses hyper-minimal visuals and rich, smile-making sounds to let anyone make music.

"The best interaction design doesn't just make things easier to use, it opens up new spaces for play and collaboration to enhance our relationship with the world and each other," said Jury Chair, Robert Fabricant. "LoopLoop was by far the most addictive entry we reviewed. The judges couldn't put the little blocks down. That is the true test of great interaction design."

Interaction Cubes, Winners of the People’s Choice Award, received 394 votes from individuals all over the world who voted for the project during an online poll. By Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida, from Rio de Janeiro, Interaction Cubes brings the Periodic Table to life. Installed as part of a traveling exhibition, the modular aluminum structure contains blocks that represent the various chemical elements.

Top prizes were awarded in the following categories: Best in Show, Best Concept, Best Student, People’s Choice, and Best in Category for six categories. An international jury selected the category award winners, and the People’s Choice Award was chosen by the online community.

And the winners are:

Best in Show
LoopLoop
Stimulant/Sifteo - USA

Best Student
Pas a Pas
Ishac Bertran/Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design - Denmark

Best Concept
Out of the Box
Vitamins - UK

People’s Choice
Interaction Cubes
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida - Brazil

BEST IN CATEGORY AWARDS

Expressing
LoopLoop
Stimulant/Sifteo - USA

Connecting
Pepsi Refresh Project
HUGE - USA

Disrupting
Ford SmartGauge with EcoGuide
Smart Design - USA

Empowering
ReadyForZero
ReadyForZero - USA

Engaging
Interaction Cubes
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida - Brazil

Optimizing
Appie
IceMobile Agency - Netherlands

Complete list of winners for the 2012 Interaction Awards:

Appie, IceMobile Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Best in Category, Optimizing)

B-Cycle, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky Boulder, USA (Optimizing)

FoodHub: a digital community where local food people, ISITE Design Portland, USA (Connecting)

Ford SmartGauge, Smart Design San Francisco, USA (Best in Category, Disrupting)

Google Art Project, Possible Worldwide New York, USA (Empowering)

HBO GO Mobile Applications, HUGE New York, USA (Engaging)

I want ToBe... Course, ToBe Worldwide Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Empowering)

Interaction Cubes, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Museu da Vida Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Best in Category, Engaging)

LoopLoop, Stimulant/Sifteo San Francisco, USA (Best in Category, Expressing; Best in Show)

Out of Box Experience - Accu-Chek Aviva, Frontend.com Dublin, Ireland (Optimizing)

Out of the Box, Vitamins London, England (Best Concept)

Pas a Pas, Ishac Bertran/CIID Copenhagen, Denmark (Expressing, Best Student)

Peel, Peel Mountain View, USA (Disrupting)

Pepsi Refresh Project, HUGE New York, USA (Best in Category, Connecting)

Plug-In-Play, Rockwell Group New York, USA (Connecting)

ReadyForZero, ReadyForZero San Francisco, USA (Optimizing)

Spotify Box, Umea Institute of Design Umea, Sweden (Disrupting)

Steps, Art Center College of Design Los Angeles, USA (Connecting)

SWYP: See What You Print, Artefact Seattle, USA (Disrupting)

Teaching Channel, Method San Francisco, USA (Empowering)

The Film Room, R/GA New York, USA (Expressing)

The Waste Land, Touch Press LLP London, England (Disrupting)

University of Oregon Ford Alumni Center, Second Story Interactive Studios Portland, USA (Engaging)

We Remember/ Explore 9/11, Local Projects LLC New York, USA (Engaging)

Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), Microsoft Seattle, USA (Connecting)

Xero, Xero Wellington, New Zealand (Optimizing)