The 2015 Proto Awards are just around the corner and the VRF, the organization running the show, has announced the nominees. Comedian Jonah Ray has been selected as the host of the award ceremony.

JONAH-RAY
Comedian Jonah Ray is a co-host on ‘The Meltdown with Jonah & Kumail’ and the ‘Nerdist’ podcast

Following an impressively executed inaugural award show in 2014, the Proto Awards heads into its second year with Jonah Ray hosting the award ceremony which will be held on September 22nd in Hollywood alongside the Oculus Connect conference.

See Also: Zombies on the Holodeck Wins ‘Best Overall’ at Proto Awards, Winners Took Home Nvidia’s New GTX 980 GPU

The Virtual Reality Foundation, the organization behind the Protos and VRLA, have announced 70 nominations across 14 categories for this year’s ceremony:

Best GUI

Skyworld – Vertigo Games

VRChat

VRMT: VR Worldbuilder – Defective Studios

Virtual Desktop – Guy Godin

World of Comenius – Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík

Best Art Direction

The Gallery: Emberstone Teaser – Cloudhead Games

Lucky’s Tale – Playful, Inc.

Surge – Arjan van Meerten

Technolust – Iris VR

theBlu: Encounter – WEVR

VRtheBlu_Encounter_SVR_panorama17_v2b

Best Interaction Design

Crystal Rift – Psytec Games

The Gallery: Emberstone Teaser – Cloudhead Games

I Expect You To Die – Schell Games

Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs

World of Comenius – Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík

Best Social Experience

Convrge – Shawn Whiting

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes – Steel Crate Games

SteamCrew VR – Aurelien Kerbeci

VRChat

Vice News VR: Millions March – VRSE

Best Score

Adult Swim Presents: The Virtual Brainload – Adult Swim/WEVR

Lunadroid 237 HD – Unello Design

Playhead – Innerspace VR

Surge – Arjan van Meerten

Welcome to Oculus – Trey Davis

Best Sound Design

Insurgent Shatter Reality GearVR – Kite & Lightning

Playhead – Innerspace VR

Tactera – E McNeill

Technolust – Iris VR

theBlu: Encounter – WEVR

VRtheBlu_Encounter_SVR_panorama17_v2b

Best Gameplay

I Expect You To Die – Schell Games

Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes – Steel Crate Games

Lucky’s Tale – Playful, Inc.

Tactera – E McNeill

Best Educational Experience

Clouds Over Sidra – VRSE

Neos: The Universe – NeosVR

Rapid Fire: A brief history of flight – Studio Transcendent

rapid-fire

World of Comenius – Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík

theBlu VR – WEVR

Best Mobile Experience

The Fifth Sleep – Short – Innerspace VR

Insurgent Shatter Reality GearVR – Kite & Lightning

Neos: The Universe – NeosVR

SteamCrew VR – Aurelien Kerbeci

theBlu VR – WEVR

Best Student Experience

ElemenTerra – Max Pittsley

Ghosts Of Hogwarts – Gregoire Davenas

Lollihop – Samuli Jääskeläinen

Nighttime Terror – Daniel Pots

Virtual Cell Classroom – Emily Donald

Best Independent Experience

Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs

Tactera – E McNeill

Technolust: Thought Crimes – Iris VR

Virtual Desktop – Guy Godin

Vox Machinae – Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation

Most Transportive

Convrge – Shawn Whiting

D.M.Z: Memories of a no man’s land – Innerspace VR

The Gallery: Emberstone Teaser – Cloudhead Games

I Expect You To Die – Schell Games

Technolust – Iris VR

A highlight reel of the 2014 Proto Awards gives a brief glimpse of what transpired at last year’s ceremony, which was received as surprisingly mature and well orchestrated given the still nascent status of the VR industry. The organizers say that this year’s event will be bigger and better.

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Disclosure: Ben Lang serves as a volunteer on the Virtual Reality Foundation’s Board of Governors who are responsible for selecting Proto Awards nominees.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."