While the USC School of Cinematic Arts maintains a strong center training the next generation of scholars and media makers, it also has a profound presence in the research of the moving image. One of the primary centers for this research is the World Building Media Lab which was honored at the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) Interaction Design Awards. The Lab is led by award-winning Production Designer/USC Cinema Professor Alex McDowell (Minority Report, Man of Steel, Upside Down).

The Worldbuilding Media Lab, a practice-based research unit of SCA’s Media Arts + Practice Division, explores how the invention and creation of the entirely new worlds—a creative process that goes beyond conceptualizing to an imagined physical setting to inventing the setting’s politics, culture and technology—informs and shapes how narrative storytelling is developed and experienced.

The Future Voice Award, selected by Interaction Award Jury Chair Dr. Genevieve Bell from Intel, is selected from outside the Interaction Awards submissions, recognizing work demonstrating the profound potential of Interaction Design and evidence of what Interaction Design could become.

“The 2014 Interaction Award recipients brilliantly demonstrate how the practice of Interaction Design is dedicated to the improvement of human lives,” said IxDA President Nick Gould. “These projects, and indeed all the submissions we received, are evidence of the exciting and inspiring ways in which designers can change the world for the better. In addition to recognizing the award winners’ achievement, we at the IxDA look forward to the continuing global conversation about what constitutes excellence in interaction design.”

For more information, please visit: http://awards.ixda.org/blog/2014/announcing-the-winners-of-the-2014-interaction-awards-2/