This year, 326 teens from across NYC submitted 87 innovative projects to our 12th annual Emoti-Con NYC Youth Digital Media and Tech Challenge. At the end of the Virtual Project Fair, judges from Facebook, Netflix, Verizon, Google, Smithsonian, IBM and many other technology and media organizations and college programs evaluated each submission to select 5 winners and 5 honorable mentions.

Watch the Award Ceremony

Most Innovative: “Ven-sure-out” by Mouse Design League students!

Ven-sure-out is an assistive technology app by high school students from Mouse’s Design League program. The app helps users with disabilities report and share the location of accessibility problems for other users, like sidewalk closures or lack of wheelchair ramps.

Most Social Impact: “Crisis in Venezuela” by Global Kids students!

Crisis in Venezuela is a choose-your-own-adventure game from middle school students in the Global Kids program at PS 96. Through gameplay, users experience life from the perspective of a family attempting to migrate from Venezuela.

Point of View: “Life Under COVID-19” by Educational Video Center students!

Life under COVID-19 is an interactive documentary by students from the Educational Video Center. The documentary, when finalized, will give viewers a different set of content depending on their choices, with stories about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the lives of incarcerated people and NYC students facing inequity.

Best Pitch: “Sanit-Safe” by Cooper Union STEM program students!

Sanit-Safe is a device prototype by a high school student from the Scholars’ Academy in Queens who participated in Cooper Union’s STEM programming. Sanit-Safe disinfects mail and packages that may carry bacteria and viruses (including COVID-19).

Most Entertaining: “Project Tomo” by Information Technology High School students!

Project Tomo is a social impact game by a team of high school students from the Information Technology High School, as part of the Games 4 Change student competition and using Mouse’s Impact Game Design course.. The game explores the bond between humans and animals as a boy and his dog work together to discover the cause behind a mysterious chemical infection.

Congratulations!!! Winning teams will receive award certificates by mail, free digital tickets to attend the virtual Human Rights Watch Film Festival screening, and Q&A for “CODED BIAS” this Friday at 6:30 PM, and an invitation to present their projects together at the Emoti-Con table for NYC CS Fair this year.

Honorable Mentions:

• “DJ Alex Turntable” from Dreamyard Design League
• “Save the Earth, Duckteers” from the Games 4 Change program at JHS 189Q
• “Win the Power” from the Games 4 Change program Halsey Middle School
• “Quaranteens” from EVC
• “Promoting STEAM through Equity, Opportunity and Unity” by the Full Metal Beavers First Robotics Team

How Winners are Selected

The judging rubric and deliberation process ensure that projects are compared equitably- not for the project’s final execution (which will vary depending on the students’ access to funding for technology resources and technical mentors) but instead for the efficacy and creativity of their idea, the clarity of their perspective, and the authenticity of their design process.

Thank You and Congratulations!

All project teams should feel incredibly proud of what you have accomplished, in spite of this being possibly the most challenging school year in recent history. To the over 326 NYC teens who stepped up, worked hard, and shared their inspiring and creative projects, all while stuck at home: Thank you for being a part of the Emoti-Con community.

We look forward to seeing you all in the spring of 2021!