Boston – PAR Works (Precision Augmented Reality Works Inc.), which has developed the fastest and most accurate 3-D augmented reality technology, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as a finalist for two prestigious awards at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) 2013 Interactive Festival.

PAR Works was named a finalist in the mobile technology category for the 5th annual SXSW Accelerator competition, the marquee event of the SXSW Interactive Festival’s Startup Village, where startups showcase some of the most impressive new innovations to a panel of handpicked judges and a live audience. More than 500 companies submitted to present at SXSW Accelerator, where PAR Works was selected out of 56 finalists in seven different categories.

The company’s MARS mobile application, which will be unveiled for public beta for the first time at the SXSW Trade Show, also was named a finalist in the SXSW Interactive Awards. This competition uncovers the best new digital work while celebrating those who are building the interactive trends of the future. The ceremonies for both awards will take place at the SXSW 2013 conference in Austin next month.

MARS is the first technology to offer instant 3-D recognition for products and places, allowing companies to offer content to consumers the instant they take a simple photograph. Available to operate on either Android (version 2.3 or above) or iOS (version 5.0 or above), MARS quickly and precisely delivers on-demand branded content to users, a technology that has become increasingly important as more consumers and businesses adopt, and become dependent on, mobile devices. The speed and millimeter-level accuracy of the image detection and content overlay in MARS is unparalleled.

“Businesses and consumers will be able to experience for the first time at SXSW the power of our MARS technology, which will allow brands to find even more ways to engage with their customers through any mobile device, anywhere,” said Dr. Jules White, co-founder and Chief Scientist for PAR Works. “We would like to thank SXSW for the unique honor of being nominated for both awards this year.”

The three-day Accelerator competition will be held Monday, March 11th – Wednesday, March 13th. As a key event of SXSW Festival’s Startup Village, the Accelerator competition will take place on the 4th floor of the Downtown Austin Hilton and will feature finalists across categories including Innovative Web Technologies; Social Technologies; Entertainment and Gaming Technologies; Mobile Technologies; Health Technologies; News Technologies; and Music Technologies. On March 12th, judges will announce a selected winner in each of the categories presented except Music Technologies, which will be revealed on March 13th at 6pm at the Austin Convention Center in Room 10A/B.

Winners of the 16th Annual SXSW Interactive Awards will be named at a ceremony on March 12th. PAR Works’ technology has already received international acclaim, having been named an International CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering honoree by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® earlier this year, as well as a winner of “Best Paper Award” at the 12th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR2012) in Taipei last November.

PAR Works, whose technology is based on research by renowned engineers at Virginia Tech, is a subsidiary of Boston-based private investment company Allied Minds.

“Some truly ground-breaking and disruptive companies once stood where this year’s 56 SXSW Accelerator finalists will pitch to venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and press,” said SXSW Accelerator Event Producer, Chris Valentine. “I am confident that this year’s SXSW Accelerator finalists will bring equally exceptional and unique products and services to the table, with high potential to impact their respective industries.”

PAR Works will be hosting demonstrations of its technology at Booth #822 at SXSW’s Trade Show, which is taking place March 10-13. More information about the company, including demonstration videos on its application in the real estate, automotive, construction and advertising industries, can be found at www.parworks.com.

About PAR Works
PAR Works brings augmented reality to a new level, offering digital imagery overlay accuracy to the ground-breaking precision of millimeters, all performed nearly instantaneously on any arbitrary mobile device. PAR Works technology is based on research developed by Dr. Jules White, Dr. Mani Golparvar-Fard, and Mr. Hyojoon Bae at Virginia Tech. For a product demo, please visit www.parworks.com.

About Allied Minds
Allied Minds is a U.S. investment firm that deploys private equity to form, fund, manage and build start-ups based on early-stage technologies developed at renowned U.S. universities and federal research institutions. Allied Minds serves as a diversified holding company that supports its businesses with capital, management and shared services, and is the premier investment firm to utilize this novel and fully integrated approach to technology commercialization. www.alliedminds.com.

About SXSW Interactive
The 20th annual SXSW Interactive Festival will take place March 8-12, 2013 in Austin, Texas. An incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, the event features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line-up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. From hands-on training to big-picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to experience a preview of what is unfolding in the world of technology. Join us March 2013 for the sessions, the networking, the parties, the 16th Annual SXSW Interactive Awards, SXSW Startup Village, the SXSW Gaming Expo, the SXSW Trade Show and, of course, the inspirational experience that only SXSW can deliver.

SXSW Interactive 2013 is sponsored by Miller Lite, Monster Energy, Esurance, IFC, Yahoo!, American Express, PepsiCo, Pepsi, Freecreditscore.com, Chevrolet, American Airlines, Oreo, AT&T and The Austin Chronicle.