What’s it about?

Emergency situations can arise in any walk of life and at any time, abruptly disrupting our everyday lives without much warning – whether natural disasters, political conflicts, or acts of violence affecting us and/or those around us.

Responding appropriately to these exceptional situations—and minimizing harm as much as possible—requires confidence in dealing with them. Unfortunately, what that entails often becomes clear only afterward. Too often, once a disaster has occurred, it becomes apparent that better preparation or training for certain events could have prevented more serious damage. Another challenge is that many emergencies can unfold on very different scales, and there is no „blueprint“ for the best way to respond to every type of emergency.

To make a meaningful contribution to this issue and give educational content about emergency preparedness and safe behavior during disasters a platform, H7: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Jugendverbände der Hilfsorganisationen, the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, and Paneoverse are launching a nationwide competition.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for original, creative virtual reality training scenarios on the topics of civil protection, resilience, and safety in civil emergencies – from initial concept to actual implementation. 

How can I create my own training scenarios?

The PaneoVR Tool for immersive 360° video content enables anyone to create their own interactive virtual (training) scenarios – no IT expertise required. The resulting content can be played on VR headsets as well as on all common smartphones/tablets and computers.

How does the competition work?

Individuals or teams develop a concept for an immersive training scenario that fits the competition theme. What might that look like technically?

Example content on PaneoNet

The group or individual then independently implements the concept they developed using the PaneoVR Tool (more information about hardware and software is provided below).

All submitted Paneo scenarios will be displayed publicly as part of the competition and reviewed and evaluated by an expert jury. The 10 best scenarios will receive cash and noncash prizes. The jury will also select submissions that will become certified additions to the “Virtual training for civil emergencies and their prevention” portfolio – with their creators prominently credited, of course.

Who can participate?

All groups or individuals ages 14–29 who reside in Germany are eligible to register. These eligibility rules do not apply to performers and assistants who are not part of the registered team.
An entry may be submitted on behalf of a nonprofit organization, entity, or educational institution, or entirely in a private capacity.
Groups and individuals may not represent private, for-profit companies.

Access to devices and software

The PaneoVR Tool is available free of charge to everyone as the Community Edition. As part of the competition, Paneoverse also provides all participants with free Basic L licenses, giving them full access to sharing features and additional online storage. At least one registered PaneoVR account is required to receive a license. This form can then be used.

Register and receive a PaneoVR Basic license

Paneo scenarios are based on 360° videos or photos. A 360° camera is generally required to capture them. If no such camera is available in the participant’s personal or institutional environment, a list of participating media centers in Germany can be found here. If participants can reach one of the media centers, they can borrow equipment such as 360° cameras free of charge for the competition. Paneoverse also offers a rental service on request, but this service is subject to a fee. Learn more here.

Officially participating media centers

Regarding virtual reality: Paneo scenarios are fully VR-compatible. They can therefore be played and experienced on VR headsets (particularly Meta Quest and Pico headsets).
Nevertheless, this is optional; Paneo scenarios can also be played on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. Learn more about the supported platforms in the Download center.

Submitting an eligible scenario

The theme of the competition, “Civil protection,” can be approached in many ways, and creative engagement with the topic is explicitly encouraged – including from different disciplinary perspectives. Scenarios focused on prevention are just as relevant as training scenarios that examine actions taken after or during a particular emergency. The only requirements are a clearly defined learning or training objective for the scenario and a duration of approximately 5–20 minutes.
Competition entries must include the following:

  • The completed PaneoVR scenario – Important: When the entry is submitted, the system creates an unalterable duplicate of the project as the official submission. No subsequent changes are possible.
  • A screen recording of a “perfect” creator walkthrough lasting less than 5 minutes (without delays for working out solutions, thinking, or correcting mistakes)
  • A summary (no more than 300 words) of the scenario’s objective and underlying concept
  • A list of everyone involved, including name, address, and email
    • If applicable: The organization/institution represented by the participants
  • For participants under 18: Permission to participate from a parent or legal guardian download the permission form

Information about stock media: The creators must hold all necessary rights to the image and audio materials. If third-party material is used (for example, material available under a free Creative Commons license ), any applicable licenses, attribution details, etc. must also be submitted.

Submit an entry

Jury prizes

  1. Place: 4x Meta Quest 3, 1x Insta360 X5 Starter Set + 1000€
  2. Place: 3x Meta Quest 3 + 500€
  3. Place: 3x Meta Quest 3s + 500€
  4. – 10th place: 2x Meta Quest 3s

Audience award

All publicly displayed scenarios can be rated by the audience. The highest-rated scenario will receive a prize of 1.000€.

Judging criteria

Submitted Paneo scenarios will be evaluated by the expert jury according to the following criteria:

  • Instructional design (learning/training objective and its implementation) (50%)
  • Media production quality (image and audio) (25%)
  • Interactivity (making full use of the capabilities of 360°-VR as an interactive medium) (25%)

Submission deadline

The submission deadline is November 30, 2026, at 20:00

Exclusion and return of entries

The expert jury reserves the right not to present entries publicly, to return them for correction, or to exclude them from the competition if they

  • violate applicable law
  • contain targeted advertising by for-profit companies
  • glorify discrimination or violent crimes.

If you are unsure about your concept and/or planned video material, you are welcome to contact wettbewerb@paneovr.de at any time.

The jury

  • Dr. Thies Pfeiffer, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction
  • Dr. Thomas Lemke, Professor of Media Technology
  • Andreas Gall, Deputy National Director of JRK
  • Laura Schaudel
  • Patrick Wiedemann, National Youth Director of THW-Jugend
  • Christina Müller, Media Team Officer 
  • Thomas Runge, National Youth Leadership
  • Wendelin Verstappen, National Youth Leadership
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  • Leonard Meyer, Managing Director of Paneoverse
  • Lena Meyer, Psychologische Psychotherapeutin (i.A)
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  • Carina Hoeft, Deputy National Youth Director
  • Felix Englert, former National Youth Spokesperson
  • Carlotta Derad, Volunteer
  • Philipp Matthäus, Volunteer