Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

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The benefits associated with XR technologies for industry and for society are too great to ignore. Imagination and technology combine to create mixed reality experiences that change the way we communicate, learn, play, and work. Over the next decade, every industry will adopt aspects from this suite of immersive technologies — notably retail/ecommerce, education, IT, entertainment, manufacturing, and healthcare. Now it’s your turn.

The Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality program from MIT xPRO provides a foundational understanding and conversational fluency in the principles of XR technologies, an umbrella term that includes AR, VR, and MR. Over the course of eight weeks, you will:

• Acquire the essential vocabulary and knowledge of XR concepts to communicate meaningfully with different stakeholders.

• Gain introductory practical experience with XR system development and better understand how to generate XR system development ideas and communicate with developers.

• Expand your knowledge of XR system elements, including design principles, approaches, and processes, taking into account users’ needs and values.

• Apply XR concepts and design principles to create a high-fidelity XR prototype.

• Ensure your technologies are inclusive and designed to promote social good.

• Explore the broader implications of XR technologies, including the new opportunities they provide, enabling you to make recommendations to stakeholders, clients, and other key audiences.

Drawing on faculty expertise, case studies, and peer interactions, you will develop a deeper understanding of XR system elements, including design principles, approaches, and processes, learning to consider users’ needs and values in XR design to create XR prototypes.

This eight-week program is ideal for seasoned professionals who want to expand their capabilities and explore the rapidly growing field of XR technologies.

• Design Professionals: UX, UI, and XR designers seeking to expand their capabilities to include a technical understanding of how to integrate visual design elements, user needs, values, and considerations of social impact into the design and development of XR systems for their organization or client.

• Developers: Unity developers, app developers, and 3D developers focused on VR/AR apps and experiences seeking to expand their technical knowledge of XR technologies and understand their wide range of practical applications and unique development requirements.

• Technology Adopters: Professionals who are interested in the application of XR technologies to improve the customer experience and/or to reduce costs, time to market, and learning curves.

Over the course of this eight-week program, you will learn the principles of designing effective and engaging XR experiences that are inclusive and promote social good. Specifically, you will:

• Acquire the essential vocabulary and knowledge of XR concepts to communicate meaningfully with different stakeholders.

• Gain introductory and practical experience with XR system development to better understand how to generate XR system development ideas and communicate with developers.

• Expand your knowledge of XR system elements, including design principles, approaches, and processes, considering user needs and values.

• Apply XR concepts and design principles to create a high-fidelity XR prototype.

• Ensure that your technologies are inclusive and designed to promote social good.

• Explore the broader implications of XR technologies, including the new opportunities they provide, to make recommendations to stakeholders, clients, and other key audiences.

• Explore applications for different immersive technologies with an industry thought leader, MIT Professor and Director of the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality, D. Fox Harrell.

• Get access to exclusive interviews with industry pioneers in digital storytelling, UX design, multimedia art, and product innovation.

• Gain practical experience by defining, visualizing, and pitching your XR game concept, punctuated by building a prototype.

• Learn to apply the principles of AR and VR with Unity and Qlone.

• Accelerate your professional development through personalized feedback, active support, and network development.

• Participate in live weekly office hours with learning facilitators.

• Earn a verified digital certificate and four Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from MIT xPRO.

• To experience VR apps, you will need to purchase a VR headset, such as a Merge VR Headset or Google Cardboard VR Headset (compatible with most iOS and Android smartphones. Preferred; phones from 123mm to 156mm).

• To experience VR/AR apps, your mobile phone must have an iPhone Operating System 11 or latest (iOS) or Android Operating System (OS) Oreo or latest; with a camera.

• Other headsets that may be used to experience VR/AR include HTC Vive, Oculus Go, Meta Quest, Sony PlayStation VR, and BOBOVR.

• In addition, as you progress through the program, you will need to install trial and/or free software required for making XR components, such as Unity Personal and Qlone. For example, to view the 360-degree prototypes you will make in Module 3, you will need to download the VR Media Player for Android or the VR Player for iPhone users.

MIT xPRO's online learning programs leverage vetted content from world-renowned experts to make learning accessible anytime, anywhere. Designed using cutting-edge research in the neuroscience of learning, MIT xPRO programs are helping professionals build their skills on the job. To explore the full catalog of MIT xPRO courses and programs, visit xpro.mit.edu.

The MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality pioneers innovative experiences using technologies of virtuality. Such technologies, ranging from Virtual Reality (VR) to Cinematic Reality (CR) and beyond, all use computing to construct imaginative experiences that overlay our physical world. It is important to create and deploy such technologies effectively as they are now used every day to communicate, express, learn, play, and work. Professor Harrell is Director of the Center for Advanced Virtuality and faculty director of the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality.

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