XR Courses on Campus

Provides a deep understanding of the fundamentals of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems through practical experience implementing these extended reality (XR) systems. Topics covered include visual and audio display technology, tracking, human perception and psychophysics, building user interfaces for XR applications, and analyzing XR experiences.

A new era of immersive computing (aka virtual/augmented/mixed/extended reality) has the potential to transform most human endeavors (e.g., science, education, entertainment, medicine, and more), similar to the transformative impacts of the eras of mainframe, personal, and mobile computing. There is, however, an orders of magnitude gap in the performance, power, and quality of experience of systems we can build today and those we desire. Bridging this gap requires hardware and software systems designers to have an interdisciplinary foundation to enable application-driven, end-to-end quality-of-experience driven, and hardware-software-algorithm co-designed systems. This course will provide students with such a foundation, covering the key algorithms that underpin immersive systems (e.g., from computer vision, graphics, machine learning, video, and audio); key hardware technologies (e.g., heterogeneous domain-specific acceleration of compute, memory, and I/O); and key software technologies (e.g., principled use of approximations, compilation for heterogeneous systems, and distributed system stacks). Students will be required to present and critique research papers and perform a substantial team project. 

This course will explore Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) as applied to both education and games. Students will engage in readings from all three areas, developing a foundational understanding of common approaches to studying HCI as well as current intersections with education and gaming. A major component of the course is a semester-long research project in which students will engage in HCI, games, and education research. 

This course covers a core topic in computer graphics: 3D rendering by physics-based simulation of light. The course will contain lectures covering mathematical and algorithmic foundations of rendering (e.g., Monte Carlo integration and path integrals) as well as seminar-like sessions for discussing recent advances in rendering. In addition, we will go over basics in differentiable rendering in this course. 

Modeling, understanding, and generating the 3D world are among the primary goals of computer vision. This course is intended for graduate students with a research interest in 3D vision. Various topics will be explored through a combination of lectures on fundamental techniques and concepts, as well as individual paper reading group discussions. Unlike conventional one-to-many seminar-style reading groups, this class will adopt a new approach called a Role-Playing Reading Group. In each lecture, a group of students will play various roles to provide a holistic perspective on a specific research topic or paper. Topics include 3D representations, monocular geometry, multi-view geometry, 3D and 4D scene understanding, and 3D content creation. The course project consists of a proposal, experiments, a report, and a final poster presentation.

Discover the intersection of human-centered design and immersive environments in this comprehensive, project-based course. Learners will first explore the landscape of how human-centered design is currently being applied to various aspects of immersive experiences as well as develop speculative frameworks around the future of human-centered design in this context. Then, they will utilize design thinking to develop innovative solutions tailored to the challenges of immersive experiences spanning diverse industries.

This course explores system I/O from a human perspective, combining HCI, psychophysics, and haptics. Through hands on mini-projects and a final project, students will learn about touch perception, user-centered design, and haptic device engineering, culminating in a demo day showcasing their haptic interaction projects. Additional key topics include actuator modeling, haptic rendering, and AR/VR applications.

Explores participant-centered experience design in immersive and interactive formats, including theatre, games, and other experiences. Students will examine participant journeys, build experience frameworks, and iterate on prototypes, culminating in a fully designed immersive and/or interactive experience.

An experiential learning project-based course to develop a virtual or extended reality experience within the framework of a real-world game or interactive media development project. Students will apply knowledge gained in previous courses to research development methods and build their own processes that support the overall development effort. Students are expected to adhere to a development cycle including meeting with clients to determine specifications, design proposals, prototype development, testing/feedback and revision.

*Planned for offering in Fall 2027

This course provides a comprehensive overview of AR/MR in healthcare by balancing theory, hands-on programming, and discussion of contemporary issues. The theoretical component traces the evolution of immersive simulation—from early Virtual Reality (VR) frameworks to today’s AI-enhanced Extended Reality (XR) systems. Students will critically examine how continued advances in computing (including Machine Learning and Digital Twin) are being integrated into AR/MR and how these technologies support human–AI collaboration in clinical contexts. On the practical side, students will develop core computational skills in AR/MR, including computer vision, spatial computing, user interaction design, and display technologies. Programming assignments will use Python for device-agnostic algorithms, alongside exposure to Unity engine (C#) and Xcode (Swift) for platform-specific development. Students will also be exposed to leading hardware, including the Magic Leap 2, Apple Vision Pro, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses, to observe real-world healthcare applications in action. The course concludes with a survey of emerging topics and debates—drawing on recent works presented at IEEE ISMAR and related venues—to prepare students to innovate at the intersection of simulation, AI, and immersive technology.

A practical and theoretical foundation in the current state of XR applications designed to develop the skills to critically assess their use. Students will learn about the technical aspects of XR, its application in different sectors, and the ethical, social and business implications of this emerging technology.

*Planned for offering in Fall 2027

Examines the importance and application of immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Students will also receive an introduction to designing content for these technologies (a formal design background is NOT required). 

This graduate level course offers a comprehensive exploration of human experience in immersive media, encompassing not only direct users but also non-users and social others who interact with or are affected by XR and AI environments. Drawing on communication, psychology, design, and ethics, the course maps immersive experience across perceptual, psychological, contextual, social, and cultural dimensions of human experience. Students will engage with theory, empirical research, and practical case studies to understand how immersive systems shape perception, cognition, emotion, relationships, and meaning making in digital society.

*Planned for offering in Fall 2027

This course will introduce concepts, techniques and methodologies in archaeological field research through participation in virtual excavation, artifact recovery, analysis and interpretation. Virtual archaeology will include weekly activities in virtual reality where students will use empirical evidence to uncover and reconstruct pieces of the past.

Description, quantification, and modeling of human physiological systems, based on systems fundamentals. Components, relationships, and homeostatic controls of neural, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, digestion, and renal-filtration systems. Application of mathematical modeling and MATLAB simulation to further understanding of the systems and relate physiological consequences to changes in environment or component function.

Systems engineering approach to modeling physiological systems to examine natural biological control systems, homeostasis, and control through external medical devices. Introduces open loop and closed loop feedback control; Laplace and Fourier analysis of system behavior; impulse and steady state responses; physiological modeling and system identification; and stability. Includes biological systems for endocrine function, muscle position, neuronal circuits, and cardiovascular function. Mathematical modeling, Matlab and Simulink simulation, and physiological measurements to relate control systems to maintenance of internal environment. 

This course provides an introduction to automation and robotics and their application to civil and construction engineering. The history, current state, and future of construction automation and robotics will be overviewed. The fundamentals of automation and robotics are described at a conceptual level to provide an understanding of what robots are and how they function. The course also includes spatial descriptions of robots, kinematics (mobile robots), and an introductory programming component. These topics provide students with essential knowledge and skills to initiate basic control and operation of robots.

Special Topics In Dance - Live Performance in Virtual Environments: An Experimentorium In this course we will use various digital tools to create virtual environments and explore how to craft a live performance of dance, music, and theater within them. The course will culminate in a performance event that will be seen live and in virtual worlds on the Internet. Technologies will include virtual reality, 360-degree video, AI, game engines, and interactive multimedia software.

This course is designed to be taken concurrently with ECE 329 “Fields and waves I”, to strengthen the students' understanding of the concepts in electromagnetism and their applications, through a combination of customized Virtual Reality (VR) experiences and computer simulations using Mathematica. Topics include static and quasi-static electric fields, polarization, static and quasi-static magnetic fields, dynamic fields and Maxwell’s equations, wave solutions of Maxwell's equations in free space and homogeneous media, time- and frequency-domain analysis of waves in transmission line circuits, and Smith Chart analysis.