About the XR Graduate Certificate

Extended reality (XR) interfaces enable new kinds of user experiences by superimposing digital content onto the user’s real worldview while virtual reality creates fully immersive virtual world experiences. Anyone who’s ever seen the virtual down line displayed on the field on any pro football game broadcast, caught a creature playing Pokémon Go (gotta catch ‘em all!), or arranged 3D images of furniture in the living room has already experienced some of what this technology can do.   

Recent years have seen an explosion of investment in XR technologies by major technology companies including Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. As a result, students with skills in the design, construction, and evaluation of XR experiences are increasingly in demand, as are scholars who can bring critical perspective to the role that XR plays in diverse domains such as education, healthcare, engineering, and entertainment.

The Rackham Graduate Certificate in Extended Reality program offers students a set of common experiences and shared knowledge, while also allowing students with diverse backgrounds and interests to shape their XR course plan in a way that best suits their goals.

Who can participate?

The XR Graduate Certificate is open to all University of Michigan graduate students, regardless of degree program. The Certificate is one of several Rackham Graduate Certificates that are available to U-M graduate students as an add-on to their primary degree program(s). 

How does it work?

Admissions

Due to limited capacity in the required and pre-approved courses, admission to the XR Certificate program is restricted. In accordance with Rackham policies, students can only apply for admission to the certificate after completing one full semester of graduate study. The XR Certificate admissions cycle takes place in the Winter semester of each school year, and successful applicants are admitted into the program the following Fall semester. Please see the detailed timeline and process for admissions to the XR Certificate Program.

Curriculum

All certificate students must complete 12 credits of coursework that meet certain criteria.

• All students must take SI 559: Introduction to AR/VR Application Design (3 credits). This course is generally offered in the Fall Semester.
• Specific course offerings are pre-approved by the XR Certificate Committee, based on an assessment of the XR-specific content covered in each course offering. Please see the list of previous, current, and future pre-approved course offerings.
• Additional courses (including independent study) may be considered for credit towards the certificate, provided that a substantial portion of the student’s work in the course had a clear connection to XR. Please see the guidelines and process for petitioning for XR Certificate credit.

In accordance with Rackham policy regarding Graduate Certificates, for most students up to 6 credits can be “double counted,” meaning that they apply to both the certificate program and to the student’s primary degree program. This means that students will take at least 6 credits that are “above and beyond” the requirements of their primary degree program in order to complete the XR certificate. Please note that all credit hours counted towards the XR certificate must be earned in accordance with Rackham’s policies on applying course credit towards degree requirements.

Certificate Project

Each student completing the certificate will be required to complete a project culminating in a summative project report or presentation in a format agreed upon by the student and two faculty “readers” who are associated with the XR Certificate. Please see the guidelines and process for completing the Certificate Project.