The rapid growth in the development of commercial applications for extended reality (XR) has led companies from every industry to seek out experienced or trained developers and engineers with AR/VR experience and skills that they can bring into XR development.
Developed by a team of XR professionals associated with GinzaTech, the seven-month Professional Certificate in AR/VR Development and 3D Graphics with Unity provides the skills and knowledge that companies such as Apple, Wayfair, Google, and Verizon value as they make the shift to XR development.
Traditional software engineers and developers (or those with computer science-related degrees) can learn the XR essentials needed to build experiences in a game engine, use scripting to create, navigate, and customize 3D graphic assets to construct virtual environments, and create a presentable prototype.
Growth in interview demand for AR/VR engineers in the past year
Of software engineers predict we will see the full impact of AR/VR within the next 5 years.
The global XR market is expected to reach approximately $393 billion by 2025, a CAGR of 69.4% throughout the forecast period.
This comprehensive program is designed for professionals or students with a computer science degree or equivalent development experience who want to learn XR essentials and fundamentals for developing in Unity to build AR and VR experiences, as well as use scripting to create, navigate, and customize 3D graphic assets to construct interactive virtual environments. Participants will have scripting language experience and fundamental quantitative and analytical skills (i.e. Algebra I at a minimum).
It is ideal for:
The seven-month program is divided into five sections that explore the foundations of XR, 3D math and Unity development, construction of virtual environments, and high definition XR. It culminates in a project development phase and capstone project.
Get an overview of the past, present, and future of extended reality.
Explore the design principles essential for effective XR development, and consider the roles, interactions, and workflows within an XR project.
Recognize the role that game engines play within XR architecture, and set up Unity for successful development.
Develop knowledge of the Unity GUI, and learn how to import assets and GameObjects to utilize in project development, and how to create a Rube Goldberg machine. Explore the use of vector mathematics in Unity.
Apply C# programming to create custom Unity components. Apply the concepts of prefabs, transform API, materials, and vector multiplication and projection within Unity.
Explore the Input System Package to create a character controller. Apply C# scripting, physics, rigidbodies, colliders, matrix mathematics, and Unity coroutines to GameObjects to create interactivity and to create your own roll-a-ball scene.
Use tools within Unity to create a functioning UI within a scene. Add animations to GameObjects and apply matrix mathematics to Unity development.
Apply raycasting to inform interactions, and explore how Unity utilizes quaternion and matrices to represent rotations in 3D space.
Get an overview of AR development frameworks and learn to apply image tracking-based AR using Vuforia with Unity.
Create AR experiences leveraging object recognition techniques and interactions.
Learn about SLAM and AR Foundation and use AR Foundation in Unity to detect surface types and create code to load on a mobile device.
Explore the Unity XR Interaction Toolkit, grey boxing, and 6 DoF room-scale VR by creating an end-to-end XR experience.
Create complex interactions using hand avatars. Design physical user interfaces to add to XR environments.
Get a crash course in computer graphics and an introduction to writing shaders in Unity.
Explore scriptable rendering pipelines in Unity to create shaders using the shader graph.
Construct a virtual environment exploring lighting technologies in Unity’s Universal Rendering Pipeline.
Build a system to manage virtual worlds and deploy to Oculus Quest.
Explore the advanced materials and lighting workflows in Architectural Visualization. Contrast HDRP and URP.
Use HDRP tools and assets to construct an architectural visualization.
Work with the new runtime animation rigging system in Unity to create dynamic hand poses that increase the realism and immersion of XR experiences.
Use the VFX Graph technology in unity to create visual effects and procedural animation that will add rich visuals to XR experiences.
Determine your plan for your project style and techniques, then align your process with your plan.
Align your career and project production goals, and think through your project in detail to build a production schedule. Learn how to analyze and effectively communicate. through documentation.
Consider user onboarding and UX design for your prototype. Design your own user survey to elicit user feedback and determine how user feedback impacts your project development.
Evaluate your project development schedule and dedicate time for development. Special project development topics are highlighted.
Get, give, and incorporate peer feedback into your prototype and documentation development.
Learn to identify your audience and what they care about, communicate your project to them simply and clearly, and get it into their hands as easily as possible.
Present and share your capstone project.
Get an overview of the past, present, and future of extended reality.
Explore scriptable rendering pipelines in Unity to create shaders using the shader graph.
Explore the design principles essential for effective XR development, and consider the roles, interactions, and workflows within an XR project.
Construct a virtual environment exploring lighting technologies in Unity’s Universal Rendering Pipeline.
Recognize the role that game engines play within XR architecture, and set up Unity for successful development.
Build a system to manage virtual worlds and deploy to Oculus Quest.
Develop knowledge of the Unity GUI, and learn how to import assets and GameObjects to utilize in project development, and how to create a Rube Goldberg machine. Explore the use of vector mathematics in Unity.
Explore the advanced materials and lighting workflows in Architectural Visualization. Contrast HDRP and URP.
Apply C# programming to create custom Unity components. Apply the concepts of prefabs, transform API, materials, and vector multiplication and projection within Unity.
Use HDRP tools and assets to construct an architectural visualization.
Explore the Input System Package to create a character controller. Apply C# scripting, physics, rigidbodies, colliders, matrix mathematics, and Unity coroutines to GameObjects to create interactivity and to create your own roll-a-ball scene.
Work with the new runtime animation rigging system in Unity to create dynamic hand poses that increase the realism and immersion of XR experiences.
Use tools within Unity to create a functioning UI within a scene. Add animations to GameObjects and apply matrix mathematics to Unity development.
Use the VFX Graph technology in unity to create visual effects and procedural animation that will add rich visuals to XR experiences.
Apply raycasting to inform interactions, and explore how Unity utilizes quaternion and matrices to represent rotations in 3D space.
Determine your plan for your project style and techniques, then align your process with your plan.
Get an overview of AR development frameworks and learn to apply image tracking-based AR using Vuforia with Unity.
Align your career and project production goals, and think through your project in detail to build a production schedule. Learn how to analyze and effectively communicate. through documentation.
Create AR experiences leveraging object recognition techniques and interactions.
Consider user onboarding and UX design for your prototype. Design your own user survey to elicit user feedback and determine how user feedback impacts your project development.
Learn about SLAM and AR Foundation and use AR Foundation in Unity to detect surface types and create code to load on a mobile device.
Evaluate your project development schedule and dedicate time for development. Special project development topics are highlighted.
Explore the Unity XR Interaction Toolkit, grey boxing, and 6 DoF room-scale VR by creating an end-to-end XR experience.
Get, give, and incorporate peer feedback into your prototype and documentation development.
Create complex interactions using hand avatars. Design physical user interfaces to add to XR environments.
Learn to identify your audience and what they care about, communicate your project to them simply and clearly, and get it into their hands as easily as possible.
Get a crash course in computer graphics and an introduction to writing shaders in Unity.
Present and share your capstone project.
Stepping into a career in XR development requires both hard and soft skills. The Professional Certificate in Extended Reality Development with Unity program offers guidance for navigating a career path in XR development, including:
These services are provided by GinzaTech, our learning collaborator for this program. Our program support team includes course leaders to help you reach your learning goals. It is our primary goal to give you the skills needed to be prepared for a job in this field, however we do not guarantee job placement.