Topics in Programming and Data: New Realities

While the first augmented reality experiences were achieved over fifty years ago, we’ve only recently carried these experiences in our pockets. From Pokémon GO and Snapchat filters to Google Maps AR and IKEA Place, augmented reality is rapidly changing how we shop, work, and play.

This course will be a hands-on workshop where we create our own mobile AR experiences. Design, UX, and coding concepts will be considered simultaneously throughout the semester. You’ll study emerging best practices while challenging, subverting, and experimenting with new ideas.

For design and development, we will primarily use Apple technologies – ARKit, RealityKit and RealityComposer. Along the way we’ll survey implementations across the landscape, from game engines to wearable hardware like Magic Leap and HoloLens. We’ll also look at Facebook’s Spark AR Studio, Snapchat’s Lens Studio, Adobe Aero, and other ways that major platforms incorporate augmented reality into their products.

Full-time access to an iOS device and a Mac laptop running the latest operating systems are required.

At the end of the class, students will have an augmented reality experience to add to their portfolios and a strong basis for future mobile AR work.