Tag Archives: XR

New database sheds light on Michigan’s videogame boom

By | February 11, 2021

A new database of Michigan-based videogame and extended reality (XR) developers is helping to highlight and organize the state’s rapidly growing scene. Built and maintained by CSE lecturer Austin Yarger, the Michigan Game Studios database collects data on over 65 active videogame and XR development studios in the state. He hopes it can be of use to the many audiences… Read More »

Patient rounds: Ages-old care & learning concept gets technology upgrade, international collaboration

By | December 24, 2020

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical rotations were halted for medical students, which meant they could not participate in patient rounds—those bedside consultations with seasoned medical staff to discuss and learn about a patient’s condition. This led Mark Cohen, a professor of surgery and pharmacology who runs the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the Medical School to think… Read More »

Lessons in architecture: 3-D without leaving the classroom (or living room)

By | December 22, 2020

When architecture professor Jonathan Rule wanted his students to see firsthand the way various building materials came together, he had to find a construction site near campus and arrange for the class to walk through. Finding a suitable project isn’t always feasible, not to mention the logistics and liability involved. So with assistance over the past year from… Read More »

XR Initiative at 1: Milestones met as pandemic brings new challenges, opportunities

By | December 22, 2020

When leaders at the Center for Academic Innovation announced an XR initiative a little more than a year ago, they knew there was a hunger from a growing segment of campus to advance teaching through the development of augmented and virtual reality technologies. They couldn’t have anticipated, however, that a global pandemic would so disrupt education that faculty… Read More »

HoloLens2 for Nursing: ‘Hands-on’ learning during pandemic and beyond

By | December 21, 2020

The U-M School of Nursing has one of the most technologically advanced programs around with its Clinical Learning Center, yet leadership in the school wrestled with how to teach hundreds of students the hands-on nursing skills and procedures required to advance in the program, while following COVID-19 guidelines for social distancing and university calls to minimize in-person courses.… Read More »

Extended reality: U-M online courses make XR accessible to everyone

By | December 15, 2020

A new three-course online specialization on extended reality developed by Michael Nebeling, an assistant professor with both the School of Information and the College of Engineering, and a team at the U-M Center for Academic Innovation has something for everyone—from novices to the most advanced users, designers, and developers. Extended reality, or XR, is the term for technology… Read More »

Epic MegaGrant will support development of XR projects

By | November 18, 2020

U-M’s Extended Reality (XR) Initiative, a part of the Center for Academic Innovation, received $120,000 from an Epic Games MegaGrant. CAI will use the funds to hire 20-30 student fellows over the next two years and educate them in different tools and processes like Unreal Engine, a game engine developed by the company Epic Games. “While the university has… Read More »

Experience immersive XR as a teaching tool

By | September 30, 2020

Extended reality holds immense potential as a teaching tool, especially in today’s increasingly online instructional environment. On Thursday, October 29 from 1-2:30 p.m., Academic Innovation at Michigan (AIM) will feature an immersive experience using the virtual platform, VirBELA. AIM Extended Reality (XR): Developing a Chemotherapy Treatment Simulation in Virtual Reality with Professor Michelle Aebersold will share her experience working in virtual… Read More »

Exploring XR at the Hybrid Immersive Teaching Symposium

By | June 29, 2020

On May 28, 2020, the XR Initiative brought faculty and staff from the University of Michigan and institutions across the globe to explore how Extended Reality (XR) could be used to deliver hybrid teaching and learning during a four-hour teaching symposium.  More than 150 people attended the symposium to share learning goals and objectives for their areas of… Read More »

MiXR Studios: Podcasts About XR at U-M

By | May 26, 2020

The Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) is excited to launch a new podcast, MiXR Studios, about the world of Extended Reality (XR) within the University of Michigan and beyond. Hosted by Jeremy Nelson, director of the XR Initiative at U-M, this podcast explores the work of faculty, students, and staff at U-M that are building, teaching, and researching XR… Read More »

Start your (software) engines! CAEN provides XR support to MRacing team

What do you get when you combine race cars and extended reality (XR)? If you said a modded version of “Grand Theft Auto” you’d be wrong. The correct answer is: U-M’s award-winning Michigan Electric Racing Team (and CAEN’s John Hufnagel). Hufnagel is the lead MCAD applications analyst for CAEN, the IT services department for Michigan Engineering. (MCAD is… Read More »

U-M awards six XR projects under new initiative

By | March 23, 2020

U-M has awarded funding to six extended reality projects under the its new XR Initiative, announced in the fall. The three-year funded initiative calls for the Center for Academic Innovation to seed new projects and experiments that integrate XR into residential and online curricula, and to create innovative public/private partnerships to develop new XR related educational technology. “The… Read More »

Film students step into the shoes of a filmmaker using virtual reality

By | March 13, 2020

Thanks to generous grants from LSA Technology Services, U-M film students now have the unique opportunity to get some hands-on experience with filmmaking. The Citizen Kane VR project lets students use VR technologies to reshoot a key scene from the classic film at the Duderstadt Center Visualization Studio. Developers in the Duderstadt Center Emerging Technologies Group modeled clip from… Read More »

Register for the Extended Reality at Michigan Summit, April 14

By | February 26, 2020

Join us on Tuesday, April 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the first ever Extended Reality (XR) at Michigan Summit. We’ll welcome speakers from all over the country to share their knowledge and insight around XR. Please register if you plan to attend.   The XR at Michigan Summit expects to feature the following: Featured speakers who are national leaders in… Read More »