This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the basic principles of virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). There is a strong emphasis on the use of this technology as a tool for conducting scientific research and as a platform for real-world applications. 

The course will be comprised of instructor lectures, student-led in-class discussions on selected topics, and a VR lab where we will learn about the basics of scripting and rendering virtual environments and using VR technology to conduct scientific research. 

The goal is to learn enough about the strengths and limitations of VR technology in order to be able to construct simple immersive environments as well as to understand the human factors and cognitive issues that should be considered when using this medium. Students in the course will be given an opportunity to interact directly with immersive virtual environment technology in the lab and will gain first-hand experience by developing a VR-based research demo/application as a final project and paper.