University of Michigan Extended Reality(XR) Initiative
In September 2019, Provost Martin Philbert and the Office of the Provost called on the University of Michigan community to engage in a new campus-wide Extended Reality (XR) Initiative. This initiative will formally ask us to consider how we can leverage emerging XR technologies to strengthen the quality of a Michigan education, cultivate an interdisciplinary scholarly community of practice at Michigan, and enhance a nationwide network for academic innovation.
The Center for Academic Innovation, known for bringing the U-M community together to extend academic excellence, expand public purpose, and discover new frontiers for teaching and learning, was charged by the Provost to lead this new strategic initiative.
What is Extended Reality (XR)?
XR is an all-inclusive term to describe immersive technologies. It includes Augmented Reality(AR), Virtual Reality(VR), and Mixed Reality(MR), plus ones still to be created.
Over the next three years we aim to:
Seed new projects and experiments that integrate XR into residential curricula
Seed new projects and experiments that integrate XR into online curricula
Create innovative public/private partnerships to develop new XR related educational technology
XR Innovation Fund
We invite proposals aligned with our goals of:
- Advancing multidisciplinary learning and teaching
- Creating innovative learning experiences with Augmented and Virtual Reality
- Increasing access to XR technologies to a broad audience
- Creating repeatable processes for content creation and deployment
- Developing research to better understand the effectiveness of XR in education
