Virtual and Augmented Reality MA

at Coventry University

Why you should study this course

The course has been structured to allow students opportunities for breadth of experience and also depth in a chosen specialism with the aim of producing dynamic and agile graduates who are prepared for an evolving, creative-critical discipline, not tied to the limitations of any one particular technology or approach. Graduates from the course should be able to excel across the realisation and actualisation of live projects with partners across communities and industries, digital, cultural, creative and 3rd sectors. Benefits include:
 

• Solid track record of graduate outcomes – 84% of graduates from our media cluster were in work or further study after 15 months (Graduate Outcomes Survey for 2020 leavers)
• High levels of student satisfaction in Media and Communications for our cluster – 1st in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey for 2020.
• We also work alongside the University’s Office of Teaching and Learning, the Disruptive Media Learning Lab and Global Opportunities, delivering high quality projects and learning experiences.
• Opportunity to participate in a range of exciting field trips and industry visits – previous students visited the Ai Weiwei Exhibition in London; ESL Games in Leicester; the Ikon gallery in Birmingham; Somerset House in London; Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers Museums, Oxford, and the National Media Museum in Bradford. (subject to availability and additional costs may apply2).
• Coming to study in a hugely diverse city which has been awarded the title of City of Culture 2021, meaning huge local investment and the chance to capitalise on the vibrant range of opportunities, epitomised in the ten-year Cultural Strategy for Coventry.
   

What you'll study
 

The course will take a broad interdisciplinary interpretation of what we mean by immersive practices. Rather than focusing solely on headset immersive technologies, students will work across disciplines, producing hybridised postdigital work that challenges the conventions of media disciplines and encourages students to operate at the forefront of the rapidly expanding immersive sector.

The course builds upon extensive faculty expertise in the research and practice of immersive forms including performance / motion capture and networked performance; spatial, 360 and volumetric filmmaking; interactive media arts, installation, projection and site-specific working; immersive sound design and multichannel music composition; animation and games art; and play and games design.
 

The course has been designed to prepare you for working at the forefront of the rapidly evolving, emergent immersive creative industries. You will build upon your prior experience and/or learning in creative practice.
 

Modules
 

• Immersive Spaces – 20 credits

  This module aims to critically examine the creation, extension, management, augmentation and design of spaces in the context of immersive experiences. The module examines theoretical conceptions of space and place, focusing on the understanding and application of space-making to create immersive experiences.

  Compulsory

• Research Methods – 20 credits

  This module provides students with the theoretical, conceptual, investigative and practical tools needed to develop their own independent research and comprehend which methods will best support their response to a particular research project.

  Compulsory
   

• Entrepreneurial Practice – 10 credits

  This CMI module1 aims to provide students with a framework of knowledge and understanding of how to effectively lead and develop people in a strategic and entrepreneurial way whatever the Master’s degree of specialisation they elect to follow.

  Compulsory
   

• Collaborative Social Challenge Project- 10 credits

  This project module aims to allow students to develop their independent and collaborative working skills through a focussed application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within School of Media & Performing Arts MA courses and/or external partners, students will develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief generated by addressing and engaging with a social challenge.

  Compulsory
   

• Immersive Technologies – 20 credits

  This module aims to critically examine the new and emerging technologies in the field of immersive technologies, augmented and virtual reality, with specific focus on the different approaches and techniques necessitated by each form.

  Compulsory
   

• Final Major Project (Research and Planning) – 30 credits

  The aim of this module is for students to develop a body of research-informed work in a specialism of their choosing, which demonstrates a critical awareness of current developments and trends in their area of practice/specialism. This work will form the basis of the student’s final project.

  Compulsory
   

• Collaborative Community Project - 10 credits

  This project module aims to allow students to develop their independent and collaborative working skills through a focussed application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within School of Media & Performing Arts MA courses and/or external partners, students will develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief (subject to availability2) generated by engaging with a community issue with the support or guidance of a local group or organisation.

  Compulsory
   

• Immersive Play – 20 credits

  This module aims to introduce gameful, playful thinking to students’ immersive experience conceptualisation, design, development and evaluation. The module examines play in its broadest sense, focusing on the understanding and application of game principles and mechanics to create immersive experiences.

  Compulsory
   

• Final Major Project (Production and Sharing) – 30 credits

  In this module, students will manage to completion a substantial piece of independent research practice that is informed by the wider contexts of their discipline, and is well-conceived, well-rounded, and coherent and of a standard appropriate to Masters level.

  Compulsory
   

• Collaborative Enterprise Project – 10 credits

  This project module aims to allow students to develop their independent and collaborative working skills through a focussed application and response to a specific context. Working with peers from within School of Media & Performing Arts MA courses and/or external partners, students will develop an interdisciplinary response to a live brief generated by exploring opportunities for enterprise within their practice. Students will explore potential routes to monetise their work and consider their roles as members of the future media and performing arts workforce.

  Compulsory

• Applicants to this Master’s degree should normally possess a good honours degree (2:1 or equivalent) in a relevant subject. If the degree is in an unrelated subject, applicants need to demonstrate appropriate industry knowledge and experience in their application documentation.
• Non-traditional entry students are welcome: applicants without formal qualifications but professional/industrial experience may be admitted on the basis of interview and submission of supporting material.
• Each applicant will be required to include a short statement regarding their interest in studying on the MA Photograph course at Coventry University (300-500 words) and are invited to include a link to an online portfolio in order that the course team can get to know their practice. All applicants will be offered a videoconferencing conversation as part of the application where they will have the opportunity to meet with a member of the course team and ask questions about the programme of study. Candidates with professional/industrial experience, and/or other relevant training and experience may be admitted with lower qualifications.
   

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 overall, with no component lower than 5:5

International Tuition Fees:

£18600 per year

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be equipped with:
 

• The creative critical skills to successfully realise a range of multisensory, interactive and immersive artistic products.
• You will have worked independently and collaboratively to produce work in a range of professional contexts, including working to live briefs developed in partnership with industry.
• Graduates will have developed key transferable skills that enable them to operate at the forefront of the emerging immersive sector.
• Some may choose to progress into technical roles, but the course also supports those interested in developing agile skills as writers, performers, directors, producers, designers and facilitators of immersive work.
• Most importantly, the course will emphasise the interdisciplinary nature of immersive ways of working and the sector’s demand for flexible, ambitious, dynamic and self-aware practitioners.