The Latest Industry News for the Exciting World of Production.

San Jose, Calif., May 3, 2016 - To accelerate the development of applications for Virtual and Augmented Reality, Cogswell College is poised to become the very first school in the world to launch a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Certificate Program. Cogswell's first courses start this summer. Recently recognized by the prestigious Princeton Review as a Top Videogame Design School in North America, Cogswell College is uniquely qualified to address the challenges of creating meaningful VR/AR applications.

"We look forward to helping the industry make sense of the exciting recent developments in virtual reality", says Jerome Solomon, Cogswell's Dean of the College & Director of Game Design and Development, as well as the Conference Chair for ACM SIGGRAPH 2017. "We recognize the pain of developing around emerging VR/AR systems while at the same time the gaming industry has always led the way in finding applications for new technologies".

Notes Cogswell's Timothy Duncan, DMA, Professor, Director of Digital Audio Technology, "VR and AR are quickly emerging as leading areas for content and technology development. In keeping with Cogswell's 130-year tradition of educational excellence, we are offering this brand new set of VR & AR classes to help our students bridge the preparation gap by working with these trending and ground-breaking new technologies today. With our new certificate program, we are leveraging our talented faculty's deep industry expertise in animation, gaming, graphics, user interface, design, storytelling, engineering, & audio -- which are all tenants of this new technology. It is our vision that VR and AR ultimately will impact many industries across the globe, most notably in the gaming field. By having students learn these new areas now, they will position themselves as the next generation of !
technica
l and creative leaders within exciting new VR & AR frontiers."

Cogswell College has assembled an impressive Industry Advisory Board for the new certificate program, which is aimed at practicing industry professionals. The board is comprised of: Fabien Bourdon, P.E., Sr. Architect, Citrix Systems; Richard Chuang, CEO and Founder of CloudPic, and two-time Academy Award Winner; Jeremy Kenisky, Director of 3D/Interactive, Geomedia, Inc.; Curt Miyashiro, Production Technology Supervisor, Jaunt VR; and Stephanie Riggs, CEO/Founder, Azimyth Creation Studio.

Cogswell will be offering classes within the burgeoning VR/AR space with four areas: Perceptual/Cognitive Aspects of VR/AR; HCI Design; Design for VR; and Project-Based Iterative Application. For more information about the VR/AR Certificate Program, please see: http://cogswell.edu/virtual-reality-certification.php.

The Cogswell VR/AR program is comprised of a six-course set of specialized classes that will be offered weekday evenings and weekends to accommodate the schedules of industry professionals. The purpose of this certificate program is to provide professionals in the computer graphics industry the opportunity to join development teams that create VR or AR content.

ABOUT COGSWELL COLLEGE:

Designed as a "fiercely collaborative, living laboratory," Cogswell College is located in the heart of the legendary Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. Students bring projects to life throughout their academic paths, gaining industry experience alongside their fully-accredited degrees.

In 2016, Cogswell was ranked among the Top 20 Videogame Design Schools in North America by the prestigious Princeton Review. In 2015, Cogswell was cited by Animation Career Review as "One of the Top 50 Private Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S." Also in 2015, Cogswell was included in Animation Magazine's prestigious list of "Top Schools to Hire From." The video game program at Cogswell, which began in 1994, regularly places graduates in positions with industry leaders and startups alike.

Cogswell College is located at 191 Baypointe Parkway, San Jose, California, 95134. For more information, please call 1-800-264-7955 or visit http://www.cogswell.edu/