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Ringling College Becomes First Art & Design School to Offer VR Development BFA

The College will welcome its first class to the new undergraduate VR degree program in fall 2018.

In fall 2018, Ringling College of Art and Design will be the first art college — and one of the first educational institutions — to offer a degree in the expanding field of Virtual Reality for artists and designers. The Ringling College Virtual Reality Development major, a four-year, BFA degree program, is accepting applications now for 2018-19.

“Virtual Reality is going to change everything,” says Dr. Larry R. Thompson, President of Ringling College. “The opportunities extend far beyond the worlds of gaming and entertainment—this technology will revolutionize the way we live and work, and it will offer unexplored opportunities for artists and designers. We want our students and graduates to be leading this monumental shift, advancing and defining this new field, and laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s generations of creative leaders, companies, and organizations.”

Students enrolled in the VR major will create experiences for countless industries, including healthcare, advertising, architecture, education, and entertainment. New advancements in the field will be driven, like so many other fields, by artists and designers, and Ringling College VR students will be at the forefront of this progress. Creating for VR offers unprecedented opportunities and challenges for creatives, and students will be empowered to shape and share stories from multiple points of view. In addition, the control the viewer can exercise over their own perspective presents entirely new opportunities for writers, directors, actors, and animators.

Students will take courses in Visual Scripting, Concept Development for Virtual Worlds, Visual Development for VR, and VR Development, creating 3D content and VR experiences. To supplement and amplify the classwork, Ringling College will invite studio professionals into the classroom to deliver presentations and collaborate on new projects—including an upcoming partnership with Flight School, a studio known for its pioneering work in VR, AR, games, and film. Details of the project are still in progress, but this learning-by-doing model will provide incomparable exposure and experience for burgeoning VR artists.

The VR Development major will live in the College’s renowned Computer Animation department, headed by Jim McCampbell. He has successfully established the College’s Computer Animation program among the very top programs in the country and around the world. In addition, McCampbell created the Ringling College Game Art program.

“Thanks to recent, incredible strides in technology, Virtual Reality has become a new medium,” explains McCampbell. “We are excited to be forging into this new area that has so much potential for reshaping how we think about storytelling experiences. The ability to tell stories from multiple points of view and the ability to move the viewer from a role of spectator to that of a participant will serve as a brand new canvas for artists and designers. Ringling College’s world-renowned reputation for the fusion of art and technology makes this the perfect place to launch such a cutting-edge major.”

He continues, “The Computer Animation Department has been working with virtual reality for the last few years via its Game Art major, and has alumni working in VR at places such as Magic Leap, Baobab Studios, Google, Flight School, Hoyt Architecture, and Sharecare. This new major in Virtual Reality Development will allow us to explore the full breadth that the medium has to offer. Virtual Reality majors will learn to design, create, and analyze immersive experiences within the virtual reality medium that inform, educate, and entertain.”

Ringling graduate Brandon Oldenburg worked with Reel FX Animation Studios’ VR/AR division to launch Flight School this year. He leads the team of creative directors and artists to produce branded entertainment projects and original intellectual properties. The studio released “Manifest 99” this past summer, which is described by Oldenburg as an interactive narrative VR experience that leads the user on a mysterious and emotional journey of discovery and redemption. Oldenburg is an award-winning film director, illustrator, and designer, whose films have won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, multiple Cannes Lions and a host of other industry accolades.

“Developing creative and technical talent within the VR industry is vital to grow this powerful medium. Flight School’s partnership with Ringling College will allow us to work hand-in-hand to identify and cultivate the next great crop of talent in the field,” says Oldenburg.

Oldenburg will be present at the Ringling College 2017 Fall Preview Day on November 4 to discuss the VR industry today and facilitate a demo of the technology. He and the Flight School team are actively working with the College faculty to help shape the new VR program. They will provide input on curriculum, mentorship of students, and have plans to launch a project-specific collaboration later this year.

Schools across the country have been experimenting in the VR, AR, and 360 realms over the last few years in efforts to improve their virtual tours and extracurricular programming, but this major will pioneer and push forward education in the actual creation of immersive virtual experiences, as well as firmly establish and define VR as a viable medium for artists today.

About Ringling College of Art and Design

For over 85 years, Ringling College of Art and Design has cultivated the creative spirit in students from around the globe. The private, not-for-profit fully accredited college offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in eleven disciplines and the Bachelor of Arts in two. The College’s rigorous curriculum employs the studio model of teaching and immediately engages students through a comprehensive, first-year program that is both specific to the major of study and focused on the liberal arts. The Ringling College teaching model ultimately shapes students into highly employable and globally aware artists and designers. 

Join discussion

Comments 3

  • Jon Faulk

    I work for a large utility in California and we are definitely looking at VR as an important technology for both learning and in the field workforce application. We are partnering with nysearch.org and multiple utilities across the country to push for increased R&D and adoption across the gas utility industry.

    0

    Jon Faulk

    ·7 years ago·
  • Jim McCampbell

    The Game Art and the Virtual Reality Development majors are being relocated to a different facility and a new, special VR lab is being constructed this summer. Any existing pressure (real or imagined) on daytime access to labs is removed. This semester I have yet to walk past one and not see open seats.

    The future of VR is huge. When the Computer Animation major started, there were the same scale predictions that there currently are for VR. By the time the first graduating class was out the door, the demand had gone from mere conjecture to super-critical. This is the way things work. You must start working on the next big thing before the masses do. If opportunity becomes a commodity, you have waited too long. All career paths follow the laws of supply and demand. The anticipated demand is huge for VR, and even present day demand may be greater than one might think. All Game Art majors who did a VR project were hired. When the Game Art major began in 2007, it was based on the belief that game engine technology would permeate nearly every "visual" industry. And it has. Choices were made based on predictions, the predictions were correct, and the opportunities are still expanding.

    So- Ringling creates the Computer Animation major based on predicted demand. They get there first (first totally 3D undergraduate degree in animation) and become a huge success in the field (13 student Academy Awards to date). Ringling creates the Game Art major slightly late (by about 5 years in my opinion) but uses predictions on future opportunities as well as curricular uniqueness to make it a huge success (just won the E3 College Game Competition). And now they will do the same thing with Virtual Reality Development.

    As far as Jim McCampbell goes, I agree with the comment that infers that he is overworked. Administrative duties may be re-proportioned to alleviate pressure where necessary. I also agree that it may be asking for trouble. Jim would say his middle name is Trouble, but I have it on good authority that it is actually William.
    Source- I am Jim McCampbell.

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    Jim McCampbell

    ·7 years ago·
  • Ringling Alum

    As a former Ringling student, I am very sceptical of this new program. At least in the gaming industry, VR currently only accounts for a very small percentage of jobs. There is a lot of hype around VR but it hasn't yet proven to take off, and if it doesn't then 4 years from now those graduates will be facing hefty student loans and slim pickings for employment. Jim McCampbell is a talented man, but it was obvious to a lot of the students as we were attending that he struggled to balance the job of being head of two departments. Adding a third to the mix is only asking for trouble. On top of that, in my graduating year, there were already issues regarding lack of spaces for students to work. Because the school continued to expand the size of the Computer Animation and Game Art departments, more and more open labs got converted into classroom spaces. This meant that it was sometimes hard to find places to sit down and work during class hours, and there was a lot of competition for the few open seats available. It seems that adding another major to the mix would only exacerbate that problem unless they are planning on accepting fewer students in the future, or renovating the building to add more classrooms.

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    Ringling Alum

    ·7 years ago·

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