Foundation for Virtual and Augmented Reality Systems

By Prof. Samit Bhattacharya | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 4329 | Exam registration: 1379

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Extended Reality (XR), covering the areas of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality technologies, has become quite popular nowadays. The reason is primarily the advancements in relevant hardware, which made such technologies affordable. As a result, there is huge interest in building applications of such technologies in various domains, the most notable example being the idea of Metaverse. This course is focused on explaining the foundational aspects of the technology in a lucid manner, through a practical case study. The topics include the basic concepts of XR, the hardware and software used, the issues (both psycho-physiological and technological) and how to address those from the user’s and developer’s perspective, stages of system development and finally, optimization issues and approaches to resolve. Each concept is explained in details, with the help of the use case, whenever appropriate. The overall aim of the course is to impart foundational knowledge to the learner to understand and implement an XR system with confidence.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: UG/PG/PhD students in Computer Science & Engineering and/or allied disciplines. Also useful for software/system developers, with interest in extended reality.

PREREQUISITES: Science/engineering background preferable. Knowledge in software system development, data structure, algorithms and computer graphics will be helpful although not mandatory.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT:

Application-focused companies should be interested, cutting across domains. Some of the relevant industries include,

Microsoft
Alphabet
Meta
Samsung
Many startups
Companies focused on hardware (GPU, headsets) – e.g. Nvidia, Qualcomm etc

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Computer Science and Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction

1. General introduction

2. Application domains & system categories

3. Definitions

Week 2: Introduction

4. Historical evolution

5. Issues & challenges

6. Cybersickness

Week 3: XR Hardware & Software

7. VR Hardware

8. AR Hardware

9. Understanding Tracking I

Week 4: XR Hardware & Software

10. Understanding Tracking II

11. VR Software

12. AR Software

Week 5: Human factors in XR experience

13. XR as Interactive Systems

14. Human Factors in XR

15. Visual Perception & Displays I

Week 6: Human factors in XR experience

16. Visual Perception & Displays II

17. Auditory Sense & Immersive Experience

18. Other Senses & Full Immersion

Week 7: Building of an XR System –understanding with a case study

19. Interactive System Development Life Cycle Stages

20. Introduction to the Case Study

21. Requirement Gathering I

22. Requirement Gathering II

Week 8: Building of an XR System –understanding with a case study

23. System Design I

24. System Design II

25. System Design III

Week 9: Building of an XR System –understanding with a case study

26. System Implementation I

27. System Implementation II

28. System Implementation III

Week 10: System Optimization

29. Optimizing User Experience I – Basic Idea

30. Optimizing User Experience II – Navigation Time

31. Optimizing User Experience III – Navigation Path

Week 11: System Optimization

32. Optimizing Resources I – Basic Idea

33. Understanding Resource Requirements – Introduction to Computer Graphics I

34. Understanding Resource Requirements – Introduction to Computer Graphics II

Week 12: Conclusion

35. Understanding Resource Requirements – Introduction to Computer Graphics III

36. Resource Optimization Techniques
37. Concluding Remarks

Books and references

Bhattacharya, S. (2019). Human-Computer Interaction: User-Centric Computing for Design, McGraw-Hill India.
Bhattacharya, S. (2015). Computer Graphics. Oxford University Press.
Gerald, J. (2015). The VR Book: Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality. ACM and & Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
LaValle, S. M. (2023). Virtual Reality. Cambridge University Press.
Several topic specific research articles, which will be mentioned at the end of each lecture.

Instructor bio

Prof. Samit Bhattacharya

IIT Guwahati

Dr Samit Bhattacharya is an Associate Professor in the Dept of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Guwahati, with more than 16 years of teaching and research experience. He has taught a plethora of courses at various levels both at the IIT Guwahati and outside, including courses related to this one. He is also an active researcher in virtual, augmented & mixed reality systems & technologies. So far, he has graduated 7 PhDs (including one in this area) and guided 20+ MTech and 40+ BTech projects (several of which are related to the topics in this course). He has 85 publications under his credit including books, book chapters, patent, peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings (many of those are related to the course topics). He has also managed research & consultancy grants worth over 10.5 crores INR as PI & Co-PI, obtained from both Govt and industry sources in India & abroad (including 2 related to training & technology development in the areas related to this course). He actively reaches out to academia and industry at the national and international level through academic visits, collaborations, invited lectures, NPTEL MOOCs, online certification programs, FDPs and EDPs. More about him can be found at https://www.iitg.ac.in/samit/

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 24, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team