IIT Madras and Japanese research firm Monolith Research and Training Labs will jointly launch an advanced diploma programme in virtual reality. To be offered in both online and offline mode, this course is open for anyone with an engineering background including students in engineering degrees anywhere in India, says a press release from IIT Madras.

. The MoU was signed by Devendra Jalihal, Chairman, Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) - IIT Madras, and Yathirajan Varadharajan, Director, Monolith Research.

The applications will be available from November 2021 and the first batch will commence from January 2022. The course will have an annual intake of 50 students, says a press release from IIT Madras. The course is being coordinated by IIT Madras by the Centre of Excellence on Virtual Reality and Haptics, set up under the ‘Institute of Eminence’ initiative of the Government of India.

The objective is to serve the increased needs for professionals who are highly skilled in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality (XR) and Haptics technology.

Graduates of this course will have potential job opportunities in sectors such as IT companies, animation industries, architecture, and engineering industries to healthcare and media production. This advanced diploma programme shall be available for students/freshers with minimum bachelor’s degrees or for working professionals who are aspiring to upskill in immersive technologies.