Design a better world with our immersive reality degree.
In our Virtual Reality program, students are pioneering the revolutionary medium of VR and expanding use of the metaverse. Learn to create an immersive reality that can inform, educate, entertain, and change the way we think about industries including healthcare, architecture, education, media, and more. Whether you create a safer work environment, champion social justice and reform, or help people recover from trauma, the virtual reality degree will allow you to be a catalyst for positive change. Virtual Reality Development graduates will join a multibillion-dollar, rapidly growing industry. Make your impact on the world by reimagining and redefining the ways we intersect immersive reality, design, technology, critical thinking, and creativity.
Real Project Proof
- Moffitt Cancer Center
- Flight School
Ringling VR students and the acclaimed Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa teamed up in 2019 to develop creative content for digital healthcare technologies, including virtual reality, animations for patient education, and training videos for physicians. Patients receiving radiation treatments, for example, are now able to immerse themselves in VR and experience what the treatments will be like before they happen. Check out our Blog to learn more about this exciting intersection of creativity, technology, and design!
Wet Dog Corp. is a simulator-style game set within a megacorporation that pays you to wash dogs. It’s a simple task… until it’s not! VR students mentored by the award-winning team at Flight School created the game while learning the essentials of pre-production, asset creation, and game design. Ringling students in other majors, such as the Business of Art and Design, also collaborated on the project.
Wet Dog Corp. is a simulator-style game set within a megacorporation that pays you to wash dogs. It’s a simple task… until it’s not! VR students mentored by the award-winning team at Flight School created the game while learning the essentials of pre-production, asset creation, and game design. Ringling students in other majors, such as the Business of Art and Design, also collaborated on the project.
Ringling VR students and the acclaimed Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa teamed up in 2019 to develop creative content for digital healthcare technologies, including virtual reality, animations for patient education, and training videos for physicians. Patients receiving radiation treatments, for example, are now able to immerse themselves in VR and experience what the treatments will be like before they happen. Check out our Blog to learn more about this exciting intersection of creativity, technology, and design!
Grads in the Industry

Kal Athannassov
Computer Animation, ‘16

Bo (Bohdon) Sayre
Computer Animation, ‘10

Nick Marten
Game Art '17
Opportunities for students
- INDEX
- Internships
- Industry Critiques
INDEX is Ringling College's promise to provide every student the opportunity to have hands-on industry experience before graduation by offering real-world projects with real-world clients. This pillar of the Ringling College experience, alongside Academic and Student Life programs, is an experiential education initiative that allows students to learn how to turn passion into profession.
INDEX represents one of Ringling College's core purposes of focusing on our students' futures in the creative industries and empowering them to thrive as creative leaders. By connecting students with leading brands and clients to develop creative solutions for business challenges, INDEX mirrors the most successful studios and organizations by bringing together multiple creative disciplines to blend artistry with emerging techniques, and to seamlessly integrate design, storytelling, and technology to produce work that is driven by strategy and supported by style.
INDEX opportunities are abundant and available through experiential learning in the classroom, the Design Center, Studio Labs, ART Network, the Makerspace, as client competitions and immersive experiences, volunteerism, internships, and elective courses.
INDEX is Ringling College's promise to provide every student the opportunity to have hands-on industry experience before graduation by offering real-world projects with real-world clients. This pillar of the Ringling College experience, alongside Academic and Student Life programs, is an experiential education initiative that allows students to learn how to turn passion into profession.
INDEX represents one of Ringling College's core purposes of focusing on our students' futures in the creative industries and empowering them to thrive as creative leaders. By connecting students with leading brands and clients to develop creative solutions for business challenges, INDEX mirrors the most successful studios and organizations by bringing together multiple creative disciplines to blend artistry with emerging techniques, and to seamlessly integrate design, storytelling, and technology to produce work that is driven by strategy and supported by style.
INDEX opportunities are abundant and available through experiential learning in the classroom, the Design Center, Studio Labs, ART Network, the Makerspace, as client competitions and immersive experiences, volunteerism, internships, and elective courses.
To further inform the work of our fourth year students, we bring in renowned, successful visiting artists to participate in milestone critiques. Coming from the top studios, brands, and businesses in the industry, our artists offer a relevant, real-world perspective to bring student thinking out of the classroom into the professional arena. This process provides our students with invaluable feedback from the best of the best in the field, which they can immediately apply to their current works in process.
Employment Opportunities
Virtual Reality Development graduates will find opportunities across many different industries. Here are a few examples of employers that are available for our grads:
BAOBAB STUDIOS
D3 CREATIVE STUDIOS
DISNEY VR
EPIC GAMES
FACEBOOK/OCULUS VR
FLIGHT SCHOOL
FRAMESTORE
GOOGLE VR
HOYT ARCHITECTS
INSOMNIAC GAMES
KITE & LIGHTNING
MAGIC LEAP
READY AT DAWN
REWIND STUDIOS
SHARECARE
TRICK3D
What's New

Moffitt Cancer Center and Ringling College Bring VR to Cancer Patients
Ringling College of Art and Design and Moffitt Cancer Center are partnering to bring the benefits of virtual reality (VR) to those living with cancer. “The collaboration with Ringling College will focus on the patient journey and how we can create meaningful tools to help...
Read MorePRESS: Ringling College Receives Record Donation
Ringling College Receives Record-Breaking $15 Million DonationBoard of Trustees member Dr. Joel Morganroth & Dr. Gail Morrison Morganroth donatelargest single gift in the College’s 86-year history SARASOTA, FL (January 29, 2018) – This morning, Ringling College of Art and Design announced it has received its largest single...
Read More7 Questions with Brandon Oldenburg
Written and illustrated by Kristen Camisa (Illustration ’18) Award-winning illustrator, designer, sculptor and film director Brandon Oldenburg (Illustration ’95), was on campus for Ringling College’s 2017 Preview Day last Saturday! He gave a fascinating presentation to current and prospective students about his creative journey and...
Read MorePRESS: Ringling College Announces VR Major
Ringling College Becomes First Art + Design School to Offer Virtual Reality Development BFA The College will welcome its first class to the new undergraduate VR degree program in fall 2018 OCT 18, SARASOTA, FL – In fall 2018, Ringling College of Art and Design...
Read More