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Seawall Evaluator App

August 13, 2025

This XR app evaluates and manages seawall infrastructures to understand long-term ecological effects, structural projections, and financial implications of proposed projects.

whitepaper on “How Universities and Colleges are Fostering Innovation-Driven Regional Economic Development Initiatives”

Leading the Future

June 18, 2025

Whitepaper: How Universities and Colleges are Fostering Innovation-Driven Regional Economic Development Initiatives | Foreword by Thomas Merrick.

BAFTA Award Nomination

June 4, 2025

Congratulations to Noel Nuñez! His mixed reality project The Cuban Freedom Flights: A Mixed Reality Experience was selected as a BAFTA Stduent Awards finalist.

Auggie Awards Nominations

April 28, 2025

Big news! Four UM projects were nominated for the 2025 AWE Auggie Awards, the most globally recognized AR & VR industry award. We are thrilled!

University of Miami Spring 2025 Provost's Award for Collaborative Teaching. Pictured from left to right: Neva Kirk-Sanchez, Thomas Merrick, Lokesh Ramamoorthi,, Gauri Agarwal, Tola Porter, Yatil Etherly, Greta Mitzova-Vladinov, and Cynthia Foronda

Tom Merrick Receives Award

April 23, 2025

The Spring 2025 Provost’s Awards included a Collaborative Teaching award for Tom Merrick who was part of a group that created the nationally recognized “AI in Healthcare” course.

UMverse in FORBES Magazine

February 27, 2025

Commenting on engagement in the classroom, FORBES Magazine looked to Tom Merrick in this "Meta For Education Brings Immersive VR Experiences To Any Classroom" article.

Immersive Exhibit on the Golden Age of the Jews of al-Andalus, University of Miami Richter Library

XR Golden Age of the Jews

February 10, 2025

The Association of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews writes about the immersive exhibition on the Golden Age of the Jews of al-Andalus now showing at the Richter Library.

Miami XR 2025

February 7, 2025

The 2025 University of Miami XR Conference attracted industry leaders and educators from across the nation who discussed integrating extended reality in our lives.

Thomas Merrick speaks at 2024 Meta Educators Community Summit

Shaping the Future of Education

December, 10, 2024

UM broke new ground in immersive education, leading one of the largest VR education initiatives in the country, and earning a spotlight in the Meta for Education Beta Program.

University of Miami Interactive Media faculty working on an XR project

Call for Presentations + Proposals

November 19, 2024

Are you pushing the boundaries of XR innovation? The Miami XR 2025 event (February 6+7, 2025) is seeking presentations + proposals. Deadline: 1/3/25

Meta for Education YouTube video on Beta Program

Meta for Education Beta Program

November 11, 2024

Meta's new educational offering for Meta Quest headsets convened select universities and colleges (including UM) to give feedback ahead of the product launch.

Inaugural Meta Educators Summit

October 17-18, 2024

Recognized as a leader in the field, UM was well represented at the inaugural Meta Educators Community Summit.

University of Miami School of Communicationi Interactive Media students in various XR headsets

UMverse Podcast Launched

October 8, 2024

The UMverse has launched a podcast! Hosted by Tom Merrick (Sr. Project Manager XR Initiatives), the podcast brings a fun approach to exploring cutting-edge XR at the U.

Matias Dahlback, Tobias Andtfolk, and Thomas Merrick on the The DUTAR Pod podcast

UMverse on The DUTAR Pod

June 19, 2024

The DUTAR Pod podcast hosts Tobias Andtfolk and Matias Dahlbäck chat with Tom Merrick about the XR Initiative at UM, where the UMverse started and where it's going.

Computing Day 2024

April 23, 2024

Computing Day convenes faculty and student scholars, corporate and government professionals to design the future and foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

eMerge Americas 2024

April 18-19, 2024

UHealth panel “High-Touch is High-Tech in 21st Century Patient Experience” and a Main Stage panel discussion “Climate Challenges, Health Tech Solutions: Miami on the Front Lines.”

Metaverse brings students from Miami and India together

April 1, 2024

University of Miami architecture student Ellie Koeppen moves across the room to show her fellow classmates the interior of the apartment building she has designed.

Past EVENTS

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Filmgate + UM XR Day

The University of Miami School of Communication's Interactive Media program partnered with FilmGate Interactive Media Festival (FGIX) to celebrate Filmgate's 10th Anniversary with its most ambitious program to date, showcasing 35 projects from Florida and around the world, including Taiwan, France, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands that highlight and showcase how emerging technology can empower new ways of artistic and media expression. This 5-day event included 3 days at UM featuring 10 University of Miami projects. Read More . . .
XR and AI in Healthcare Summit

Hosted the XR and AI in Healthcare Summit in partnership with the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Association. This conference brought together medical professionals who are currently using XR and AI technologies, medical professionals looking to learn about the technology, Academia, and Medical Technology companies that are developing solutions to address the needs of the healthcare industry. It consisted of open panel discussions with Industry and University experts along with an Expo Center with close to 20 demo booths showcasing Immersive technology solutions.
VR and Healthcare Global Symposium

The 8th annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Global Symposium showcased health care leaders on the cutting edge of what’s possible in the field of immersive technologies. The goal was to foster partnership and collaboration in health care. It took place on February 29 to March 3, 2024 at the Ringling Collge of Art & Design in Sarasota Florida (2/29-3/1), and at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL (3/2-3).
The VRARA Miami Chapter Launch

The VR/AR Association (aka "The VRARA") in partnership with the University of Miami’s XR Initiative and Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) hosted a Miami Chapter Launch event on February 17, 2022, 5:30-8:00 PM at the University of Miami Cosford Cinema (located on campus at 5030 Brunson Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146) and via ZOOM.

This event was free and open to the public. The theme of the event is The Intersection of AI and the Metaverse. Guest Speakers provided presentations and hosted discussions with the audience on related topics. There was also a technology showcase.

(pictured above on the Cosford Cinema stage is John Cunningham, President of the VRARA Central Florida Chapter, and Tarja Stephens, President of the VRARA Miami Chapter.
Frost Science Museum Partnership

The Tech Lab team partnered with the Frost Science Museum to educate technology enthusiasts on how XR is being utilized across industries and gave a hands-on learning experience of VR and AR use cases built at the University of Miami.