If you’re a freelancer these days, you know that the best way to attract more clients and prove your worth is to differentiate yourself from others in the market and position yourself as someone who offers the highest quality and most innovative solutions.
And if you’re a web developer, mobile app developer, UX/UI designer, or are just looking for a skill to add to your wheelhouse that will make you stand out in a crowd and rise above your competition, then we have a suggestion.
Augmented reality technology is steadily reshaping how website users, shoppers, and gamers are interacting with digital content, creating fun and immersive experiences that blend digital content with the real world!
And if you want to get in on the action and add “AR developer” to the many hats you already wear for your clients, then we want to help you get there.
Today’s blog is going to take you through 8 augmented reality workshops and online courses, designed to give you the skills you need to start creating experiences that wow!
Let’s dive in!
What is an Augmented Reality Workshop?
An augmented reality workshop is a paid (but sometimes free!) course or learning event that is designed to teach participants all about AR technology and how to create AR experiences for augmented reality headsets, mobile devices, or web browsers.
Learning augmented reality can be challenging, so these workshops range from introductory sessions for beginners to more advanced training for participants with prior experience or who are working on more complex or more creative AR projects.
If you attend an augmented reality workshop, you can expect to learn how to use AR development tools and platforms, like Unity or ARCore, to overlay computer-generated information or images onto the user’s real-world surroundings and learn how to realistically blend digital content with users’ real-world environment.
What Prerequisites Do I Need to Learn AR?
Of course, it helps if you already have a certain set of skills before jumping into AR.
And while it’s still possible to learn without them (AR can be pretty inclusive despite your skill level and background), it definitely helps to have a solid foundation in one or more of the following skills:
- Familiarity with AR Development Tools — Understanding platforms like Unity or Unreal Engine and AR frameworks such as Google ARCore and Apple ARKit is pretty crucial to learning augmented reality. These tools provide the necessary features for AR development, including motion tracking and environmental understanding.
- Programming Skills — Being skilled in programming languages like C#, Java, Python, and JavaScript is beneficial as well since AR and VR environments depend heavily on scripts.
- 3D Modeling and Animation — To create realistic AR content, it helps to have some experience developing 3D models and animations. Familiarity with 3D modeling software and animation principles gives you the foundation you need to build realistic and interactive virtual objects.
- User Experience (UX) Design — Having experience with UX design principles is helpful for understanding how to create intuitive and accessible AR design principles and interfaces. This involves designing user-friendly interactions and making sure the AR experience is enjoyable for a wide audience.
- Spatial Mapping and Tracking Techniques — It's important to know about spatial mapping and tracking for developing AR experiences to accurately overlay virtual objects over real-world objects or surroundings. This includes understanding the differences and applications of marker-based and markerless tracking.
- Extended Reality (XR) — Being familiar with XR technologies, including virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality, is also helpful. This knowledge helps in understanding how these technologies come together and can be used to create immersive experiences.
The Best Online Augmented Reality Courses in 2024
Whenever you’re ready to make the leap and start creative immersive experiences for AR-enabled devices, then we’re here to help get you there!
Check out the following 8 courses and see which best fits your learning style, budget, and AR goals!
1. Professional Certificate in AR/VR Development and 3D Graphics
Provided by the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University, this online course aims to give participants the tools and skills needed to learn how to “build cutting-edge AR and VR experiences for long-term success.”
The next course starts on May 8th, so register now to get started on your professional certificate!
Course Level: Advanced (Ideal for software developers/engineers, UX/XR developers, 3D artists, or anyone with a computer science degree or equivalent background.)
Price: $6,290
Length of Course: 7 months, 15–20 hours per week.
2. Google AR & VR: Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARCore
This course, offered by Coursera, aims to teach beginners the fundamentals of augmented reality and how to use common development tools like Google Poly and Unity.
Split into four modules, this class takes you from identifying types of AR experiences all the way to actually creating AR experiences using Google’s AR framework, ARCore.
Course Level: Beginner
Price: Free to enroll with Coursera Plus Plan ($59/month)
Length of Course: 10 hours. Learn at your own pace.
3. Meta AR Developer
For those who already know the basics, Meta AR Developer is designed to prepare you for a potential career as an AR developer.
Participants will learn with Meta Spark’s AR platform and gain experience in everything from creating games in Unity using C# to editing animated 3D content and creating web applications in PlayCanvas.
Course Level: Intermediate (Experience with object-oriented programming and basic web development recommended. Javascript is also a plus, but not required.)
Price: Free to enroll with Coursera Plus Plan ($59/month)
Length of Course: 3 months at 10 hours a week.
4. Meta Foundations of AR
If the Meta AR Developer course is something you’d like to do but you don’t have the prerequisite skills required, then this is the course for you!
Designed to be a steppingstone to the Meta AR Developer course listed above, Meta Foundations is designed to set you up for success by introducing you to the basis of AR; how it’s used, what it can do, and the technology you’ll need to start creating AR experiences.
*Enrolling in this course automatically enrolls you in Meta AR Developer.
Course Level: Beginner
Price: Free to enroll with Coursera Plus Plan ($59/month)
Length of Course: approx. 11 hours
5. Create Your Own Augmented Reality Application: Udemy
Created by ProTech Academy, this Udemy course is a way for beginners to learn to create augmented reality apps “in no time using free tools without experience!”
Course content takes beginners all the way from the basic “what is augmented reality” all the way to learning how to create their own augmented reality cube at home!
Course Level: Beginner
Price: $15.99 for lifetime access
Length of Course: 70-minute, on-demand video (8 articles and 1 downloadable resource included.)
6. Extended Reality for Everybody
Brought to you by Michael Nebeling, Assistant Professor of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Extended Reality for Everybody is a course for beginners who are interested in learning about all things XR (Extended Reality).
Participants will walk away from this 3-course series equipped with newfound knowledge about the underlying concepts and key applications of XR and the skills they need to start designing and developing AR, VR, and XR applications.
Course Level: Beginner
Price: Free to enroll with Coursera Plus Plan ($59/month)
Length of Course: 2 months at 10 hours a week (learn at your own pace)
7. xPRO: Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
The benefits of XR technology are just too great to ignore and with this course, offered through a collaboration of Emeritus and MIT xPRO, you can stop ignoring and get on board.
This eight-week course will take learners on a journey to acquire the essential vocabulary and knowledge of XR concepts, gain practical experience, and apply XR concepts and design principles to create high-fidelity XR prototypes.
Get ready to be a pioneer in XR technology!
Course Level: Advanced (ideal for seasoned design professionals, developers, and technology adopters).
Price: $2,274 (team pricing also available)
Length of Course: 8 weeks, online, 5–6 hours per week
8. Build 15 Augmented Reality (AR) Apps with Unity & Vuforia
If you’re ready to learn all about different forms of Augmented reality and their applications, this best-selling Udemy course could be for you!
Participants can look forward to learning the basic fundamentals of popular augmented reality frameworks Unity and Vuforia, as well as programming techniques required to build AR apps for both Android and iOS to enhance user experience and engagement!
Course Level: Advanced (ideal for seasoned design professionals, developers, and technology adopters)
Price: $19.99
Length of Course: 18.5 hours on-demand video (11 articles and 16 downloadable resources included).
Why Should I Learn How to Create AR Experiences?
It may be an initial upfront investment and require a large chunk of your time, but there are many benefits to taking the next step and learning how to create AR experiences.
Here are just a few:
Expand Your Skill Set
Learning new skills and expanding your skill set is always a good thing for creatives to do, especially those who make their living freelancing. Learning how to be an AR developer not only adds to your knowledge and diversifies your offerings, it also makes you more adaptable!
It also looks great in your online portfolio to help you attract more clients and generate more revenue.
Better User Engagement
If you’re a web developer or mobile app developer, you know that the more interactive and engaging a website is, the better it will perform.
Knowing how to integrate AR features can lead to better engagement and more traffic and time spent on your website (or your client’s website!), which leads to more visibility and even more clients.
Keep Up with Demand
It’s 2024, friends, and with technology changing seemingly from one day to the next, it’s good to keep up with the trends and get on board with “the next big thing.”
Right now, that’s AR and VR, so adding augmented reality to your wheelhouse helps to keep yourself up to date and competitive with other creatives, something that is also very important if you’re freelancing.
Make Yourself Irresistible to Clients
Having an expanded skill set, a website that wows, and knowing what clients want will, naturally, send you straight to the top of the list for any potential clients weighing your services between someone else’s.
Your newfound AR technology will set you apart, give you future-ready skills, and position you as a go-to developer for immersive websites and AR experiences.
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Need an Outlet for Those Skills?
Whether you’re an AR pro, striving to be one, or still working on the prerequisites we listed above to help you get started, we suspect you’ve already got some enviable skills in your arsenal.
And if you’re looking for a great place to put those skills to good use, then we have a suggestion to make.
Why not join the Designity community?
Designity is a future-ready and tech-enabled platform that the best of the best in motion graphics artists, web developers, mobile app developers, UX/UI designers, coders, and more call home, and we’re always looking to add to our creative community.
Whether you’ve already got augmented reality or virtual reality development skills or you’re a skilled programmer or web developer, being a Designity Creative comes with plenty of perks, like competitive pay, flexible hours, a consistent workload, and the opportunity to do what you love for a wide variety of clients in a wide variety of industries!
So, how about it? Are you up for the challenge?
If so, take a few minutes to fill out our one-of-a-kind application, and let’s see where Designity can take your creative career!
Are you ready for your next big thing?
