A 16-week executive journey blending 80 hours of live online sessions with three intensive Innovation Studios at Sapienza University in Rome. For leaders ready to turn extended reality into business outcomes.
10 ECTS
Advanced University Course
Online
Weekly + Innovation Studio in Rome, Italy
16 weeks
Duration
18 September 2026
Start date
English
Language
Executives, Freelancers, Technical Graduates
Ideal for
EIT Manufacturing South and Sapienza University of Rome
Certification and Partners
XR-Driven Design Thinking and Innovation is a 16-week online university-level course (10 ECTS) that mixes innovation methods and cutting-edge immersive technology (AR/VR, together called XR).
The program blends academic rigour and hands-on practice, drawing on a multidisciplinary framework that integrates design, engineering, business, and the social sciences. It includes 80 hours of live online sessions and three optional Innovation Studios in Rome.
Learning activities include:
👇 Interactive lectures - live online
👩💻 Hands-on labs - where you practice with XR tech such as Unity, Vuforia and Frame VR
💡 Design sprints & real cases - to learn how innovation really works
🤝 Feedback & mentoring - from XR professionals You’ll learn design thinking, a creative methodology for solving problems, and how to use XR tools to design and prototype new ideas.
Info Session:
XR for Accelerating Industrial Innovation
Designed for practitioners who build things
Who should attend
- Innovation & R&D managers leveraging XR for new product development
- Entrepreneurs and startup founders developing immersive or Industry 4.0 solutions
- Consultants and freelancers in user experience, product design, or business innovation
- Young professionals and STEM graduates building XR expertise
What you will learn
- Combine human-centred design thinking with XR tools to create real solutions
- Build and test working XR prototypes that address real user needs
- Connect XR with data tools like AI and IoT
- Make a strategic case for innovation investment with industry-standard XR platforms
The learning journey
Frame
Week 10 · Friday – Saturday
Sapienza University, Via Flaminia 70, Rome - Italy
Bring your innovation challenge. Design thinking sprints with mentors after Units 1 and 2. Turn an ambiguous problem into a defensible value proposition.
Build
Week 17 · Friday – Saturday
Sapienza University, Via Flaminia 70, Rome - Italy
Hands-on XR prototyping after Unit 3. Work with Unity, Vuforia and FrameVR alongside faculty and company experts.
Showcase
Week 20 · Friday – Saturday
Sapienza University, Via Flaminia 70, Rome - Italy
Test, refine and present your XR solution. Industry feedback, demo day, and the final pitch in front of the cohort and partner organisations.
Faculty
Certification and partners
EIT Manufacturing
South
EIT Manufacturing is one of the nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
Its ecosystem is composed of more than 170 organisations (universities, research institutes and businesses) focused on manufacturing in innovation ecosystems that add unique value to European products, processes, and services, and inspire the creation of globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing.
EIT Manufacturing’s Impact Centre South (IC South), headquartered in Milan, Italy, covers Southern Europe, comprising Italy, Malta, Switzerland, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Montenegro. It forms part of a network of six regional Impact Centres.
Sapienza University of Rome
Interdept. Centre Sapienza Design Research (SDR)
SDR is the only interdepartmental university centre at both the regional and national level that focuses on design-driven innovation and design research.
The centre focuses on applied research, interactions with the social context (third mission), and lifelong learning, developed with multidisciplinary contributions and interdisciplinary approaches, and pursuing transdisciplinary outcomes.
With the participation of 66 professors and researchers from 12 departments, it works on four research axes:
- Industry, Making and Made in Italy
- Digital Society and Social Innovation
- Cultural Experience
- Health Innovation
Join the XR Innovation Journey
Be part of Europe’s growing XR ecosystem. Learn from leading experts, collaborate with peers across disciplines, and create impactful XR solutions for the digital and sustainable transformation of industry.