English (full-time evening studies), Latvian (full-time evening studies)
Credit points:
120 KP (ECTS)
Tuition fee per year:
Citizens and permanent residents of Latvia, as well as citizens of other EU, EEA, and EU candidate countries:
4100 EUR (Full-time evening studies, English))
Other countries:
4700 EUR (Full-time evening studies, English))
The academic master’s study programme “Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art” (AMSP) has been designed to cultivate highly qualified, research-driven specialists in the field of audiovisual and immersive technologies art. The programme integrates the humanities with business dimensions, thereby furnishing students with versatile competencies in immersive digital media within the contemporary labour-market context.
The curriculum is oriented towards practice-based research that harnesses the transformative potential of creative practice and digital technologies, offering advanced study in such emergent domains as augmented and virtual reality, 360-degree video, interactive narratology, artificial intelligence, cinema, cultural analytics, and data visualisation.
AMSP is consonant with RISEBA’s institutional mission—“Towards Cross-Sector Careers”—responding to growing demand for practitioners versed in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality; artificial intelligence; game design; and data-visualisation technologies applied to art and the global investigation of digital-cultural processes.
Objective of the study programme
To prepare highly qualified, research-grounded specialists capable of independent work in audiovisual and immersive technologies art at both the academic level—including progression to doctoral study—and the professional level, possessing advanced theoretical and practical knowledge, critical understanding, and methodological competence in the field; the cultivated ability to analyse and evaluate critically the phenomena attendant upon sectoral development; and the capacity to create innovative works of art autonomously, deploying virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, artificial intelligence, or game-design tools, thereby integrating the latest theoretical insights with an interdisciplinary approach.
During their studies, students may choose to major in one of the following specializations:
“Audiovisual Media Art” (Riga, RISEBA)
“Multimedia Performing Arts” (Riga, RISEBA)
“Digital Art” (Liepaja, RTU Liepaja Academy)
“Sound Art and Electronic Music” (Liepaja, RTU Liepaja Academy)
* Specialization tracks in “Audiovisual Media Arts” and “Multimedia Performing Arts” take place in Riga and are administered by RISEBA. Specialization tracks in “Digital Art” and “Sound Art and Electronic Music” take place in Liepaja and are administered by RTU Liepaja Academy.
Partner University:
The programme is delivered in a full-time, on-site evening format. Classes are scheduled on Thursday and Friday evenings from 18:00 to 21:00, and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 15:00. In certain circumstances—for instance, when hosting international guest lecturers or where the specificity of the content so requires—sessions may also be held on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evenings.
The academic year is organised in semesters; the full programme spans two years (four semesters), ensuring continuous weekly instruction throughout each academic year.
Contact hours are delivered in lecture and seminar format. Lectures furnish students with theoretical knowledge of visual and media art and of contemporary technological culture; seminars develop practical competencies—working with media technologies, critical thinking, and analytical skills. Independent study encompasses both the assimilation of theoretical literature and the cultivation of practical proficiency with specific technologies (analogue and digital photography, interactive technologies, digital imaging media, and electronic musical instruments).
Delivery is centred on the RISEBA Architecture and Media Centre H2O (Durbes iela 4, Riga), supplemented by various partner resources. The programme’s cornerstone is the development of practice-based art projects through integrated study modules, each of which unites a theoretical and a practical component to yield an audiovisual art work or creative project.
To ensure a purposeful and high-quality study process in immersive digital media and audiovisual art, providing students with the requisite support and resources for the acquisition of knowledge and skills, and for the application of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, artificial intelligence, data-visualisation, and game-design technologies in creative practice.
To foster an interdisciplinary and creative academic environment conducive to research, offering education that encompasses cinema and digital narratology, experimental art, and interactive narrative inquiry, while continuously enhancing the material-technical base and the academic ecosystem.
To stimulate students’ creative potential and experimental practice through the production of immersive artefacts and installations—video art works and interactive narratives—thereby developing their capacity to conceive and execute conceptual and practice-informed research projects independently.
To promote student engagement in cross-sectoral and intercultural collaborative projects and research networks, advancing the international visibility of immersive media art, facilitating the exchange of theoretical and practical knowledge, and supporting the presentation of interactive projects at diverse professional and academic fora.
To develop students’ understanding of culture-driven economics and entrepreneurship within the creative industries, equipping them with specialist knowledge and skills in project management, production, intellectual-property governance, data ethics, marketing, and strategic planning in the domain of immersive media art.
Study results to be achieved:
Students demonstrate advanced understanding and the ability to apply practice-based art-research methodologies independently, integrating theoretical and empirical approaches within the immersive digital-media context.
Students command and are able to deploy innovatively the progressive techniques and tools of audiovisual art, including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality; game design; artificial intelligence; and data-visualisation technologies.
Students demonstrate advanced knowledge and competence within their chosen thematic strand, managing and creating with the specific instruments and technologies pertinent to artistic and research practice.
Students demonstrate the ability to experiment with digital formats and to construct interactive and innovative narrative structures, encompassing video art works, immersive installations, and performances.
Students exhibit a high degree of creativity, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial capability, critically analysing and identifying innovative opportunities in the creative-industries market and producing works of both social significance and commercial viability.
Students are able to formulate and critically analyse complex scholarly and professional problems in immersive digital media, integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and contributing to the generation of new understanding.
Students demonstrate the ability to apply theoretical knowledge and methodologies independently in research, artistic, or highly qualified professional activity, adapting to the rapidly evolving digital-media environment.
Students command and are able to deploy strategically the specialist knowledge of management, production, entrepreneurship, and marketing within the immersive digital-media and creative-industries context, inclusive of intellectual-property and data-ethics considerations.
Students demonstrate highly developed digital competence, critical media literacy, and the capacity to integrate these skills innovatively in research, artistic practice, and professional activity.
Students exhibit well-developed global and civic competence, demonstrating the ability to operate effectively within intercultural, international, and interdisciplinary collaborative networks.
Students demonstrate advanced understanding and the ability to apply the principles of academic and research ethics as well as the fundamentals of cybersecurity in immersive digital-media research and creative practice.
AMSP is structured in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Declaration, comprising integrated study modules (60 ECTS), thematic-strand modules (27 ECTS), free-elective courses (3 ECTS), and the master’s thesis (30 ECTS). It provides advanced study within two thematic strands:
Digital Storytelling and Interactive Narratives in Audiovisual Media Art (B1)
Immersive Technologies in Audiovisual Media Art – Extended Reality (XR) Art, Artificial Intelligence, and Game Design (B2)
Part A – Integrated Study Modules (60 ECTS)
Module
ECTS
Sem. 1
Sem. 2
Sem. 3
Conceptual Thinking and Practice-Based Research (A1)
8
8
Audio Culture (A2)
7
7
Visual Culture and the Aesthetics of Immersive New Media (A3)
15
15
Creative Industries (A4)
7
7
Interactive Art and Multimedia Performance (A5)
15
15
Media Theory and Research Methods (A6)
8
8
State, Environmental, and Civil Defence*
3
3
Latvian Language for International Students**
3
3
PART A TOTAL
60
30
25
8
* Required in addition if the student has not completed civil- and environmental-defence courses at a prior level of study.
** For international students.
Part B – Thematic-Strand Modules (27 ECTS)
Students select one of two thematic strands:
Thematic Strand
ECTS
Sem. 1
Sem. 2
Sem. 3
Digital Storytelling and Interactive Narratives in Audiovisual Media Art I, II (B1)
27
8
19
Immersive Technologies in Audiovisual Media Art (XR Art, Artificial Intelligence, and Game Design) I, II (B2)
27
8
19
Part C – Free Electives (3 ECTS)
Students select courses from the RISEBA elective catalogue to the value of 3 ECTS. Examples include:
Design Thinking in Public Relations
Painting: Space and Colour
Innovation Strategy and Digital Media Communication
Creativity and Design Thinking
Digital Transformation and Social Media
Innovation and Creativity in Business
Coaching, Mentoring, and Supervision
Financial Management and Project Cost Management
Master’s Thesis (30 ECTS)
The master’s thesis (30 ECTS) embodies the programme’s distinctive approach, in which scholarly research methodology converges with creative practice. Students are required to produce both a theoretical study that meets academic standards and a practical art work realised through contemporary technologies. This dual structure ensures that graduates are equipped for both academic and professional environments.
The practical component entails the production of a full-scale audiovisual work—a short film, short documentary, experimental film, video installation, animation film, 3D video graphic, multimedia performance, virtual-reality work, or an artificial-intelligence and 3D interactive installation.
Please read the admission rules published on our website under Study at RISEBA -> Admission rules
Applicants must meet one of the following criteria:
Hold a bachelor’s degree or a second-level professional higher education diploma in the humanities or arts;
English language proficiency at least at the B2 level;
Pass an entrance examination;
or
Hold a bachelor’s degree or second-level professional higher education diploma in social sciences, educational sciences, engineering, computer science, or related fields;
Have professional artistic experience as an author or self-employed individual working in the creative industries, culture, arts, or music sector (for at least 12 months), or have completed courses in the field of humanities and arts totaling at least 12 ECTS credits, including:
Art history or art theory (at least 6 ECTS credits);
Philosophy, cultural history, or cultural theory (at least 6 ECTS credits);
English language proficiency at least at the B2 level;
Pass an entrance examination.
Entrance Examination – Master’s Thesis Application and Creative Portfolio
In addition to meeting the required level of higher education, applicants must submit a prospective master’s thesis project application in advance, along with a creative portfolio of their previous work, and pass the English language entrance examination organized by RISEBA. The master’s thesis project application must be submitted electronically and the portfolio is uploaded to the program’s online directory ([email protected]). Applicants who have previously studied in English or who are citizens of countries where English is an official language are exempt from the English language entrance exam.*
The creative portfolio should include 3–5 examples of new media artifacts, audiovisual works, sound art, projects, prototypes, custom works, or studies.
For more detailed information on entrance examinations, see: Admission rules
In case of additional questions, contact the program director Dr. Aigars Ceplitis: +37125620270
* Specialization tracks in “Audiovisual Media Art” and “Multimedia Performing Arts” take place in Riga and are administered by RISEBA. Specialization tracks in “Digital Art” and “Sound Art and Electronic Music” take place in Liepaja and are administered by RTU Liepaja Academy.
Dr. Ieva Gintere
Associate Professor at RISEBA, Dr Ieva Gintere is a distinguished scholar specialising in contemporary aesthetics, music theory, and digital technologies. She holds a violin performance degree from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (1999), Master’s degrees from the Latvian Academy of Culture (2002) and the University of Latvia (2004), and a Dr.art. in contemporary musicology (2014), with doctoral studies undertaken at the Université Paris-X Nanterre. Since 2015 she has also served as Lead Researcher at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, where her work centres on transdisciplinary methodologies and the integration of modern technologies with art theory, pioneering digital art-game development through such projects as “Art Space” and “ImGame” for contemporary art education. She has contributed international publications, presented at European conferences, collaborated with institutions in Greece, Hungary, and France, and lectured across Georgia, Romania, and Latvia.
Dr. Ellen Pearlman
Senior Research Fellow and Assistant Professor at RISEBA, Dr Ellen Pearlman is an immersive and artificial-intelligence media artist, critic, curator, and educator within the Faculty of Media and Creative Technologies. She holds a Ph.D. in Digital Media from the City University of Hong Kong, with a focus on consciousness, surveillance, and biometric technologies explored through innovative art. Dr Pearlman is renowned for such pioneering works as the brainwave opera “Noor,” the AI-driven “AIBO,” and the Lumen Prize finalist “Language Is Leaving Me.” Her career includes a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Warsaw, an MIT Research Fellowship, and a visiting research position at New York University, together with leadership roles at Art-A-Hack™ and the New York Volumetric Society. She has received major honours including the EU Vertigo STARTS Laureate and multiple Fulbright awards, and her research and creative projects have been presented at leading conferences and institutions worldwide.
Dr. Pierre Jolivet
A core member of the Faculty of Media and Creative Technologies, Dr Pierre Jolivet is an internationally recognised sound artist and composer best known for his pioneering work under the moniker Pacific 231. Commencing his career in the early 1980s, Jolivet was a French pioneer in the industrial and power-electronics music scenes before evolving his practice towards ambient and abstract electronic sound. His extensive discography exceeds twenty albums and features numerous international collaborations. Jolivet’s practice explores the boundaries of sound and space, often realised through multimedia performances and installations such as Stif(f)le, Im’shi, Espace Altéré, and the audiovisual production Micromega. He has also served as a member of the Luigi Russolo jury, a prestigious international acousmatic-music award. He holds an M.F.A. in the Digital World with First-Class Honours from the National College of Art and Design and a Ph.D. in Sonic Art and Sensorial Perception from University College Dublin. His academic and research interests are situated at the intersection of sound, sensors, and immersive environments.
Dr. Christopher Hales
Assistant Professor at RISEBA, Dr Hales was awarded his Ph.D. in Interactive Film Art by the Royal College of Art, London, in 2006, with a dissertation entitled “Rethinking the Interactive Movie.” He holds a Master’s degree in Interactive Multimedia from the Royal College of Art (1994). Throughout his career he has served as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of East London’s SMARTlab Centre and as Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of England’s Faculty of Art, Media & Design. His extensive teaching portfolio encompasses more than 125 workshops across Europe on interactive filmmaking and AI-enhanced media creation, with particular attention to the Baltic States, where he has taught regularly since 2002. His current research, which he terms the “Latent Revolution” in filmmaking, investigates how artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming experimental cinema through neural networks and generative adversarial networks (GANs), positioning him at the forefront of contemporary discourse on the future of creative media production.
Dr. Rasa Šmite
Dr Rasa Šmite is a leading Latvian and international new-media artist, researcher, and innovator working at the crossroads of art, science, and technology since the 1990s. Born in Riga in 1969, she co-founded the RIXC Art Science Center, a major hub for new-media art and scientific collaboration. She serves as a researcher at the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Switzerland. Her collaborative projects with Raitis Šmits under the name “smitesmits.com” range from early internet radio to AI- and XR-based art, earning awards such as the Prix Ars Electronica and the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough Award, together with international exhibitions at major world venues. As Professor and MACT core faculty, Šmite bridges academic leadership with creative practice, designing curricula that reflect her interdisciplinary methodology.
Artis Dzērve
Artis Dzērve is a distinguished Latvian video and 3D-mapping artist celebrated for his innovative work in video scenography, digital installations, and projection mapping. With over fifteen years’ experience in audiovisual and interactive art, Dzērve has become a key figure in the integration of digital media into theatre, opera, and large-scale public events. He is recognised for his immersive video designs for leading Latvian theatres—including the Dailes Theatre and the Latvian National Opera—and for international productions in Austria, Germany, Belgium, and France. His creative achievements have earned such prestigious awards as the Great Music Award and the “Spēlmaņu nakts” theatre prize. He studied at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts under the mentorship of performance-art legend Marina Abramović. As an educator at RISEBA, he teaches courses in audiovisual media art and digital scenography.
Mg.art., Antra Cilinska
Antra Cilinska is a prominent Latvian film producer, director, and editor, recognised for her significant contributions to documentary and feature filmmaking since the early 1990s. She began her career as a film editor at Riga Film Studio, collaborating with the acclaimed director Juris Podnieks on internationally renowned documentaries. Since 1994 she has served as director and producer at the independent Juris Podnieks Studio, overseeing a diverse portfolio of documentaries, animation, and fiction films. In addition to her production work, she has taught editing and production at the Latvian Academy of Culture since 2008.
Dr. Aigars Ceplitis
Assistant Professor at RISEBA, Dr Aigars Ceplītis is a Latvian film editor and educator whose expertise encompasses audiovisual media, film editing, and immersive cinema technologies. He serves as Dean of the Faculty of Media and Creative Technologies at RISEBA and as Administrative Director of the doctoral programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies” as well as Curator of the master’s programme “Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art.” He holds a Ph.D. from Riga Technical University, an M.F.A. in Film from the California Institute of the Arts (2004), and a B.A. in Art History from Lawrence University (USA). His research investigates narrative taxonomies for 360-degree stereoscopic films and digital storytelling and AI.
Dr. Efe Duyan
Associate Professor at RISEBA, Dr Efe Duyan has taught theory, history, and design at Mimar Sinan University since 2013 and has been affiliated with numerous institutions including the Technical University of Berlin, Ca’ Foscari University, the University of Minnesota, and Istanbul Technical University. His research encompasses contemporary design, critical design perspectives, spatial experience, architectural writing and theory, early modernism, and the architectural history of the Eastern Mediterranean. He is also recognised internationally as a poet, with his work translated into more than twenty-five languages.
Mg.art. Mihails Matvejenko
Mihails Matvejenko is a Latvian visual-effects compositor and digital artist who emerged from Riga’s Vilks Studija/Vilks Productions. Regarded as one of Latvia’s leading special-effects practitioners, his photorealistic compositing has appeared in international productions including Skybound (2017), Pocket Hercules: Naim Süleymanoglu (2019), Infinite Storm (2022), and Antero Varovainen ja onnenkivi (2023). Working freelance from Riga, he provides VFX services to European and US studios while mentoring students and collaborating with RISEBA research teams on AI-driven virtual-production workflows.
Mg.art. Sabrina Durling – Jones
Sabrina Durling–Jones is a filmmaker and creative technologist whose practice centres on data and visual storytelling through established and emergent (AI) technologies. Her current research explores the intersection of memory, displacement, and the ethical application of AI/ML. She is in the final stages of a Ph.D. in Media Art and Creative Technologies through the joint doctoral programme at RISEBA and Riga Technical University. Her research proposes a phenomenology of Steinian non-actuality for algorithmic memory practices and experiments with emerging technologies to create embodied memory sensations.
Mg.art. Andris Gauja
Andris Gauja is a Latvian filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer based in Riga and founder of the independent production company Riverbed (est. 2011). He first gained international recognition with his documentary Family Instinct (2010), which won the Grand Prix at AFI Docs and was nominated for Best Mid-Length Documentary at IDFA. His narrative feature debut, The Lesson (2014), premiered at the Montréal World Film Festival and became a box-office success in Latvia. In recent years Gauja has returned to documentary filmmaking with a focus on scientific and metaphysical themes, and is a doctoral candidate at the Latvian Academy of Culture.
Graduates of the programme are prepared for a broad range of professional trajectories:
Academic researcher and lecturer (with progression to doctoral study)
Creative specialist in audiovisual media (cinema, television, advertising, digital content)
Immersive-technologies artist (VR/AR/XR projects, game design, installations)
Artificial-intelligence and data-visualisation specialist
Entrepreneur and producer in the creative industries
Manager of cultural institutions in the digital-media domain
The Master’s degree in Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art equips graduates with the comprehensive knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for highly qualified professional activity in immersive digital media, while simultaneously providing a foundation for doctoral-level study. Graduates are well positioned to enter the RISEBA doctoral programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies” (MACT).
Lecture Rooms
Lecture rooms are ordinarily used for theoretical instruction. All rooms are fitted with computers and projectors for staff and student presentations; the principal lecture theatre is additionally equipped with large-format duplex monitors for enhanced visibility.
Media Laboratory
The Media Laboratory is an informal audiovisual creative-research and experimentation space, outfitted with high-specification technological infrastructure and reserved exclusively for students of the master’s programme “Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art” and doctoral candidates of the RISEBA programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies.” The laboratory houses Capital NEO Design and Rig F workstations with NVIDIA RTX and Apple iMac Retina 5K units. Resources support real-time 3D visualisation, generative art, and XR project delivery, and include Pimax Vision 8K X VR headsets, KCL PL displays, and software tools such as Runway ML, DALL·E, Cinema 4D, Unity, and InstaStudio.
Video Studio
The 300 m² video studio serves instruction in the art of cinematography and lighting. Students may film their coursework there outside lecture hours. The studio is equipped with a full-size black and green-screen background and floor, professional grip equipment (camera crane with rails, RONIN, Steadicam), a stationary lighting rig, and adjacently located make-up, costume and prop storage, and a sound-recording suite. Sony FS cameras with 4K and slow-motion capability, DJI drones, and a Live GV Director nonlinear live-production system are available.
Editing Suites
Three large and two small video-editing suites are provided. The large suites are each fitted with fifteen to twenty stationary iMac workstations running Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, Logic Studio, Cinema 4D, and DaVinci Resolve. The Media Laboratory additionally supplies Mistika VR, point-cloud applications for photogrammetry and 3D scanning, DeepL, Stable Diffusion for AI rendering, and further digital post-production software.
VR/XR Equipment
Specialist immersive-technology resources include Red Box VR and Pico Enterprise headsets, HTC Vive, a Shining Einstar 3D scanner, a 3D printer, Huion KAMVAS graphics tablets, and an Avtec TS7 interactive display panel.
Information and Research Base
The RISEBA Library provides access to the major international databases—Scopus, EBSCO, Web of Science, and others—furnishing the scholarly foundation required for both research and theoretical work.
AMSP students have the opportunity to participate in Erasmus+ mobility projects, thereby facilitating the transfer of knowledge and the development of skills and competencies.
Any student of the master’s programme who has completed at least one year of study can participate in the Erasmus+ exchange programme. A student can study for 1 or 2 semesters at one of RISEBA’s partner universities. The duration of study mobility is 2–12 months. The student does not have to pay for the period spent in the study and internship exchange programme abroad; the tuition fee is covered by the partner university, but the student continues to pay the RISEBA tuition fee. For the period spent abroad during mobility, the student is awarded an Erasmus+ scholarship to cover the costs of transport and accommodation. * Erasmus+ internship mobility provides that a student can undergo an internship in one of the companies of interest in one of the Erasmus+ programme countries. For this internship period, the student receives an Erasmus+ scholarship. The duration of internship mobility is 2–12 months.
Find out more about Erasmus+ and how to apply here!
Since the 2023/2024 academic year, information on the self-assessment of the study programme has been included in the study field progress report, which is available here.
Dr. Aigars Ceplītis, PhD – RISEBA Faculty of Media and Creative Technologies, Director of the Joint Master’s study programme “Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art” at RISEBA, Administrative Director of the Joint Doctoral study programme “Media Arts and Creative Technologies” at RISEBA.
Dr. Maija Demitere, PhD – Director of the joint master’s study program “Audiovisual and Immersive Technologies Art” under the study direction “Arts” at RTU Liepaja Academy in Liepaja.
