VRAC began in 1990 as the Iowa Center for Emerging Manufacturing Technology (ICEMT) under the directorship of Dr. James Bernard, a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering department.
[1] In 1992 ICEMT received its first VR-focused grant, a three-year project from the Office of Naval Research, focused on virtual reality applications for manufacturing.
In 1994 ICEMT began virtual prototyping research for John Deere, which remains VRAC's longest continuous industrial relationship.
In 2003 VRAC expanded its mission by creating an interdepartmental graduate program known as Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
[3] A technology refresh of the C6 in 2006 put the facility on the map as the highest resolution immersive environment of its kind with over 100 million pixels.