Reddit reviews The Joy of UX: User Experience and Interactive Design for Developers (Usability)

Maybe look up some info on video-game design and augmented reality. It's all created by human programmers (ignoring AI in recent years), and if someone else can create an entire virtual world from scratch, so you can you! Even better, you don't have to "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to dreams. You can even cut out the death-march of constantly trying to improve graphics software/hardware (unless you really want to spend a few months trying to get rain wetness to "look right") and skip straight to the cool stuff.

I'd recommend starting with something easy and objective, like a Diegetic Interface rather than trying for something subjective which only you can see. Do you have a favorite interface from a video-game that you like? You can image it appearing on a clear piece of glass in front of you. Later on you can try [wearing] the piece of glass and have yourself a old fashioned HUD. Mess around with different ways to display information and maybe even go for a book on interface design like About Face or The Joy of UX.

edit: clarity