Thomas Wagner (designer)

Thomas Wagner speaking at the Art Directors Club Festival 2017, Hamburg
Thomas Wagner speaking at the Art Directors Club Festival 2017, Hamburg. Picture by Joern Pollex / Getty Images.

Thomas Wagner (born May 14, 1977) is a German video game designer, entrepreneur and professor. He is best known for his influence on the theme park industry as inventor[1] of Virtual Reality equipped ride attractions like roller coasters. For his work in creating VR experiences on ride facilities, he is also considered a relevant personality of the VR Industry.[2][3]

He is teaching as a professor in the study course of Virtual Design at the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.[4]

Work

Wagner graduated in communication design at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar, Germany. In 2005, he was appointed Professor for Media- and Interaction Design at the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.[4] Until 2014, he focussed on video game design with his former company The Design Assembly GmbH and most recently with his games app label Gamesmold.

In early 2014, Wagner approached roller coaster manufacturer Mack Rides to investigate if Virtual Reality glasses would work on dynamic ride attractions.[5] After initial test rides at Europa-Park,[6] he conceived the solution of making a ride facility compatible to mobile VR headsets, which, at that time, had just been announced. Together with Mack Rides, he patented this process which solved common issues that would have prevented the use of PC-tethered headsets on a coaster train.[1]

In May 2015, Wagner, Michael Mack and Mack Rides co-founded the company VR Coaster GmbH & Co. KG, owned in equal shares by the founders.[7] Wagner is also CEO of the company, leading the creation of the VR media for these attractions.[8][9][10]

In late 2015, their first public installation to use this technology opened at Europa-Park, which drew a lot of media attention.[11][12][13] Subsequently, many installations followed worldwide,[14] including drop towers, flat rides and bumper cars, with several of Wagners projects receiving critical acclaim in the industry.[15][16][17][18][19] By 2020, his work was considered as having changed the entire attraction industry.[20]

Wagner is a member of the Aurea Award Jury[21] since the foundation of the Award in 2018.

References

  1. ^ a b "Espacenet - Bibliographic data". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  2. ^ Wiegand, Kristian (2020-01-22). ""Virtual Reality - Schöne neue Welt?" phoenix plus". Phoenix, ARD, German National Television. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  3. ^ Ebmeyer, Stephan (2015-09-02). "tagesschau.de". Tagesthemen, ARD, First German Television. p. video timecode 00:25:28. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  4. ^ a b "Virtual Design - made in KL". hskl-virtualdesign.de. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  5. ^ Fritzler, Susanne (2018-03-01). "F.A.Z.: Wie man sehenden Auges auf die schiefe Bahn gerät". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. p. 21 in 01.03.2018, Nr. 51 of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  6. ^ "Nervenkitzel pur: Mit der 3D-Brille in der Achterbahn - Video". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  7. ^ "Virtual reality: Roller-Coaster Ride into a Digital World - Handelsblatt". amp2.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  8. ^ Michaels, Daniel (2016-08-30). "Roller Coasters Ride Into Dizzying Realm of Virtual Reality". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  9. ^ Kleiman, Joe. "The New Realities". InPark Magazine. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  10. ^ Hamasaki, Sonya. "9 virtual reality roller coasters debut at Six Flags parks". CNN. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  11. ^ SPIEGEL, Felix Knoke, DER. "Europa-Park in Rust: Achterbahnfahren mit VR-Brille - DER SPIEGEL - Netzwelt". www.spiegel.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ ZDF, KiKA-Kinderkanal von ARD und (2019-06-18). "KiKA - Mit Datenbrillen unbekannte Welten erkunden!". kika.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  13. ^ "Virtuelle Realität im Freizeitpark - Achterbahnfahren mit Thrill". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  14. ^ Popper, Ben (2016-06-15). "Riding the Superman virtual reality roller coaster at Six Flags". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  15. ^ "Germany: German Computer Games Award for VR Coaster and MackMedia". www.eap-magazin.de. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  16. ^ "IAAPA Announces 2018 Brass Ring Award Winners | IAAPA - The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions". www.iaapa.org. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  17. ^ www.mwdwebdesign.com, Matt's Web Design-. "Zamperla Showcases new "Tweener Ride", Nebulaz at IAAPA Expo". AmusementParkWarehouse.com. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  18. ^ Parkscout Magazin (2018-11-13). "Parkscout Visitor Award 2018". www.parkscout.de (in German). p. Beste Freizeitpark-Neuheit 2018 / Best New Theme Park Attraction 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  19. ^ Parkscout Magazin (2019-12-02). "Parkscout Visitor Award 2019". www.parkscout.de (in German). p. Beste Freizeitpark Neuheit 2019 / Best New Theme Park Attraction 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  20. ^ Grünwald, Sebastian (2020-11-21). "PC027 – Thomas Wagner von VR Coaster". Podcoaster Germany. p. Timecode 00:13. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  21. ^ Rene (2020-01-18). "Experten und Visionäre beim AUREA Award 2020" (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-23.