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

Work

Wagner graduated in

communication design Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is not only concerned with developing the message in addition to the ...

at the

Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar The Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar or HBKsaar, (English: ''Saar College of Fine Arts'') is an art and design university in the German State of Saarland. The degree course offers a choice of different topics: Fine arts, communication desi ...

, Germany. In 2005, he was appointed Professor for Media- and Interaction Design at the

University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern The Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Kaiserslautern, HS Kaiserslautern) is a Hochschule (University of Applied Sciences) with 3 campuses located in Kaiserslautern, Germany, in Pirmasens, Germany and in Zweibrücken ...

. 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. After initial test rides at Europa-Park, 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. In May 2015, Wagner,

Michael Mack Michael Mack (born December 21, 1978) is a German entrepreneur. Life Mack was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany. He is the son of Roland Mack and his wife Marianne. He has two siblings, Thomas (born January 4, 1981) and Ann-Kathrin ( ...

and Mack Rides co-founded the company VR Coaster GmbH & Co. KG, owned in equal shares by the founders. Wagner is also CEO of the company, leading the creation of the VR media for these attractions. In late 2015, their first public installation to use this technology opened at Europa-Park, which drew a lot of media attention. Subsequently, many installations followed worldwide, including drop towers, flat rides and bumper cars, with several of Wagners projects receiving critical acclaim in the industry. By 2020, his work was considered as having changed the entire attraction industry. Wagner is a member of the Aurea Award Jury since the foundation of the Award in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Thomas German industrial designers Mechanical engineers German video game designers Roller coaster designers 21st-century German inventors 1977 births Living people Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar alumni