VRguy podcast Episode 28: Thomas Wagner on VR Roller-Coasters - The VRguy's podcast
Summary: My guest today Thomas Wagner, CEO of VR Coaster. VR Coaster’s technology helps park operators convert traditional roller coasters into VR Coasters.<br> The interview transcript appears below the media player. This episode was recorded on Nov, 10th, 2017.<br> Thomas and I discuss lessons learned from dozens of VR rides installed around the world.<br> <br> <a title="Subscribe on Android" href="http://www.subscribeonandroid.com/sensics.com/feed/podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vrguys-podcast/id1071083566" target="_blank" rel="attachment wp-att-25553 noopener"></a><br> <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=80685&refid=stpr" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><br> <br> <br> Yuval Boger (VRGuy): Hello Thomas and welcome to the podcast.<br> Thomas Wagner: Hello.<br> VRGuy: So, who are you and what do you do?<br> Thomas: Well, I am the CEO and one of the co-founders of VR Coaster, which is a company focusing on equipping roller coasters and other kinds of rides like drop towers and carousels with virtual reality experiences. And that is basically what I do and my background is actually game design. I come from a mobile game development background. But that is, of course, very helpful when dealing with virtual reality, with VR. And also, personally, I’m a little bit of a roller coast enthusiast so it’s also a very fun work that I do.<br> VRGuy: And you were a professor, right? Or maybe you are still a professor?<br> Thomas: Yes, yes I am. Actually I’m teaching game design and interaction at the University of Applied Sciences here in Kaiserslautern in Germany. And that is actually where the entire project was born. Actually, it was an experiment to test what you can do in regards to VR motion sickness. So when the Oculus Rift came out and the entire VR hype was starting, I was wondering, “Okay, what can I do, what exciting project, what interesting project could I do with my students?” And everybody liked the roller coaster simulations. Everybody was sitting at home, riding a coaster in virtual reality and everybody was amazed how immersive that was.<br> But at the same time everybody was getting dizzy and nausea and got sea sick. And that was obviously because when you see the convincing 3D movement in VR, but your inner sense of balance does not feel the motion because you’re sitting still on a chair, then you get sea sick and that is a problem that the entire VR industry is dealing with. And I was approaching the roller coaster manufacturer Mack Rides and asked them, “Hey, would it be possible to do a test on a coaster, a real roller coaster?” To see if we synchronized the VR ride precisely to that real ride that is happening, to see if that is the solution to this problem, if that is comfortable. And it turned out that it’s not only comfortable, that it’s a totally amazing experience and that is how the entire company VR Coaster was founded back then.<br> We are now developing together with, you guys, an entirely new headset to make this experience even better<br> VRGuy: How is it synchronized? I mean, isn’t it enough to just say, “Oh it’s a two-minute roller coaster ride so after 57 seconds I know exactly where the coaster will be?”<br> Thomas: Actually, no it’s kind of very difficult and very important at the same time to have a very, very precise synchronization. And that is, for instance, starting with the orientation of the headset. So you start out in one direction with the roller coaster train. But if you don’t go through virtual reality curve at the same time as the real coaster cars going through that curve then you end up going sideways, looking sideways, through the VR world or you end up if the synchronization is too much off then...
