Thrill Engineer at 32,000 feet
British Airways thought that their customers would enjoy reading about the things I take with me when I fly the world on my adventures. I'm in the seat-back pocket of every BA flight this month. Open me up (page 42), take a pic on the plane, and post on Twitter and/or Instagram (@ThrillEngineer). The best entry will get a...
do thrill engineers dream of virtual reality?
Do you remember the summer of 2013? Oculus Rift were in the middle of a pivotal Kickstarter campaign to launch DK1 - a widely available development kit that would propel us into a 21st century virtual reality renaissance. Virtual reality was far from my thoughts that year. In fact, at that time, it was a medium I thought I'd...
VR Playground for your audience
Can you remember swinging in the playground as a child: enjoying sensations of speed and weightlessness as you swooped high and low; laughing with friends, hoping they didn't spot that you were a little scared? Thrill Engineer, Brendan Walker certainly can, and he's harnessing those sensations to take you on some incredible, action-packed adventures. So, jump aboard a playground...
Bronco features on Discovery Channel
Our Bucking Bronco Adaptive Ride Experiment and The Walker Thrill Factor feature on Discovery Channel's Daily Planet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XwMp8-tcLQ
VR Playground in Seoul
VR Playground returns from a short tour in Seoul, South Korea. Week one was by official invitation from World Culture Collage, to feature as part of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 cultural programme. I was delighted to site our four swings within the stunning new Oil Tank Culture Park... ... and our team had great fun entertaining Olympic mascots Soohorang...
V-Armchair
sit in a comfy armchair, pop on a VR headset, select a show, and off you go! V-Armchair is a collision between several of my pastimes and passions: designing rides, riding rides, watching other people ride rides, watching TV, presenting TV, playing with technology, crossing genres and disciplines. But most of all: thrilling an audience with new ideas and experiences. Where...
VR Playground at Greenwich
We were swinging over the rooftops of London for three days, enjoying views from Greenwich hill. Our riders were set against a most dramatic series of backdrops: The Shard, St Paul's, The Gherkin, Canary Wharf, and The Dome. Our swing structures were sited to frame our riders and the view beyond. This is how our festival looked, with queue lines up...
VR Playground media coverage NNF 2017
A selection of broadcast TV and radio coverage of VR Playground at its premier during the launch of Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2017. https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=PL4slOqun1hZpIDhQ9pHJ9ss5aLssf_SPI&layout=gallery
VR Playground at Norfolk & Norwich Festival
During 17 days of continuous swinging around Norwich in May 2017, over five thousand riders (ranging from 11 to 101 years old - able and disabled) were excited to perform to a combined audience of over ten thousand spectators. These videos show typical rider responses... https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=PL4slOqun1hZrE-qbbRvSbqGwu1BzzxN0K&layout=gallery VR Playground played at 5 different venues around Norwich city, which included: Chapelfield Gardens (public...
VR Playground background
VR Playground is an experiential ride installation and public aerial performance by artist Brendan Walker and his Thrill Laboratory. In VR Playground, Walker propels riders through a series of colourful geometric virtual worlds, each driven by the action of swinging within a cubic structure. He crafts moments of wonder, awe and trepidation to elicit unexpected emotions, which are inadvertently...
