56 | New Scientist | 25 January 2020
The back pages Q&A
Thrill engineer Brendan Walker
designs fairground rides and
spine-tingling virtual reality
experiences – but says seeking kicks
isn’t just for adrenaline junkiesAs a child, what did you want to do
when you grew up?
A coal miner, a Red Devil with the British Army
skydiving team, an artist and then a surgeon. In a
way, they’re all about exploring the unknown.Explain your work in one easy paragraph.
I use strategies from the arts, design, engineering
and psychology to create emotional experiences, for
example for clients such as Nissan and Disneyland.
To do that, I sometimes think like a scientist,
as if I were conducting a controlled psychology
experiment, and other times laterally as an artist.How did you end up working in this field?
As a kid, I spent a lot of time trying to make
people laugh and feel happy. It thrilled me when I
succeeded, and it still does. I originally trained as an
aeronautical engineer, decided to leave my job to do
a foundation course in design and start following
my dream. I supported myself flipping burgers and
pulling pints – but I made it.What’s the secret to thrilling people?
There’s often a fixation on adrenaline junkies and
extreme thrill-seeking, but pleasure is equally as
important as arousal in creating a feeling of thrill.
Thrill is subjective, and most people can experience
the same amount of thrill as an adrenaline junkie
without going to extremes.What achievement are you most proud of?
My formula for thrill, published in The Taxonomy of
Thrill in 2004, which says you’ll maximise it if you
can create a huge, rapid rise in pleasure and arousal.
This remains my golden rule in thrill engineering.What scientific development do you hope
to see in your lifetime?
Personal electric flying machines.“ The apocalypse
might be a little
stressful, so
after it I’ll open
a theme park”
JO LONGHURSTIf you could send a message back to yourself
as a kid, what would you say?
“You might feel like you’re giving up art for science,
but you do find a way to combine them later in life.”
Ugh – I’d probably throw this message away,
thinking my dad had written it.Is there a discovery you wish you’d
made yourself?
Luigi Galvani discovered electricity could be used to
reanimate the legs of a recently deceased frog. It was
the birth of neurology (and a great party trick) and
also inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.If you could have a conversation with any
scientist, living or dead, who would it be?
I’d have a (responsible) drinking competition with
Leonardo da Vinci and Leon Theremin. They both
applied creative ingenuity to science and art alike.
I’d have to introduce them to Google Translate first,
which might blow their minds.What’s the most thrilling thing you’ve
worked on in your career?
I’ve worked on roller coasters and ejector seats for
Typhoon jets, but my first virtual-reality swing gave
me goosebumps. The screams as people felt like
they were swinging much higher than they were
made me realise I could create thrilling experiences
at a fraction of the cost of a new ride or jet plane.Do you have an unexpected hobby, and if so,
please will you tell us about it?
I’m training for my third dan black belt in Shotokan
karate, and have handled whippets at dog shows.What’s the best thing you’ve read or seen
in the past 12 months?
I read Richard Harris’s 1940 patent for a ride called
the Twister. He shows the different spirographic
movements riders will experience depending
on gear ratios. It’s exciting to see how he makes
connections between psychology and physics.How useful will your skills be after
the apocalypse?
The apocalypse might be a little stressful, so I’d open
the world’s first post-apocalyptic theme park.OK, one last thing: tell us something that
will blow our minds...
I have a defective D4DR gene that means I can’t
process dopamine as effectively as other people, and
need to go to greater extremes to sense pleasure or
be thrilled. I’m quite hard to buy for at Christmas. ❚Brendan Walker is director of the Thrill Laboratory
and professor of creative industries at Middlesex
University London