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Speaker Profile: Jan Wagner, Black Cell

Speaker Profile: Jan Wagner, Black Cell

Jan Wagner, Co-Founder at Black Cell, is one of 50 world-class VR, AR and MR speakers appearing at XR Connects London on the 22nd and 23rd January. To hear him speak in person, book your ticket now!

 

Q: What do you do?

A: I co-design and produce VR titles for Black Cell – most recently for StarVR and Imax Arcades. I also co-create board games (so I keep a grip on reality) and dabble in messenger platform gaming.

 

Q: What makes you most excited for VR, AR and MR?

A: The greatest thing about it is that we have not reached our potential by far. There is so much to learn, so much new thinking to do as opposed to the established and saturated mobile or console/PC game development. It feels like a new creative frontier we can push.

 

Q: What are your thoughts on the way the industry has grown in the last 12 months?

A: The growth has been slower than anticipated by many, so we entered into a negative expectation curve. But the valley of disappointment was a necessary step to get realistic about the current progress of the medium.

 

Q: What major trends do you predict for VR, AR and MR in the next 12 months?

A: I think last year’s trend will continue – we will see developers dropping VR and running for AR and MR with the same inflated hopes for the medium and we will see many poorly conceived AR apps appearing amongst a few shiny prototypes. But I also think we will as an industry learn more about the vocabulary of AR and VR and consolidate the quality of things we can put out.

 

Q: Which part of XR Connects London are you most looking forward to and why?

A: It will be great to share experiences with other developers – there is still so much to learn from everyone doing this, that it is always an inspiration to learn how others are approaching the technical and creative obstacles we all share!

 

Don’t miss your chance to hear Wagner share his insights on the future of VR beyond the spectacle of immersion and the technology itself, and how the XR industry may need to change the way it thinks about VR. Wagner’s XR Connects London session is at 10:20 on Monday 22nd January. Book your ticket now!

 

About The Speaker

Wagner started out in the industry 30 years ago, doing everything from production to design to brand management and customer support for over 100 titles such as Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3. He has successfully founded four companies in the sector and is now having to learn new things all over again, which he finds terribly exciting.

 

About XR Connects London

More than 500 XR delegates will gather at The Brewery on the 22nd and 23rd January for XR Connects London. Over the two days of the event, there will be 50 expert speakers addressing the key issues for the VR, AR and MR industry, from global trends and new tech to monetisation. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss out – get yours now!


Managing Editor

Steve is an award-winning editor and copywriter with nearly 25 years’ experience specialising in consumer technology and video games. He was part of a BAFTA nominated developer studio. In addition to editing TheVirtualReport.biz, Steve contributes to BeyondGames.biz, PocketGamer.biz, PCGamesInsider.biz and BlockchainGamer.biz, as well as creating marketing content for a range of SMEs and agencies.