Brendan Walker

Brendan Walker is a Thrill Engineer and Founder and Creative Director of Studio Go Go, creating immersive rides that combine physical motion with extraordinary digital worlds. His commercial work spans attraction design and consultancy for organisations including Merlin Entertainments and Disneyland Paris.

Through Thrill Laboratory, Brendan combines creative experimentation with psychophysiological research, exploring how people’s emotional experiences relate to measurable bodily responses—and how those insights can inform the design of attractions. This exploration of design and human emotion, also the subject of his Royal Institution discourse on the art and science of thrill, underpins Studio Go Go’s approach. Its patented technology transforms familiar rides, including playground swings, into journeys through imagined worlds, bringing new creative and commercial possibilities to attractions, cultural venues and public spaces.

Brendan is Professor of Creative Industries at Middlesex University. He previously held positions as Senior Research Fellow in Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art and Principal Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Laboratory, researching human–computer interaction. His work connects academic enquiry with the practical business of creating experiences that move people, physically and emotionally.