WilhelmGerner

Unity / VR / XR Software Developer

Wilhelm Gerner Building Virtual Worlds

Find out who I am, what I do and how I can assist you as a software developer. From real-time body tracking and VR animation tools to robotics interfaces and XR training systems — I turn ambitious XR ideas into working software.

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13+XR & game projects
2Degrees in VR / XR
8XR headsets shipped on
XR2ACH — multi-user VR training: avatars working together on a virtual compressor XR2ACH — Research Project Unity · XR Training · Hochschule Karlsruhe — 2025+

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Quick profile: Unity/C# · VR/XR · research experience · based in Karlsruhe · direct contact.

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My Journey

From Cologne to a research lab

The stations that turned a passion for gaming and fantasy worlds into a career in VR and XR development — from the first lines of C# to XR research in Karlsruhe.

From the domestic nest of Cologne out into the world

My journey began in Cologne, my cherished hometown, with the desire to transform my passion for gaming and fantasy worlds into more than just a hobby. And if you believe in what you are doing, you can achieve great things. I embarked on a path that was unknown to me at this time, which has since evolved into a potentially global adventure.

Find out more about me, my values, and my attitude — and let's discover together how I can best assist you and your ideas to get the best value for you.

About me
Wilhelm Gerner in his hometown Cologne

Bachelor of Science in "Virtuelle Realitäten" in Heidelberg

After high school, I headed to the renowned and charming city of Heidelberg along with its university SRH. There, I acquired all the essential foundations in C# programming and VR development, as well as I took my first steps in Unity. My time in Heidelberg was wonderful and provided the perfect kickoff for my career.

Bachelor Projects
SRH Hochschule Heidelberg — SRH Tower / Science Park

From south to north: Master of Science in "Digital Reality" at Hamburg

After earning my Bachelor's degree, I decided to switch to the well-known HAW University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, located in the northern part of Germany.

We all have our strengths, and I honed mine during my Master's in Digital Reality. With my assistance, you can focus more on your strengths. Take a look at the projects that shaped my time in Hamburg.

Master Projects
HAW Hamburg — Finkenau Campus

After the Master: research becomes reality

In February 2025, my next chapter began at Hochschule Karlsruhe: as academic staff on the XR2ACH research project, I build XR training environments that prepare real technicians for real machines.

The academic career really doesn't seem to want to get rid of me — and this time, I'm perfectly fine with it.

Explore XR2ACH
XR2ACH — leak detection training inside the virtual garage

Chapter 2025

After the Master: Building XR for Real-World Training

  • Hochschule Karlsruhe
  • Academic Staff
  • Feb 2025 — end of 2027
  • XR2ACH

In February 2025, my next chapter began at Hochschule Karlsruhe. There, I work as academic staff on a research project that treats XR not as a gimmick, but as a real learning and training environment for vocational education.

Until the end of 2027, I am working in Karlsruhe on turning research visions into immersive, interactive and practice-oriented learning worlds — for the people who keep refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technology running.

Explore XR2ACH
XR2ACH — multi-user VR training on a virtual compressor

Project Gateway

Entering the project space

Every project below is a station on the same journey: from first Unity experiments through award-winning VR prototypes to research-grade XR training systems. Step through.

My Portfolio

Selected projects

Three highlights from my work — from my master's thesis on VR animation to an award-winning shopping mall simulator.

Master's Thesis

AnimVRig 2.0

Unity Animation Tool based on Unity Movement SDK for Quest 3

This thesis investigates the development of a VR animation tool in Unity, utilizing real-time body tracking to dynamically adapt rigged objects to user movements. The prototype, AnimVRig Version 2.0, integrates the Unity Movement Package and GameObjectRecorder, offering a flexible and accessible solution for real-time animation customization within the Unity engine, suitable for both experienced developers and beginners.

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AnimVRig 2.0 — VR animation tool with real-time body tracking in Unity

Master Project

Japan Quest

VR Educational Language Learning Game

I am delighted to share one of my favorite projects. In the 'Advanced Programming' course, we were tasked with deepening our knowledge of Unity. This presented a unique opportunity for me to achieve two goals simultaneously: I delved further into the intricacies of the Hurricane VR Toolkit, explored animations in Unity and engaged with sophisticated programming structures resembling a quest system — while pursuing a personal interest, deepening my understanding of the Japanese language.

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Japan Quest — VR language learning game with anime-style world design

Award-Winning Bachelor Project

VRHorizon

Infinite walking through a 639 m² virtual shopping mall

In virtual environments users can move almost infinitely while actually staying within a small area in real space. This shopping mall simulator — developed with five team members as our final bachelor project — enables infinite motion in 3D within a 639 square meter virtual space, despite the constraints of a 5 × 5 meter VR sensor range, allowing players to freely explore multiple floors of a meticulously designed shopping mall.

Presented at CHI PLAY '20: The Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play.

Show project
VRHorizon — virtual shopping mall simulator with infinite walking

More Work

Explore all projects

All Bachelor Projects All Master Projects

Other Informations

Research, industry & community

XR2ACH — multi-user VR training session with avatars around a virtual compressor

XR2ACH — Hochschule Karlsruhe

My current chapter: as academic staff I develop immersive XR learning environments for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technology — from singleplayer world building to training logic.

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Fraunhofer CML — VR interface development for the Boston Dynamics Spot robot

Fraunhofer CML

During my Master's degree, I had the honor of working as a student assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute — Unity3D and XR development, hand tracking and a VR interface for Boston Dynamics' Spot robot.

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Airbus Defence and Space — Mixed Reality development with Microsoft HoloLens

6-Month Internship — Airbus Defence and Space

I completed my Bachelor's degree with an internship at Airbus. I had the chance to work with the Lenovo Explorer and the HoloLens. Due to company policies and confidentiality agreements, I am unable to provide further details.

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Meta x nextReality.Hamburg Hackathon 2024 — XR V-Commerce prototype on Meta Quest 3

Meta x nextReality.Hamburg e.V. Hackathon (2024)

An enterprise V-Commerce prototype for the Deutsche Telekom challenge on Meta Quest 3: the user takes on the role of a salesperson in a Telekom store and serves virtual customers.

Read more →

> vibe_coding --with architecture

The age of pure clockwork is over. I treat AI as an amplifier, not a replacement — generated code still needs someone who understands, steers and architects it.

Read my full take on AI & Vibe Coding →

Signal detected

Something is building in the background

Private Projects are where my technical curiosity leaves the academic roadmap and starts exploring its own direction — at the intersection of XR, AI, robotics, nature and movement.

Enter the space →

Let's build something in XR together

Whether it's Unity development, VR animation, body tracking or robotics interfaces — I'm happy to hear about your project.

Contact me