Museums+Tech 2026 — Using our spaces for authentic interactions
Friday November 27 2026
M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Rd, Bristol, BS1 4RN
2026’s theme
Place is central to museums. Some are sited and help tell the story of a place, while others serve their communities by reflecting local histories, identities and experiences. Museums can foster belonging, offer spaces for connection and reflection, and create opportunities to engage with collections, society and one another.
Yet digital technology has transformed our relationship with place. Many of the communities we belong to are no longer defined by geography alone. What does this mean for museums and the stories they tell? How has digital changed the museum experience and our interactions with collections in-person and online?
As these interactions evolve, so too do questions of audiences, authenticity and engagement. Who is the museum visitor today, and can a meaningful relationship exist entirely online? Can digital enhance authenticity, deepen connections with objects and stories, and create new forms of interaction? As museums adapt to the digital age, they continue to explore what meaningful engagement really looks like.
As always through the conference we want to stimulate reasoned debate, as we are all a community here to discuss and build consensus. The MCG’s annual conference attracts speakers and participants from some of the most innovative cultural organisations, agencies and university programmes in the world. Want to join us? Grab your tickets below.
You can book your tickets here.
Programme
With special thanks to Numiko, Manifesto and Substrakt for sponsoring this year’s Museums+Tech conference.
9:00 – 9:50 Registration
10:00 Welcome address
10:10 Session 1: The power of the personal – augmenting our experiences
- Sponsor Talk: Numiko (10 mins)
- When Visitors Can Ask Anything. Eamon Byrne, Tell me AI, and Graham Davies, Amgueddfa Cymru
- From Curious Conversations to Conversational Agent Design: Learning Conversational Interaction Patterns from Dialogic Heritage Tours. Tianxiao Wang, PhD Researcher, Imperial College London
- The Perfect Blend – human led, digital assisted experiences. Noah Burrows, Head of Client & Visitor Experience Innovation, ATS-Heritage
- Digital as a Doorway: What museum learning can teach us about access and authentic engagement. Katya Provornaya, Communications & Participation Manager, GEM
11:30 Keynote TBA
12:15 Lunch & Museums Computer Group AGM
13:00 Session 2: Built in – understanding and creating impact in our spaces
- Sponsor Talk: Manifesto (10 mins)
- Here’s Looking at You: Observations of Digital Interactions at the Weston Library, Oxford. Emily Fildes, Digital Engagement and Website Manager, Bodleian Libraries
- Rethinking content management on gallery displays at Bristol Museums. Mike Ellis, Founder, The Museum Platform
- Saving Time, Improving Accessibility: Using AI to Produce High Quality Audio Descriptions. Paul Goddard, Lecturer, University of the West of England and Cardiff University
- Why Place Still Matters: Creating Authentic Interactions in a Digital Age. Theresa Macaulay, Digital Experience Producer, Science Museum Group
14:30 Break
15:10 Session 3: The Virtual Place
- Authentic Access to a City’s Memory. Tristan Roddis, Technical Director, Cogapp
- Building the University of Bristol’s Virtual Museum. Stephen Gray, Head of Research Support, University of Bristol
- What do audiences want from a collections website in the age of AI? Alix Geddes, Senior Content Analyst and Beth Downs, Content Analyst, One Further
16:15 Closing Session: MCG List Live
- MCG List Live
- Sponsor talk: Substrakt (5 mins)
16:45 Chair’s closing address
17:15 Post-conference drinks
- Sponsored by Substrakt, venue TBC
