Speakers
Tupac Martir is an awarded, multi-disciplinary, digital artist with a portfolio that ranges from lighting design to performative reality using ad-hoc, fast-forward technological solutions in music, theatre, fashion, opera and exhibitions.
As a technology enthusiast from an early age, Tupac has led a team to become pioneers in Virtual Production debuting "Haita" at Sónar+D, lighting and visualisations for the European MTV awards and being part of TRANSMIXR, a 21 partner consortium across Europe that aims to create a range of human-centric tools for remote content production/consumption to name a few.
To find out more visit satorestudio.com
John studied Drawing & Painting and Electronic Imaging at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. Lives and works in Glasgow as 3d animator.
He has exhibited and screened media art work extensively in the UK and abroad, and has produced work for broadcast in UK for BBC2 and Channel 4. Recently screened 'The Fourth Planet' at Sonica festival in Glasgow.
His work makes extensive use of CGI, motion capture, and, lately, and is concerned with Human Utility in an age of Artificial Indifference.
To find out more visit jbutler160.wixsite.com
Jung In Jung is a sound artist and researcher whose practice explores the intersection of interactive dance performance, audiovisual art, and emerging technologies. Her work integrates interactive game technology, artificial intelligence, playful engagement, and embodied digital expression to create immersive and participatory experiences. Her projects have been showcased at numerous international conferences and festivals, including ISEA, Sonica, MIVSC São Carlos Videodance Festival, Athens Video Dance Project, and Vivarium Festival, among others. Jung is currently a Lecturer in Creative Computing at Abertay University. She also serves as a Co-Investigator at the CoSTAR National Lab (2023-2029), and was previously a Research Fellow at InGAME (2019-2024).
To find out more visit junginjung.com
Naman Merchant is a creative technologist and researcher whose work explores the convergence of real-time simulation, interactive media, and high-performance computing. His practice spans game development, immersive visualization, and collaborative digital art, often integrating distributed systems, agent-based modelling, and playful interaction to create dynamic and thought-provoking experiences. His projects have been featured in artistic and academic contexts, including Rhizoma, You Are Being Followed, and Dislectek. Naman is currently a Lecturer in the School of Design and Informatics at Abertay University, where he also contributes to interdisciplinary research in creative computing and simulation technologies.
To find out more visit abertay.ac.uk
Neil is Professor of Philosophy and XR Technology at the University of Glasgow, and founding Co-Director of Realities and Immersion Glasgow (RIG) - a new research centre for immersive realities. His philosophical background is in the metaphysics of causation on which he continues to write and teach. He chairs the operations board for the University's ARC-XR research facility, and is Principal Investigator for the Museums in the Metaverse project.
To find out more visit neilmcdonnell.org
Melissa Terras is Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, UK, and a leading researcher in Digital Humanities. She is a founding Director of Transkribus, the AI-powered platform for text recognition of historical documents (2019-). She is the Edinburgh Lead for the CoSTAR Realtime Lab (2023-2029) and prior to this she was Director of the Creative Informatics Cluster Programme (2022-2024). Her research interest is the digitisation of cultural heritage, including the mining, analysis and repurposing of digitised content. In 2024, Terras was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and an MBE for services to Digital Humanities in the New Year's Honours List 2025.
To find out more visit melissaterras.org
Hugh Topping is CTO and co-founder at Activity Stream.
Activity Stream is a leading provider of digital solutions for producers of ticketed events across more than 20 countries including Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Nimax Theatres and Nederlander Theatres in the West End, and the Shubert Organization's 17 theatres on Broadway. Its product and engineering hub is based in the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
To find out more visit activitystream.com
Andrew Girvan (Girv) is the Director of Product at Activity Stream. He played a key role in rebuilding the company's data infrastructure, Activity Stream Exchange, before officially joining the team following Activity Stream's acquisition of his startup, Scottie Technologies, in 2024.
Activity Stream provides a suite of tools designed specifically for live event producers to manage venues, grow audiences, and enhance the visitor experience. Serving over 600 clients across 20 countries - including Broadway, the West End, and major festivals - the company also partners with leading Scottish organisations such as the Edinburgh International Festival, Perthshire Box Office, and the Scottish Events Campus (SEC).
To find out more visit activitystream.com
Hannah Bishop is the Technical Project Manager at Activity Stream, where she leads ticketing partner integrations and delivers client data across the company's suite of tools. Before joining Activity Stream, she managed major data transformation projects for National Museums Scotland and Art Fund, building on earlier experience in ticketing and fundraising roles at museums and theatres across London and the South East of England.
To find out more visit activitystream.com
Kevin had a long and successful career with Sainsburys for 12 years in management, leadership and senior project management before joining the world of supporting start-up entrepreneurs. After joining Entrepreneurial Spark in 2015 he threw himself into the growth mindset world and demonstrated a passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed in their ventures.
After 2 years and 200+ businesses supported, it was time to join the amazing Scottish EDGE team, initially as Relationship Manager, and now COO.
To find out more visit scottishedge.com
Mark is the Creative and Cultural Strategy Manager at South of Scotland Enterprise with the responsibility of leading and enhancing the wealth of creative and cultural activity in the South of Scotland. Mark is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art and a published author of the Arduino Project Handbook series which combines creativity and technology by using simple coding to bring creative projects to life. He has worked in economic development for the past 20 years in local and national government developing strategies, initiatives and supporting business in the creative industries, tourism, and food and drink sectors.
To find out more visit southofscotlandenterprise.com
Pooja Katara is the founder and CEO of SENSEcity, an award-winning immersive design studio that brings cultural heritage to life through augmented reality. Since 2018, she has led projects across the UK with clients such as Historic Environment Scotland, City Sightseeing, and Belfast City Council, creating interactive storytelling experiences that connect people with place and memory.
Her flagship product, Historiscope, reimagines the traditional public viewing scope by using AR to reveal lost histories at heritage sites. Piloted at Stirling and Urquhart Castles, it has been experienced by over 150,000 visitors and is now expanding internationally.
Pooja's work has been supported by Innovate UK, Scottish EDGE, and EIT Digital, and showcased at major events like SXSW and Slush.
To find out more visit sensecity.co
Jade is the Founder and CEO at Wardog studios; an industry leading art studio based in Edinburgh, delivering AAA hardsurface asset development for games & film. Clients include: Treyarch, Bethesda, Square-Enix, Tripwire Entertainment, MachineGames, NetEase and more. Jade is a BAFTA-nominated Creative Lead with over a 18 years of experience in multi-discipline roles including concept art, art direction and marketing within the videogames and advertising industries. She has worked on a range of media IP including Marvel properties, Call of Duty, Star Wars and Predator.
To find out more visit wardog.co
Born in Lima, Peru, Alexander has travelled his entire life and has stories to tell. A classic third-culture child, he finally settled in the Sottish borders with his family and four children. He's been taking photographs since he was six, but formalised his love of the image in 2001 when he attended the London School of Printing and dove into image creation as a profession.
He set up New Light Studio as a Borders-based independent film company with a USP of producing long-form documentaries that focus on social, environmental and humanitarian issues. Credits include Brave Blue World (2019), Lava Bombs (2022) and Lava Bombs 2 (2025), with five new titles currently in development, including The Ultimate fire (a docudrama on fusion energy) and Aye Been Biking (a documentary on Innerleithen).
To find out more visit newlightstudio.co.uk
In a career stretching from advertising to AAA videogames to immersive technologies, Kristien is co-founder of immerzion Developments Ltd, a Borders-based consultancy focused on the creation of immersive experiences to revolutionise the way customers engage with brands, products and live events.
Kristien's current focus is Real-E-Racing, a software system which takes telematics from racing cars, creates a simulation of the race, and recreates it within Racing sim videogames to enable gamers to compete in the physical race, all in real time.
To find out more visit immerziondevelopments.com
Fiona Gillies worked extensively in Film & TV as an actor before becoming an independent film producer and, along with Christine Hartland and Mahesh Ramachandra, one of the co-founders of My SMASH Media.
My SMASH Media is an IP matchmaking platform for the Creative Industries, starting in film & TV. SMASH is like a dating app for creative projects. The platform provides Creators with pitch-building and IP protection tools and offers Industry Professionals a cost-effective and efficient way to discover innovative projects
To find out more visit mysmash.media
Katie works across My SMASH Media as a key member of the SMASHCupid team. She helps Creators develop their Pitches and submit to the right Callouts, and she guides Discoverers to the projects and storytellers that match their vision. She also supports the platform's marketing and product development.
My SMASH Media is an IP matchmaking platform for the Creative Industries, starting in film & TV. SMASH is like a dating app for creative projects. The platform provides Creators with pitch-building and IP protection tools and offers Industry Professionals a cost-effective and efficient way to discover innovative projects
To find out more visit mysmash.media
Led by Edinburgh Futures Institute, the fourth CreativeTech Scotland Gathering brings together creative tech and data-driven innovation practitioners from across the creative industries to share, network, showcase their work and explore innovation within creative technology.
This event is supported by Edinburgh Futures Institute.
