James owns a creative technology company, Copper Candle, which specialises in creating digital pre visualisations for theatre and entertainment, as well as creating XR location-based experiences and digital content. They are pioneering the development of metaverse live events and their innovative product range is allowing them to bring the world’s first live, virtual venue to market using existing live events technology. He is pioneering the development of virtual production sets using VR and MR technology and is developing the industry’s use of more advanced 3d visualisation processes. His research for this is being supported through his PhD, which he is undertaking with Rose Bruford College and University of East London. James writes for several journals and publications, sharing his research and the latest digital practices in theatre and live events. He has a regular column on future technology where he shares his discoveries in science and tech and analyses how they will affect the events industry.