In a digital world, why are shared experiences becoming more valuable?

From stadiums and immersive theatre to museums and concerts, Alex Wills explored the growing demand for experiences we share in person – and the complexity of creating them well.

When so much entertainment, shopping and social life happens through screens, the appeal of being together in a room can feel stronger than ever.

At Future Forum, Alex Wills, Co-Founder of Interval, mapped the changing world of live experience design. His examples ranged from major concert tours and the Las Vegas Sphere to theatre, theme parks and sports stadiums.

More than a bigger screen

Technology makes extraordinary spectacles possible, but Wills argued that the most effective experiences are not simply demonstrations of equipment. They use technical possibilities in service of an emotional or narrative purpose.

He praised theatre where advanced visuals are integrated into the storytelling, rather than competing with it. The distinction matters: what audiences remember is often how an experience made them feel and who they shared it with.

The reinvention of physical spaces

Wills described sports venues evolving beyond occasional fixtures into destinations capable of hosting concerts, other events and community activities. The financial incentives are significant: major venues need to be useful more often than a traditional match schedule allows.

But flexible, technologically advanced buildings create new challenges. Organisations can invest heavily in construction and screens without sufficiently planning how the experience will actually be delivered day after day.

Operational teams, content systems, maintenance and audiences with different needs have to be considered from the beginning.

Designing for connection

The presentation also explored the growth of immersive attractions and the crossovers between sectors that once operated separately. Ideas developed for music tours increasingly inform exhibitions, live sport and new entertainment spaces.

Wills returned to curiosity as an essential design principle. The next opportunity may come not from adding the newest technical feature but from asking what a place enables people to do together.

That approach connects directly to Future Forum’s wider purpose. Shared experiences are not simply an escape from digital life. They can create the circumstances in which people encounter something unexpected, feel part of a community and leave with a different perspective.

In an increasingly personalised world, perhaps one of the most valuable things we can design is somewhere to be together.