Page 117 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

so as to receive relevant noti cations, connect to your account (you therefore need to register) and the payment wristband (a wearable that will be discussed in due course, a trend that festivals are increasingly adopting), synchronise with your Facebook and Twitter pro les if you wish, and con gure friends (social media contacts who are also attending), including the option of being informed when they leave the festival.Bluetooth is used to receive ‘relevant’ noti cations from beacons (we will examine this technology in due course) in relation to the visitor’s location.Another positive feature is that the application begins by explaining the bene ts of the service and allowing users to enable these options (which are in opt-out position by default), as these functions consume quite a lot of battery power and are related to data monitoring (which we will also discuss in another chapter).Unlike other apps that redirect you to an external website for additional information (such as the Tomorrowland app for eating), here festival goers can tag their favourite artists, add a particular gig to their personal agenda (the Coachooser) featured in the app and even tag their favourite food stalls or attractions, and add tags to a map (where the festival marks a few places that could be of interest). It even includes information and the timetables of the shuttles that connect the various Coachella spaces.The app has even more possibilities, all centred on enriching and facilitating the experience of a festival where a lot goes on and there are plenty of leisure options.10 It also lets you see what your contacts and friends are going to do and view updates on the festival’s social media sites.In view of all these possibilities and options,the most important feature is that the app is structured around the eight options on the dropdown menu: Lineup for everything related to the schedule, Map for locating places instantly,Wristband Activation for checking the status of the payment wristband, Shuttle, Eat and Drink, and Fun & Essentials for leisure, hygiene or merchandise, News & Social, and My Account for con guring the account.Apart from this app, Coachella Festival has another, Coachella Explorer, which can only be used with Google virtual reality headsets (Google Cardboard, which interestingly are DIY). We will examine this system later on in the section on Other technologies.As can be seen, apps o er a host of possibilities, all geared to improving visitors’ experiences even just before the festival. They go further than festival programmes. They enable visitors to manage and organise their experience, discover complementary activities and add information layers that would probably have taken up too much space or simply could not have been included in a printed programme.To develop an app, however, it is necessaryto have a budget for hiring designers and developers and a very clear idea of its intended use, the desired objectives and the content to be emphasised. And it should be designed from the visitor’s viewpoint (What information will they need? What information will they want to access? What obstacles might they encounter before and during the festival with respect to information and how could they be overcome? Will they go alone or with someone else? What other experiences could they come away with, such as meeting people with similar tastes, and how can we help them do so?).A slow, heavy app that does not help people nd the most important information will discourage visitors from acquiring it. As the organisers of the San Sebastián International Film Festivaltell us, they are aware that not all attendees download the app, but the results (includingthe fact that it enhances visitor experience and receives positive comments and reviews) make it worthwhile.AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2016117Focus: Use of New Digital Technologies at Cultural Festivals