Page 136 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

136In 2012 the function of connecting bands to Facebook was added for the express purpose of encouraging and allowing festival goers to automatically update their social media by indicating which concert they were at and where, in order to help them nd out if any of their contacts were also at the festival, for example.66To implement this function, the festival’s designers devised a shortcut consisting of various types of posts67 equipped with RFID readers, which read the frequency of every wristband linked to a speci c and personal Facebook pro le.68 Live Click Stations wereset up solely for the purpose of generating an automatic message in users’ personal accounts indicating the area or concert they were at. If, instead, they fancied sharing a photo of the moment, they could go up to one of the Live Photo Stations, which automatically took photos with their inbuilt cameras, and share them by swiping their band over the sensor.Bonnaroo therefore allows us to trace the development of this type of technology and its potential uses at festivals. At the latest edition it evolved into a wristband that could be used for cashless payments and be connected to the app. This calls for a comprehensive design in which all the technological devices are based around the visitor’s identity and actions.What is more, to speed up the access and identi cation processes at the start of the festival, the organisation sends future attendees their wristbands beforehand69 and asks them to log onto the site and provide information (to link the wristband code and the ticket code to their own registration information) through the website or the app.On arriving at the festival, all they need to do is validate the wristband in a matter of seconds and start enjoying the experience (it should be remembered that more than 80,000 people attend). With everything connected and withthe additional aid of the beacons installed in the festival grounds, people can use their mobiles to share their location and geolocate themselves inside the festival, pay, etc. In short, it uni es the various processes into a single one, so that everything runs more smoothly.70At Coachella Festival, RFID-enabled wristbands have been used in a very similar manner to Bonnaroo. The organisers began employingthe access control version in 2012, and by 2015 they were using them for the same purposes as Bonnaroo, incorporating them into the cashless system, in the festival’s app, and adding social networking features. They also mailed the wristbands to festival goers weeks in advance in an attractive box complete with an instruction manual and tips for enjoying the festival.71A particular feature in 2014 was that the wristbands also incorporated a new optionwith Spotify. Every time users checked in at a new concert stage (using one of the devices at the entrance to these areas), they connected with their Spotify account they had previously synched to the festival and the following day Spotify provided them with a playlist of the songs performed at the concert they had attended.Here, as at other festivals, future visitors are warned of the problems that may be caused by purchasing tickets from unknown third parties/ scalpers, as every wristband that is sent is partially associated with the ticket (each band with its RFID has a unique code).The Belgian festival Tomorrowland introduced RFID-enabled wristbands in 201372 solely for gaining access to the grounds and to the various areas. In 2014 it added two new functions: cashless payments, as we have seen at other festivals, and a small heart-shaped button allowing festival goers who met during the festival to add each other as Facebook friends.73To do so the two people who wished to add each other as friends had to hold their2. NT BEFORE AND DURING THE FESTIVALFocus: Use of New Digital Technologies at Cultural Festivals