If you plan on attending a music festival this year, consider using wearable tech to maximize your concert experience. These devices offer convenience for attendees, provide important data to sponsors, and deliver an improved experience for everyone involved.
These wearable devices look like regular wristwatches, making them less intimidating than other tech gadgets. They also have simple functions, such as reminders to reapply sunscreen.
A smartwatch is essentially a mini computer resembling a traditional wristwatch. It allows the wearer to connect to their smartphone or other device via Bluetooth and extend many of its functions. These include taking calls and text messages, monitoring your heart rate, tracking activity, playing games and more. The biggest brands like Apple, Garmin, and Samsung all offer a wide range of smartwatches that are designed to suit the needs of specific users.
For instance, a fitness-oriented model may feature a built-in GPS so that you can monitor your speed and distance while hiking or running. Some models also track the number of steps you take, the calories you burn and your heart rate. Specialized smartwatches, such as those designed for people with chronic medical conditions, can keep a close eye on your health and wellness levels by continuously monitoring important indicators. For example, a recent Apple Watch can even detect when you fall and automatically summon emergency help.
Smartwatches also make it easy to keep up with notifications and messages without having to take out your phone. You can receive texts, emails and even caller ID, and a lot of models come with quick music access so you can quickly browse, pause, play and rewind your tunes. You can even find smartwatches with voice support that lets you ask a digital assistant a question and get an instant, hands-free answer.
Keeping up with your social media is easy, too, with most smartwatches featuring apps such as Spotify, WhatsApp and NS Reisplanner, as well as the option to download additional applications through their respective app stores. You can even use your smartwatch to pay for items, with many models allowing you to add your credit card for easy and secure payments.
A smartwatch can also be useful at a festival to keep track of the day’s schedule or to look up directions. Some models are equipped with a built-in speaker, which makes it possible to hear important announcements while you’re on the move. Many of these watches also have a map function that can show you the best route to your next destination, making them a good choice for exploring new areas on foot.
Lightwave
In the world of wearables, there are plenty of high-tech devices that can track your heart rate or your fitness level. But the startup Lightwave takes a much more entertaining approach to this emerging technology. The company has developed a wristband that allows musicians to see how their audience is reacting to their shows. The wristband gathers data on things like movement, temperature, and audio levels. This information is transmitted to the performer, who can then use it to enhance their show. The system was recently showcased at the Pepsi Bioreactive Concert deejayed by A-Trak. Attendees donned sensor-equipped wristbands, which sent their body temperature and audio and motion levels to the Lightwave system, which created a visualization of each attendee as a pixel, while also triggering confetti and smoke machines and unlocking boozy prizes for the top dancers.
The data was collected using a combination of low-energy Bluetooth and radio signals, depending on the size of the event. The host can choose to link this info to demographics, and Pepsi asked attendees for their gender, age, hometown, and account name. Guests can also share their personal data on social media, and the data can be analyzed after an event to determine which parts of a performance got the most reaction from attendees.
LightWave 3D is a computer graphics software program that was originally created for broadcast visual effects, though it has since gained popularity in areas like motion graphics, architectural renderings, video game development, virtual production, music videos, and pre-visualizations. It was used extensively in the production of TV shows such as Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, and Lost, and feature films including Sin City, 300, and Avatar. The software’s development seemed to ebb and flow through the 2000s, with a lull in activity after original developer NewTek was bought by real-time graphics firm Vizrt in 2020.
Now, however, a group of users is trying to revive the software and bring it back to its former glory as a state-of-the-art 3D animation package. Earlier this week, a Facebook group dedicated to the effort launched a Discord server with a message titled ‘Welcome to the Future of LightWave 2020!’
Wearable Payments
As the world becomes more connected to technology, wearables are becoming increasingly popular. They can help us stay on top of our health and fitness, keep up with news and weather updates, and even make payments. However, there are some risks associated with wearing these devices. For example, if your device is lost or stolen, it can be used to perform unauthorised transactions or steal personal information. While some devices have remote data-erasing features, these are usually ineffective against professional cybercriminals. Another issue is the possibility of technical malfunctions, which can cause a loss of funds or lead to financial disputes.
Unlike traditional credit or debit cards, which require users to fish them out of their wallets and hand them over at checkout, wearable payments work by tapping the wearer’s wrist against the contactless terminal. This is much faster and more convenient than the process of digging out a card, which can be time-consuming and inconvenient for the consumer. Wearables also offer more security than traditional payment methods. Because the wearable device holds tokenized information instead of actual card data, it’s less susceptible to hacking and fraud.
Consumers are prioritizing speed and convenience during the coronavirus pandemic, making wearables a convenient choice for fast and easy checkout. They also allow for no-contact transactions, which are especially valuable during the pandemic.
Wearables are also a great way to make payments without the need for a smartphone or a wallet. These devices use near field communication (NFC) technology to connect with the payment terminal and authenticate the purchasing party. The NFC chip in the wearable is connected to the wearer’s bank account, so it can only be used by that person.
In India, the Titan and Axis banks have launched wearables that enable consumers to pay for goods and services by swiping their wristbands on a point-of-sale machine. Both companies have partnered with retailers to make the product available for customers. The Axis Bank wearable, called Wear n’ Pay, is a wristband with a built-in contactless chip that can be swiped on a payment terminal to make a transaction.
Smart Maps
In addition to the convenience and utility of wearable payment technology, smart maps can provide valuable insights for event organizers. For example, they can show how long people spend at a particular booth or sponsored area. Using this data, organizers can make adjustments to improve the event experience. For example, a booth that is not popular among attendees can be moved to another location.
Smart maps use durable forms of caches by default. They add these caches at initialization and persist them when a new variation of the Smart Map is created. These caches can be accessed from the Clojure Datafy / Navigate protocol.
Buildings on the smart map are depicted as polygons with four edges. They are designed to be as realistic as possible, with the ability to adjust their position, size, dimensions, and angles. You can also change their name and move them to a different place on the screen.
The features of smart maps vary, but they all share a common theme: They are automated and self-evaluate with respect to a given objective. These attributes include the ability to sense the context, adapt content, and present information in a clear, understandable way. They also allow users to interact with the data and create meaningful stories.
Compared to legacy maps, smart maps provide more visual feedback to the user. For example, a smart map can display a live video feed of cameras located at different places. This can help festival attendees find the right place to go, saving time and effort. It can even help organizers improve their security strategy by alerting them to potential threats or anomalies.
A smart map can also help festival attendees avoid the hassle of crowded, noisy and confusing lines. It can be used to scan tickets or even enter the venue, speeding up the process of movement inside. This allows attendees to relax and enjoy the show without worrying about getting lost or being late. In addition, it can also save on the cost of printing and distributing paper maps. Moreover, it can also help event sponsors and exhibitors measure the success of their campaigns.