5 Exciting Tech Solutions for Your Event

1. Drones

Drones are not just for film and photography; when illuminated with LED lights, they can offer a unique way to project images or serve as a creative alternative to fireworks. How so?

During the Lantern Festival in Guangzhou, southern China, 1,000 drones lit up the night sky in a record-breaking display. The drones flew in complex formations 100 meters above the central Haixinsha Square, creating images against the night sky backdrop, including a map of China, the Chinese character for "Luck," and a rooster to celebrate the start of the Year of the Rooster. The drones covered an area of 280x180 meters in the sky, breaking the world record for the most unmanned aerial vehicles in flight simultaneously.

The entire display was controlled from a single computer on the ground, from which the position and color of the drones were managed. An orchestra played festive music during the performance, making it an unforgettable experience for the audience.

2. PixMob LED Bracelets

Why just be an audience when every guest can be part of creating event magic? With LED bracelets on all event participants, a crowd-filled arena can suddenly become a stage, and spectators can become performers. The lighting on the bracelets is controlled by an IR signal (like a TV remote) directed at audience groups whose bracelets then light up according to a pre-programmed pattern.

With PixMob, a lighting designer can paint with light, creating patterns and interactive effects in the crowd. Waves of color washing over the audience or intricate designs – perhaps your company logo?

The bracelets aren't just for aesthetics and cool effects – they can also be used for smart logistical solutions. Imagine a large meeting with many parallel sessions. Instead of having to read an agenda, the information can be communicated to participants via the bracelets: everyone whose bracelet now lights up blue should go to meeting X, while everyone whose bracelet lights up green should go to Y. It can also be combined with silent meetings (read more below): everyone with a green light on their bracelet should tune in to channel 4 to listen to seminar Z.

3. Silent Meetings

Silent meetings create an interesting format with multiple meetings in the same room. Silent meetings are set up in an area, for example, in an exhibition hall where the audience can move between different stages and choose the presentation they want to listen to. Using headphones and an IR transmitter that sends out sound from the right speaker to the right audience, multiple meetings can take place in the same room without it becoming noisy. A smart solution for a large venue or a facility that lacks breakout rooms!

4. Tracking Event Attendees

Anonymous "tracking" solutions are often used in malls and shopping centers to measure customers' shopping behaviors. This can also be applied to trade shows and events when we want to know where participants go, their habits, and preferences. Which booths did they visit, where did they stop first, which booths attracted the most visitors, and in which areas was the flow the highest?

Surveillance cameras installed in exhibition halls for security purposes have been found to have additional uses. They allow exhibitors to monitor the traffic around and in their booth. Together with AI technology, surveillance cameras are used at airports. This technology can identify faces, recognize people, locate crowds, and inspect vehicles when necessary.

It has been possible to track event participants' movements before, but often they were required to download an app, turn on Bluetooth, and allow tracking. This demands quite a bit from the participant and creates obstacles that mean not everyone bothers. With cameras, the information is more readily available. The solutions can be anonymous or interactive (requiring the participant's opt-in approval).

5. Feedback Through Facial Recognition

Just as the above-mentioned technology can provide critical insights for a trade show or event where participants move around the venue, this facial recognition (facial tracking) can provide immediate feedback on what participants think of the program content in a lecture hall and what's happening on stage.

Disney, together with Caltech, has conducted studies using facial recognition, where an infrared, high-resolution camera filmed the movements and faces of the movie audience while they watched Disney films. By mapping and analyzing the facial movements, they could determine whether the audience smiled, laughed, or showed other emotional expressions, and thus determine which scenes were most successful with the viewers.

BBC has also used similar technology to find out how TV viewers react to trailers and programs in an effort to discover new hits like "Breaking Bad." Perhaps this will become standard in our TVs in the future, the next level of the Netflix feature that suggests what you might like to watch.

For events, facial recognition can not only be used for check-in or security control but also to gauge the mood among event participants. You no longer need to wait until after the event is over to send out surveys; with this technology, you can get immediate feedback on what participants think of the event and make on-the-spot adjustments to improve and ensure the event's success in real-time. What content engages – what do they like or dislike?

In a vote with button presses, participants can easily cheat or press the wrong button, but by reading their spontaneous facial expressions, you get to know their true opinions. Scary or cool? It depends on how dystopian you are.

Contact us at Blick to help plan your next event!