RFID wristbands have had a growing presence at music festivals over the last few years for a variety of purposes from ticketing to payments to social networking. So they've been going digital for quite some time. But digital wristbands are still an innovation, one to which concert goers are adjusting. Lollapalooza's introducing a new cashless payment system using wristbands connected to credit cards but it's an opt-in system. Tomorrowland is offering a social option with the ability to connect using wristbands if you've linked your Facebook account.
Lollapalooza Says Your Money's No Good Here
I guess they're not banning cash, not yet anyway, but Lollapalooza is introducing Lolla Cashless, a payment system using RFID-enabled wristbands:
"A small technology chip is embedded into the wristbands that concertgoers have to wear to enter Lollapalooza. Leading up to the event, attendees have the option to enter their credit card information once a bracelet is registered online."
"All of the restaurant and drink vendors will have point-of-sale systems set up so that users can tap the bracelets against a technology-enabled pad and type in a PIN code to pay for items. The payment is then automatically applied to a credit or debit card."
Apparently the system can also work offline by storing transaction info till the network is restored.
According to Lollapalooza's site you can register only one credit or debit card per wristband but you can link one card to multiple wristbands.
Tomorrowland Bracelet Activation
Judging by the calls to "unlock the happiness", "unleash all its magical power" and "celebrate the madness", this Tomorrowland Bracelet must be one heck of a contraption.
Tomorrowland attendees each get a treasure case in the mail which contains the magic bracelet.
The bracelet has two primary features:
Access, what used to be called ticketing, is provided to the festival and to the camp site if camping.
Social networking is the optional element that begins with linking one's Facebook account to the bracelet. One can then push a button to connect with other people nearby about whom you'll get an email with contact info, a Facebook account perhaps?
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