The new phenomenon of crowdshaping could
completely transform the way events happened, and even transform our world and
the way we live. The crowshaping is the use of technologies to collect data
about individuals and the way they act, their movements, their emotions,
physiological metrics etc. To better understand this phenomenon, we can take
the example of the 2014’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. This event was a hybrid event,
with half part that was an electronic dance party, and the other half was an
experiment. When attendees arrived at the event, a bracelet was given to them.
The only rule of the event is that they should keep the bracelet during all the
event. This bracelet could measure key physiological metrics as for example,
movements, heart rate, galvanic skin responses etc. With the help of this
bracelet, the event organizers could collect data and manage in real time the
event according to it, to enhance the experience deliver to the attendees.
“This is really about increasing audience joy and emotional engagement”. For
example if they have information that people are very hot, they could
distribute drinks.
We can consider the crowdshaping
as the child of the crowdsourcing. In fact the crowdsourcing has some limits
because it needs the volunteer participation of people, and their opinions are
not always the trust reflect. The crowdshaping, use a technology that doesn’t
ask for any involvement from the attendees just to be present, hence the number
of data collected are much more important and reliable. So this phenomenon
could really be a new emerging trend.
The crowdshaping has also been
used for current life interest. In fact the current work about the traffic in
Berlin used this technology with data of location collected thanks to the
smartphones. It deliver information about the intensity of the traffic
depending on the day, the time of the day, the period of the year etc. This
data would enable to reshape the bus system and to make the road less crowded,
hence enhance the life well-being of Berlin inhabitants. It could also been
used in fast-foods for example to analyze the face of people eating to discern
their emotions with the “Emotient” technology that analyze faces (market
research 3.0). Also it could be used in plane with equipped seat for example to
adapt the temperature, the light etc.
This technology could have major
evolution and could be use broadly, but we can ask about the privacy of life
issue. In fact it could be a very intrusive way to collect data, as the
location information thanks to individuals’ smartphones. But it seems that
people are more and more accustomed to share their data with the world.
According to us, this new
phenomenon could really enhance the experience of attendees during the event,
as it enable the event organizers to have information in real time about people
preferences, interests, attitudes, emotions etc. They could adapt and manage
the event directly and depending on the attendees profile for several days-events
for example. And what make the success of an event is the level of satisfaction
of attendees and if their expectations are fulfill or not.
Furthermore, it is a much more
reliable tool than questionnaires for example that are often not a good representation
of the trust. People often don’t give their real feelings to be nice, or
because they don’t want to take the time. With crowdshaping people just act
normally, they are not “forced” to gives their impressions and feelings. But we
can ask if people are aware that they are “evaluated” in real time, would they
continue to act as normally? It is a point that we have to discover with the development
of this trend.
Concerning the privacy of life,
in fact it could be intrusive and, if the technology aim is only to use
anonymous data useful for the enhancement of the event experience, it could
lead to many derives. In fact they could be victim of hacking for example, or even the technology leaders could have bad
intentions, or be in relation with the police services. When it is only the use
of a bracelet like for the SXSW Festival, there is no risk; But when the
technology use smartphones’ data, it is not completely safe. But as we live in
a high technology world were we share more and more information, people are
more and more familial with this kind of technologies.
To conclude, crowdshaping could
really become the future of the event industry as people want more and more
experience and customize events. But as people always want more and the
evolution of information technologies is exponential, we could ask what would
be the next stage? A chip in our brand? Only the future will answer this
question.
Marine Pelletier & Marion Mortier
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