Boston Calling Music Festival monitored with facial recognition technology; Are electronic music events next?3 Boston Calling Logo 3

Boston Calling Music Festival monitored with facial recognition technology; Are electronic music events next?

There’s no denying that as the popularity of electronic music continues to increase, so will the amount of people attending various music festivals. This surge in turnout has had its fair share of benefits, from bigger venues, a better visual experience, and lineups that fans of every genre can enjoy. However, the spike in demand has also ushered in a number of unfortunate incidents, including a security guard being trampled at Ultra and the alarming number of hospitalizations and deaths that have been related to attending electronic music events.

Taking a hard-lined and maybe too intrusive approach, Boston Police have called upon facial recognition technology to monitor attendees at a local music festival. The technology, initially created by IBM, uses existing cameras within the vicinity to note the individual characteristics of people. The information was then sent to a central hub, where Boston Police and IBM staff could monitor the live stream and keep an eye out for any activity they deemed suspicious.

Granted, the event was the first of its kind since the horrific Boston Marathon bombings that claimed the lives of five people. However, the plethora of negative news that has hit the mainstream’s conciseness regarding electronic music events leaves little doubt this technology might be making its way into the biggest dance music festivals. Whether or not it could be used to prevent some of the recent unfortunate news remains a question without an answer, but the possibility remains that it could be an avenue that festival organizers and police will explore in the future.

Via: Dig Boston

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