Michael Eavis, congratulations on another storming Glastonbury! Secondly, thank you BBC for ensuring I can enjoy all the great acts without having to put up with the downsides of being a festival-goer.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have already made their way Worthy Farm.
This year saw EE unveil its 4G tent. This allows festival-goers to see acts on the various stages and leave items in the tent unattended guarded by cameras. Users can log in to check on the status of their items.
But why stop there?
Here are some suggestions from GlobalData’s Internet of Things Innovation Tracker of game-changing projects which could make Glastonbury 2018 even better.
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By GlobalDataSmart loos
Let’s start with an obvious one. The states of the toilets at festivals are infamous thanks to the crowd’s appetite for mobile food stands. One bad falafel can see a rush on the potties.
Staff at Glastonbury could react in real-time, servicing commodes based on footfall with sensors anonymously monitoring the number of people who have visited with the ‘Smart Loo’ technology used at Heathrow Airport.
Furthermore, echoing the operations at the airport, if sensor was to inform them that a particular unit has not been used for some time, this could indicate a problem that requires more than just a cleaning…
Pour your own beer
This might make the portaloos worst, but both the queues and cost of drinks can be sky high at festivals.
In any business, staffing costs are a significant element of prices. And with over 200,000 visitors, waiting at the bar is inevitable.
Allowing punters to pour their own beer could mitigate costs and queues.
Installed at The Tavern, RFID tagged glasses let customers automatically pour their own drinks.
Of course, after a long day of enjoying themselves festival goers might forget to pay. With personal RFID glasses and app-based authentication, Glastonbury doesn’t need to worry about covering the tab.
The crowds and the queues
Other outdoor events have been quick to embrace IoT for managing their own crowds.
Some of the UK’s largest sporting venues use Triple Jump Technologies’ solution to redirect ticket holders to quieter kiosks, towards under performing target products and to promote special offers.
Sport fans attending Twickenham and Wembley are directed around the stadiums using analytics, data and big screens. Meaning visitors spend more time enjoying what their tickets paid for.
For Glasto, this could be extended to directing visitors to lesser known acts and promoted stalls.
Finding your friends
The sleepy village of Glastonbury swells in size to approach the UK’s 30th largest city; bigger than major cities like Aberdeen, Oxford and Swansea.
If you lose your friends, accept you’ll meet them at the tent by the end of the night.
Hospitality companies have been exploring IoT in the form of guest tracking wearables.
Carnival is to deploy a Bluetooth passenger pendant across its cruise fleet from late 2017. The cruise operator and passengers will be able to track passengers around the ship.
Similar wearables would allow festival goers to discover that their friends are at the fringe before braving the Pyramid Stage crowds.
Beating the weather
For once, festival-goers escaped Glastonbury’s legendary mud bath.
It’s not just Glastonbury which has to contend with the weather. Many businesses have looked to combine meteorological sensor data to optimise their operations.
For Glastonbury this could mean dynamically switching line ups in the face of the down pours or even modifying stall merchandise based on upcoming systems.
The Washington State Ferry System combines boat tracking data with weather information so that there isn’t a single delay causing dramatic concern for thousands of commuters.
Whether it’s the festival’s roadies or attendees, dynamically modifying provisioning could ensure a optimised experience for all involved.
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