TampaBay.com have up a new article on Guns N’ Roses and other artists using innovative technology to prevent fans from using their cell phones at concerts.
TampaBay.com wrote, “The tightest anti-cell security at Amalie Arena came in May 2015 for two performances by comedian Kevin Hart. The artist and venue hired around 30 additional ushers to patrol the aisles; those caught using a phone were ejected.
There may come a day when technology renders that extra manpower obsolete. A company called Yondr makes lockable pouches designed to keep phones out of fans’ hands. They’ve been used by artists like Guns N’ Roses, the Lumineers, Dave Chappelle and Tracy Morgan, who will deploy them at his Nov. 11 show at the Mahaffey Theater.”
“Etiquette and social norms around something radically new, like a smartphone — of course it’s going to take some time to develop,” said Yondr founder and CEO Graham Dugoni. “I think in the not-too-distant-future, people might look back and go, Of course you couldn’t have your phone out everywhere, all the time, recording everyone and anyone you want. The implications, socially and psychologically, are becoming apparent.”
In June, Apple applied for a patent on technology that would use infrared signals to temporarily disable a phone’s cameras “in areas where picture or video capture is prohibited.”
“Soon enough, they’ll have something where they can geofence an arena and squash everybody’s camera,” Preast said. “It’s not there yet, but once it happens, it’ll be a different way of protecting content, no different than the battles of iTunes and Pandora and Napster. … Certain bands might say, ‘If you don’t have this, we’re not coming.”
