Biometric Tech Tests Concert Fun Levels, St. Vincent Delivers

Live Nation, together with Cisco and TBD Labs, has found scientific, biometric proof that music shows are fun.

The companies arranged a St. Vincent concert in which attendees would all wear electroencephalogram (or ‘EEG’) headbands and skin sensors. These would measure listeners’ response to the performance in terms of brainwaves, galvanic skin response, and sweat levels.

As Fast Company reports, the sensors found that more than 90 percent of subjects became more attentive and engaged when the music started, and that on average the attendees experienced a 53 percent increase in “emotional intensity”.

There are limits to the scientific credibility of this study, of course. It’s in Live Nation’s interest, as a concert promoter, to find data confirming that concerts are really engaging. And there’s no telling how much of the audience’s response could be credited to Annie Clark, St. Vincent being one of the most compelling musical performers in the world. There was no control group testing audience responses to, say, Coldplay.

Still, even if music fans were already well aware that going to concerts is fun, it’s nice to see biometric data offering some backup to the claim.

Source: Fast Company

–

June 25, 2018 – by Alex Perala