JUNE | TRENDING
How Coachella
elevates technology
Guest writer Richard Dodgson, founder &
creative director, Timebased Events, says
Coachella is leading the way for festivals
T
he 20th edition of the famous
Coachella Festival closed
with over 250,000 people
descending on Indio, California
for two long weekends of music,
fashion and ground-breaking
technology. Each year, Coachella
brings something new to the festival
scene, such as the notable ‘break the
internet’ moment in 2012 where a
holographic Tupac appeared on stage.
Following this, every year they bring
something completely new to the
table and this year was no different.
This year seemed to be focused
on technology you can access in the
palm of your hands through your
smartphone. The Coachella app has
been around since 2016 but is being
improved every year to fully integrate
it into the festival experience with
the use of new technologies, such
as augmented reality (AR). AR is
becoming increasingly popular and
this year Coachella used it to add an
immersive and engaging dimension
to its popular Sahara Tent stage.
Audience members could use
their phones to see a new side to the
spaced-themed stage. Through the
app, they audience members had
access to a ‘Coachella camera’ that
included AR features that react and
change based on the different audio
coming from the speakers during
14
musicians’ sets. It is not only during
the sets where this feature could be
used either, with attendees able to
entertain themselves during waiting
times with various intergalactic
objects visible through the camera,
such as astronauts and satellites.
This use of AR is an engaging
and value-adding example of how
technology can improve the attendee
experience or setting and raises
the bar for other festivals. Where
previously tech innovations at events
or festivals have been associated
with things like virtual reality and
bulky headsets, the Coachella Digital
Innovation team has pulled off a
truly immersive experience with the
‘Coachella Camera’. Attendees could
also save the footage and share it far