Exhibition News August 2019 | Page 33

Tech Lights, camera, action James Morgan, founder of Event Tech Lab, takes a look the evolving photobooth technologies on the show floor L ights, camera, action. This is a common expression that we all know well. And, it’s not surprising that the exhibitions world is deploying cameras on the show floor to add value to the visitor experience. Cameras can also be used to understand visitor habits. This month we explore what types of camera technologies are out there and how they can enhance trade or consumer show experiences and provide organisers with valuable data. We all know that the standard photobooth is a popular way of engaging visitors on an emotional level. We can see the joy and laughter that photobooths provide and how these positive emotions that can amplify brand, exhibitor or organiser messages. The by- product is leaving a legacy of the show in cyberspace. But the visitor is becoming much more tech-savvy and looking for new creative approaches to sharing their personal imagery. Luckily, there are lots of innovators in this field, globally. I had a great selfie experience at the Baltic Events Forum in Estonia a few months ago, with Latvian-based Kastekust. The company designs and codes its own photobooth software, white labelling it globally as well as creating photo experiences at shows and conferences in the Baltics and the UK. The new Bounce video booth is an automated, 180-degree, overhead camera movement – a bird’s eye view – which captures the human subject in a world flipping slow motion video. After the visitor’s video is captured, the software adds slow- motion, hard cuts, colour corrections, music, static or animated video overlays, and more, to personalise the visitor’s video and add brand messages. In about a minute, a stop shot is printed and visitors can access the video by scanning a QR code on the print-out. All social/e- mail/text sharing options are available for sharing and amplifying the experience. Augmented reality is also being used to enhance photo and video experiences. This is where a photo or video can be overlaid with images that augment the human subject. Istanbul- based Visionteractive – the company that created the first ‘social-vending’ experience – has created a new AR photo experience, with no need for a booth. Show visitors interact with an organiser’s or exhibitor’s Facebook page that contains a call-to-action button that encourages the visitors to open their cameras. The Facebook camera opens and a fun or branded filter for a selfie is applied. Once the visitor is happy with the result, it can be shared to their Facebook page or emailed. And, the organiser’s or exhibitor’s Facebook page collects the visitor’s data. Most providers in the photobooth area have a data dashboard that records numbers of people using the booth, social media shares and other data to understand visitor behaviour. I’m most excited about the new emotional capture developments. US-based Zenus Biometrics was the first company to introduce facial recognition technology into the events industry. It has progressed the company’s use of facial recognition beyond the show entry process with the development of its ‘analytics camera’. The specialised cameras analyse facial expressions on the show floor or at a booth. The data tells organisers how people are feeling. The cameras can also count the number of visitors at a booth within a 10x10ft field of vision. To cover larger spaces, Zenus deploys larger cameras which perform the same analysis and includes visitor demographics (age and gender) data. This could be a game-changer since emotional measurement is now a hot topic in the industry. So, make sure you are always smiling and looking good when walking the show floor. August — 33