Soon enough, your face might be the only ticket you need to get into the show.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation are working to make it happen, investing in Blink Identity, a company that specializes in facial-recognition technology. The company “allows venue or festival management to identify people using facial biometrics as they walk at full speed past our sensor, handling over 60 people a minute,” according to Blink Identity.
The tech goes beyond scanning you into a venue, too. Blink Identity said in a recent announcement that it will let concertgoers use their face to buy drinks and “swag.” If and when the tech rolls out, it will be “possible to collect usable and sharable data on each person” that walked into the arena, according to the company. Though given recent backlash Facebook and MoviePass have experienced over the use of customer data, it’s not yet clear whether Live Nation plans to collect such information.
Live Nation announced its investment last week in a statement accompanying its Q1 earnings, but didn’t outline terms of the deal.
“It is very notable that today we announce our partnership with, and investment in, Blink Identity which has cutting-edge facial recognition technology, enabling you to associate your digital ticket with your image, then just walk into the show,” said Live Nation.
The obvious benefit if facial-recognition gets off the ground is it would make it much quicker getting into a show — and you wouldn’t have to sweat if you left your ticket at home or fiddle with pulling it up on your iPhone. The con is that Ticketmaster — a company widely loathed for its service fees — would be tracking you with more cameras and have a picture of you.