• Home
  • Trends
  • Company News
  • Product News
  • Fashion
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • About
  • Contact
  • February 25, 2021

Wearable Tech Insider

The Inside Word on Wearables and Wearable Technology

You are here: Home / Trends / Wearable Tech to Replace Cash at Lollapalooza Music Festival

Wearable Tech to Replace Cash at Lollapalooza Music Festival

July 9, 2014 By Dan Rosenbaum

The idea of using a wristband as an identity token in the hospitality industry is not quite new; Disney’s using it quite effectively as MagicBands at Walt Disney World. Now, the folks putting on the Lollapalooza music festival this summer in Chicago are doing something similar: giving attendees wristbands that can be linked to credit cards. Wearers can tap the bands to vendors’ RFID terminals, enter a PIN, and go. (Note that this does not rely on WiFi, which is unreliable. Imagine not being able to buy food, drink, or merch at a music festival?)

This sort of thing works well in limited and controlled environments like a theme park or single event. In theory, identity tokens are a great application for wearable tech in the wider world. NFC chips in phones don’t seem to have caught on anywhere but Scandinavia, but it’s hard to see where digging a phone out of your pocket to pay for something is any better than digging a wallet out of your pocket.

But if that chip was part of a watch? Wouldn’t that be easier? There are rumors that Apple is putting NFC in the iWatch and in the next iPhone.

There’s more to it than that, of course, which is why we like Bionym so much; they seem to be on the way to solving a lot of the identity problems associated with this kind of model. But we certainly expect to see more wristwear in controlled hospitality environments in the near term, and more sophisticated applications in the somewhat more distant future.

 

Last updated by Dan Rosenbaum on July 22, 2014.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Google
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Trends Tagged With: disney, hospitality, identity, lollapalooza, magicbands, nfc

← APX Labs Hires Away Google Glass Exec Misfit Climbs Into Bed with Beddit →

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Subscribe now to the Wearable Tech Insider's weekly news blast. You'll get links to the top half-dozen stories in the world of wearable tech, optimized for quick reading. It's the best way to read the Wearable Tech Insider; it's free and you can change your mind any time. And, of course, we'll never sell your name or e-mail address...

Search This Site

Recent Posts

New Use Case for Apple Watch: Red Sox Stealing Signs

Fossil Debuts Two Android Wear Smartwatches

Garmin Shows Three New Fitness Bands at IFA

Fitbit Ionic: Minimal Acceptable Product?

Intel (Finally) Ditches Wearables for AR

Don’t Believe Everything You Read: Wearables Are Far From Dead

Eyes F.lashing Before Your Life

Smarty Pants: Nadi X Yoga Leggings

Rings: How Smart Can They Be?

Upskill Closes Series B Financing, But Won’t Say How Much

Stories from Health Tech Insider

  • System Helps Kids Hear Better at a Distance and with Background Noise
  • Smart Patch Collects Heart Data for Walking Health Check
  • New Report Shows Your Health App Data Is at Risk
  • Wearables Help Cancer Patients Manage Pain at Home
  • Telehealth Is Key Factor for Eating Disorder Treatment
  • Nemaura Launches an Arsenal to Beat T2 Diabetes [video]

Topics

2013 android android wear apple apple watch apx labs basis battery CES ces2016 CES2017 epson finance fitbit fitness fossil fuelband garmin gear glass google healthkit intel iWatch jawbone LG market research microsoft misfit MWC15 nfc nike omate omsignal pebble recon samsung smartwatch sony sports tizen vuzix withings wristware wristwear

Sign up for Wearable Tech Insider

First name
Last name
* = required field

powered by MailChimp!

Subscribe now to the Wearable Tech Insider's weekly news blast. You'll get links to the top half-dozen stories in the world of wearable tech, optimized for quick reading. It's the best way to read the Wearable Tech Insider; it's free and you can change your mind any time. And, of course, we'll never sell your name or e-mail address...

Made in New York
Wearable Tech Insider is proud to be Made in NY.

All text © 2015 Center Ring Media

Privacy Policy

Center Ring Media Sites

Wearable Tech Insider
Seniortech Insider
Health Tech Insider

Copyright 2016 Center Ring Media | Site by JRMC

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.