Reality matters

RedBull and clubbing. They go together like… well, like Redbull and clubbing! Haven’t you ever crushed a can of RedBull and proceeded to dance your face off to house music? But check it out: in an effort to explore the possibilities of club culture and its future, RedBull recently teamed up with fashion designer, Borre Akkersdiik, to create wristbands using Estimote Stickers. Together they organized a two night engagement during the Amsterdam Dance Event, centered around the concept of triggering all five senses.

Guests’ bracelet and wristbands (CC-BY Ayman on Flickr), RedBull Playrooms - Atrium (credits: RedBull Playrooms on Flickr)

To start, guests were given wristbands with Estimote Sticker PCBs embedded in them. Over the span of two nights, 900 Estimote stickers were deployed with these wristbands! Using the data generated by the wristbands, a team of scientists from Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica - CWI (the Dutch National Research Centre for Computer Science and Mathematics) were able to create algorithms and deep neural nets to understand guests’ movement within the spaces and energy levels throughout the night. The stickers were used for a wide variety of applications, even using the ambient temperature sensors within the Stickers to read when things were heating up!

The data collected was visualized by CLEVER°FRANKE into a psychedelic display of color and line, and presented to welcome new guests. What’s even cooler is how this data was then fed into the “Overdrive Room.” The Overdrive Room was designed with a contextual atmosphere in mind. Given the present energy level within the club, the room would respond with colorful light installations, scent diffusers, and a 4D sound system.

Overdrive Room (CC-BY Ayman on Flickr)

The data visualized stuck around for the after party! Beyond real-time presentation and environmental changes to the Overdrive Room, efforts were made to make this a truly memorable event. Guests’ individual data was summarized into personal take-home artifacts. This summary displayed their activity throughout the night, and how they moved from one room to another. Guests could view which songs made the crowd more energetic, as well as the three top songs that personally got them “flying”. Another final touch: a small selection of VIP guests were gifted a signature BYBORRE scarf with the event summary knitted into it. The scarf graphics were a direct result of the acquired data and the BYBORRE “Pixel to Needle” process.

Data to Scarf (credits: Julian Burford and Luke Smits - Parapluke on Instagram), Personal event summary artifact (credits: CLEVER°FRANKE)

“During this exploration, creative specialists and technology experts managed to create a futuristic clubbing experience. Throughout the two nights, with the help of technology, the club could listen to its inhabitants, alter its stimuli to suit their experience and trigger new interactions. In addition, it would seamlessly capture meaningful moments for them, to allow them to be in the moment and thus experience the night to its fullest.” - Pablo Cesar, group leader, Distributed and Interactive Systems

Plenty of specialists were a part of making this event a success. From data scientists and engineers, to designers, musicians, and party planners, the RedBull Playrooms were truly a collaborative group effort… a mix of art, technology, science, and data to create a one-of-a-kind experience. While it’s implausible to list every single person involved, be sure you check out the various players at their respective sites.

-BYBORRE -Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica -CLEVER°FRANKE -RedBull

Jess Anderson, Community Manager + Content Creator at Estimote