Pixmob, Sacramento And Terry McBride

Pixmob is the self-proclaimed “crowd activation pioneers” of live events, providing LED objects to audiences for choreographed light shows. From May until December alone, Pixmob expects to distribute 3 million bracelets to fans across the world.

But that’s not all: the company also designs pendants and “helicos” – little LED fireflies that spin from the sky like falling Chinese lanterns. And they have shirts that light up: the “Pixmob poncho” was incorporated into the launch party for Microsoft’s Kinect videogame add-on five years ago.

Just three years earlier, at the Concert Industry Consortium, McBride and others were asked to predict the concert experience in 2012 and McBride had something to say about shirts – shirts that sounded very similar to what would become Pixmob ponchos, which, by the way, made a significant impact at the Microsoft event because the technology was so new that audience didn’t know why they had to wear them or what their purpose was until the activation. That’s when the audience had a blast.

“Parasitic power is basically the power the body generates within shirts that have silver filaments. The shirts can now be powered,” McBride explained in 2007. “The shirt can power an iPod. That shirt can also power a message, or a design if you want. The minute you do that, you allow the T-shirt to now turn into a chip, and you can update software to what that shirt is. Let’s think about how this tech is going to change every single aspect of what we do.”

Now that prediction, as realized by Pixmob, is everywhere. Not only was it incorporated into Bruno Mars’ halftime show at last year’s Super Bowl but also the Winter X Games, Lollapalooza in Sao Paulo and Taylor Swift’s tour, where each fan found a Pixmob bracelet under the seat and was incorporated throughout the show.

This week alone, Pixmob was expected to be present at the Sensation electronic dance music event in Dubai, the Omnia Nightclub Las Vegas at Caesars Palace for a corporate event, a David Guetta show in Melbourne to launch a new champagne, Swift’s stadium show with 100,000 fans in Tampa, Fla., and a show at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.

And, on Oct. 28, the Montreal-based company introduced itself to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings – one of four teams that integrated Pixmob into its opening games. Pollstar talked to Ryan Montoya, chief technology officer for the Kings, prior to the game with the agreement that we wouldn’t blow the surprise.

“When the fans enter the arena, we will hand the bracelets to them,” Montoya said. “The first time they will experience this will be during the national anthem and then during the player intros, and then every sequence between quarters there will be an experience.” The halftime show also featured Natasha Bedingfield and Brian Kennedy, who wanted to participate partially because of the incorporation of Pixmob.

“During their show I think they’ve choreographed songs to go with the bracelets,” Montoya said. Approximately 18,000 bracelets were provided – 17,500 for the fans and the rest for staff. It was an idea provided by a member of Montoya’s team, although they were aware of the technology through the Swift tour.

The Pixmob integration also served as a fan preview to the team’s new arena, Golden 1 Center, which will debut next year. Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, founder and former CEO of TIBCO software, wants the venue to be one of the most technologically advanced in the world – which shouldn’t be too difficult considering the ownership group includes execs from Qualcomm, Apple and Facebook.

The team is already showing off some of the technology and has demonstrated that countertops at various lobbies will also be wireless chargers for cell phones, for instance.

“We have a lot of surprises,” Montoya said, noting that the Kings’ opening night included a virtual reality live stream, and Ranadivé was expected to introduce a robot called Knightman that was going to do … something. **

“We’re the first team to use drones, to use Oculus, to use virtual reality and augmented reality, to accept bitcoin, to use Google glass, and we’ll soon be introducing in-seat ordering, and safety measures guaranteed you won’t see anywhere else in the league,” Montoya said. “There will be a technology revolution at Golden 1 Center.” 

(** Edit: “Three Knightscope K5 automated data machines (ADM) were demoed at the opening night game – an exploratory launch to preview the technology. The robots can be programmed to patrol an environment and provide valuable feedback to a security team. An array of sensors collect various sets of data, can read alphanumeric text (license plates and more) and  identify environmental changes (including temperature, humidity, CO2 levels) The security robots use LIDAR to navigate (based on laser and the light reflected back to the sensor).”)