During Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and textile studio BYBORRE explored the future of club culture at the exclusive Red Bull At Night Playrooms event. The Distributed and Interactive Systems (DIS) group at CWI, led by Pablo César supported the event with innovative technology, orchestrating a unique experience for the guests in the background. Experts from several fields –each representing one of the senses- influenced the experience of the guests with music, food, and scent. The system (sensors, network, servers), especially designed by CWI for this event, was seamlessly gathering and processing data from the attendees, understanding their experience and identifying their most meaningful moments. The event took place on Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st of October, with a beforehand unknown line-up at a top-secret location and accessible for special guests of Red Bull only.
The sixth sense by CWI
Playrooms evolved around the five senses. These senses were connected in a unique manner by technology from the DIS group, acting as the sixth sense. David A. Shamma, project leader at DIS, “In all aspects of our lives technology will play a significant role in the way we communicate between ourselves and the environment.” Pablo César, head of the DIS group: “Together with our partners, we initiated a new, scientific investigation to music events. This event was more than just a well orchestrated club night, but rather an environmental ecosystem to study and to learn how to design and build the next-generation intelligent systems.” The data gathered during this event have been carefully anonymized and scrubbed for use in academic research, to further discover additional layers to understand social behavior and the interplay between technology and the environment.
CWI & BYBORRE
CWI supported BYBORRE with the technology for his innovative textile (sensored wristbands) used at the club night. Borre Akkersdijk: “The past few years we have been very busy with implementing technologies into fabrics. This way it is possible to analyse where people stand, dance or walk and even in which way they move. One could measure how much influence a DJ has on someone’s senses. CWI made it possible to collect and measure these data, their contribution was essential for the conduction of this experiment.” Wearable technology is becoming more integrated into everyday life. By embedding sensors in textiles, fashion that senses wearer reactions can be produced. CWI & BYBORRE cooperated in public private research projects before and conducted an experiment concerning Smart Fashion at CWI in Bedrijf 2015.
