Engaging the Crowd at Concert Events

AUDIENCE-PERFORMER INTERACTION There is a very traditional set of expectations to an audience of a performance [5] and augmenting the audience with technologies can introduce complex interaction. This can provide rewarding experiences, but it can also make shows overly complex to run and (for example in the case of audience interaction via mobile technology) create audience split because of fragmented technology availability. In our research we focus on simple, single variable interaction and discuss how to engage the audience actively in performances without overwhelming the experience with technology. Similar to previous work on spectating [3] the research goal is to engage the audience actively in performances without overwhelming the experience with technology. In order to explore the enhancement of audience-performer interaction, we deployed a ‘cheeringmeter’, a simple prototype device that enables interaction between audience and performer. We present findings from the use of the cheering meter at eight rap competitions.