Faithless fans to test NFC’s social networking capabilities

Up to 10,000 fans attending the PIAS Nites festival in Brussels this weekend will be some of the first to find out how NFC technology could be used to enhance music gigs. “It’s a revolutionary concept that opens up a wide range of possibilities in the world of music events,” says PIAS’ CEO.

Faithless at PIAS Nites
PIAS NITES: Faithless, fans and Facebook friends

Music fans attending one of British group Faithless‘ last ever performances this weekend will be among the first to test a system that uses NFC technology to allow concert-goers to interact with each other, ‘friend’ people they meet on Facebook and post pictures directly to their Facebook accounts.

The new system has been developed by NFC specialist Getyoo and will use a combination of contactless cards and NFC readers to enable the 10,000 music fans attending the PIAS Nites event in Brussels to explore the potential of near field communication technology.

While the system being tested at PIAS Nites uses cards carrying NFC tags, rather than NFC phones, Getyoo’s technology is fully NFC compatible so that, in the future, fans will be able to use their NFC phone to interact at events rather than the specially-issued cards.

Fans attending this weekend’s programme of events and live music will receive a unique ID card linked to their Facebook account. These can then be used to make Facebook friend requests with people they meet at the event, by each holding their cards over NFC readers placed in pairs.

Groups of friends will also be able to use NFC-enabled photo booths to pose in front of a camera and then have the pictures posted automatically on their Facebook profiles.

The system also lets visitors play games, enter contests and select digital media. Partygoers will be offered free music in exchange for using their card, and will get a chance to win a Fender guitar signed by all the artists playing at the event as well as other prizes via a jackpot game that is entered by touching a card to a reader.

“All processes are automated and interactions happen in real time, it’s a great step forward in the world of social networking,” says Geoffroy Simon, COO of Brussels-based Getyoo.

Kenny Gates, CEO at international entertainment marketing and distribution group PIAS, added: “It’s a revolutionary concept that opens up a wide range of possibilities in the world of music events. We are excited to see people’s reactions at PIAS Nites.”

Getyoo launched its web-based platform, designed to enable people to gather all their contacts and social activity in one place, in 2009. The company recently partnered with Belgian mobile network operator Belgacom to integrate its solution with Belgacom’s contactless sticker-based PingPing mobile payments service, enabling consumers to use the same system to make payments and to interact with the world around them.

We hope “to inspire marketers and event organizers to go even further and create entirely new ways to interact with our environment,” says Getyoo.

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