Forget tickets – Ticketmaster seeks to use facial recognition for concert entry

Everyone hates to wait in line. Oftentimes, queues for concerts can wrap around the block, leaving ticketholders standing around aimlessly for their turn to get into the venue.

Hoping to alleviate this problem is Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation. They’re looking to partner with a facial recognition company called Blink Identity to cut down on lines and let concertgoers into shows much quicker by scanning their faces instead of presenting tickets.

In its first quarter financial report, Live Nation reported that Blink has “cutting-edge facial recognition technology, enabling you to associate your digital ticket with your image, then just walk into the show.”

While this would no doubt be useful in a perfect world, facial recognition technology is still being developed and is far from perfect. There’s also the issue of privacy. If Ticketmaster keeps a bank of the facial recognition data, there’s a risk of hackers accessing the information and customer payment methods.

As facial recognition technology gains prominence on platforms like Google, Amazon and Apple, we’ll have to see if Ticketmaster will be able to assert itself as the next major player in the game.

H/T: Engadget

Featured photo: TechEmergence

Categories: News