I’ve been to several thousand ticketed events throughout my life, from sports to concerts to comedy shows and everything in between. I remember as a kid when the tickets would be torn, the stub would be handed back and the redeemed portion put into a bin. This has evolved over the years to barcodes being scanned from paper tickets and, more recently, on your mobile device.
A common question: what happens if you forget or lose your paper ticket or mobile device? Well, without a ticket, you cannot enter the event. This has happened to me personally, and I’ve seen it countless times in the past. There has to be a better way to take care of fans who have spent their hard-earned money to enjoy an entertaining event.
Why not enter with something you always carry with you at all times—your face! With facial ticketing, not having your ticket in your possession is a thing of the past because you can’t forget or lose your face! With full opt-in from the patron, you link your ticketing account to your face, and now you can enter the venue without ever having to pull out your ticket or mobile device.
Wicket’s facial authentication technology has proven to be faster than traditional methods, extremely accurate, and is a very frictionless experience for the fan. Teams and event promoters know who has entered their property and have the opportunity to provide a truly VIP experience for their guests.
Wicket has already provided this experience to venues in the NFL, MLS, and MLB as well as other private events. In fact, Wicket Access can also be used to enter your office building or manufacturing shop floor as an employee or as a guest.
There is a behavioral shift going on, as it does with any new technology. In the last few years, and particularly during the Pandemic, fans and patrons understand that touchless access control with consent is entirely under their control. This gives the fan complete protection of their privacy and creates a streamlined ingress experience. The future of facial authentication is bright: Wicket and its lead in computer vision AI is providing fast and accurate solutions for secure access to events, venues, and enterprises.