Emerging trends in event security: AI, facial recognition, and more

Emerging trends in event security come from developments in biometrics and other advanced technologies. The integration of emerging security technologies with security measures is a sure way to maximise event security, whether that event is a conference, trade show, exhibition or beyond.

The positive impact of emerging trends in event security is that these security measures make event security much more accessible.

Below we will take a look at these emerging trends in the use of biometrics in event security, including facial recognition AI, event registration and crowd control.

Use of biometrics and other advanced technologies in event security

Facial recognition AI

Facial recognition AI is one form of technology that is being used to enhance event security, but where is facial recognition used? Facial recognition biometric technology involves scanning the face of an attendee wishing to access an event to ensure that they should be granted access. The use of face recognition devices in this capacity adds another dimension of security in comparison to an attendee simply showing an ID card.

The benefits of facial recognition technology in event security also include the fact that having this facial recognition helps security cameras identify people more easily should this need occur, in the event of vandalism, for instance. Additionally, face recognition devices can be used to create heatmaps which are useful for event planners to analyse the event’s foot traffic. This tool is also useful in any emergency when first aid staff may need to locate an attendee quickly.

Event registration

The use of biometric technology for event registration has already been touched upon above. Biometric technology can also increase the efficiency of the event registration process by using fingerprints to gain access to the event. Fingerprint access increases the security of your event in similar ways to facial recognition, ensuring that only the appropriate attendees gain access to specific areas of your event. Digital ‘gates’ can easily be implemented to separate distinct areas within the event as well — such as VIP lounges. Fingerprint access means that attendees do not need to carry and show ID to enter each area they have the right to enter.

Ticketing

Biometric technology has revolutionised the ticketing process for events. Instead of attendees using physical or digital tickets (we all know that these can get lost or corrupted pretty easily!) biometric ticketing is being implemented. This can help prevent fake tickets from being used so that you can be sure of who is at your event.

Beyond security reasons, biometric ticketing prevents unnecessary waste of physical tickets which is a positive for the sustainable efforts being made by the events industry.

Purchases made using biometrics

Obviously, the nature of an event will determine how many purchases an attendee can expect to make. Using biometrics, event attendees can choose to input their credit card information at the point of event registration, meaning that they can then make purchases without having to physically use their card or cash, creating a more secure way to pay.

Crowd control

The role of cybersecurity in protecting event attendees is particularly prevalent when it comes to crowd control. Events can gather many people in one area at once, so it can become quite the task to monitor these crowds and ensure that they remain at a safe level. This particularly becomes relevant when there are certain areas in your event that only certain attendees have access to, for instance, a VIP area. Biometric authentication as a method of crowd control can ensure that only authorised attendees access these areas of your event in order to minimise the security risk that this can pose.