Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Comment
Rochelle Travers and Rachelle Abbott

Behind the concert tech used by Taylor Swift, Coldplay & more - Tech & Science Daily podcast

Listen here on your chosen podcast platform.

There's a lot going on this summer in the world of big events, and we’ve been finding out about some of the impressive technology that goes into these hot ticket occasions.

Tech & Science Daily hear from J-O Dalphond, one of the partners at PixMob, an LED technology company, who are behind those iconic light-up wireless wristbands you’ll have seen worn by crowds.

They’ve worked on tours with Taylor Swift, Coldplay and The Weeknd, as well as huge events such as the Super Bowl halftime show, Eurovision, and even the Olympics.

J-O even shares a little tease about some exciting developments PixMob has coming up and we can expect to see very soon.

Earlier this week Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company, but Microsoft has now regained the title just days later.

Computer chip maker lost the top spot after its shares slipped by 3.5% in the US on Thursday, leaving the company valued at $3.2 trillion.

Microsoft's shares also dipped slightly, but it still ended the day's trading worth $3.3 trillion.

A gang of cyber criminals that caused huge disruption to multiple London hospitals has published stolen data from an NHS blood testing company.

Qilin has been trying to extort money from NHS provider Synnovis since they hacked the firm on 3rd June.

NHS England has said it was aware the cyber criminal group had published alleged data but they were not sure yet if what was shared was real.

And the rest

TikTok launches a media literacy hub to help users spot misinformation, chimps help scientists find plants that have potential to become medicines, and why eating cheese could help with mental health and resilience.

Plus, why a banana-clicking game is already this summer's biggest hit.

You can listen to the episode in the player above, find us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s a fully automated transcript:

Hi, I'm Rochelle Travers, and this is The Standard’s, Tech and Science Daily podcast.

Coming up, London hospitals hackers publish stolen blood test data.

Now, let's get into it.

Heading to see Taylor Swift in London this weekend, or maybe you're just counting down the days to the Olympics in Paris.

There's a lot going on this summer in the world of big events, and we've been finding out about some of the impressive technology that goes into these hot ticket occasions.

In 2010, we had this idea, looking at a show that's dark, that's empty, you don't really see the people, and we're like, there's gotta be something we could do to make it more alive.

We've been working with Cirque du Soleil, who was doing the launch of the Microsoft Connect.

And they asked us, if we'd like to create a canvas of light that we can control.

We thought that was a great idea, and we decided to invent it.

That's J-O Delphon, one of the partners at PIxMob, an LED technology company who are behind those iconic light-up wireless wristbands you'll have seen worn by crowds.

They've worked on tours with Taylor Swift, Coldplay and The Weeknd, as well as huge events such as the Super Bowl halftime show, Eurovision and even the Olympics.

It's been a labour of constant improvement.

So we have a team of about 40 people who just do that product that lights up with light.

And the development of that has been relatively straightforward because we're not using any arcane technology.

We're using infrared light.

Everybody who has a remote at home has used infrared light to control the TV by changing the channel.

We use the same concept, but instead of changing the channel, we change the colour.

J-O says they're constantly working alongside artists and events to find ways of improving on the tech so that crowds feel immersed in the experience and even a part of the shows themselves.

What makes the total difference is the creativity of the team that we work with.

The artist teams have challenged us and brought us idea and we love embracing that to invent new things.

And so we listen to what an artist's vision is on how to elevate their crowd.

And we develop that every year.

PIxMob even gave us a little tease about some exciting developments it has coming up.

And they say we'll find out what it is very soon.

For the past three years, we've been developing a way not to speak to all the wristbands at once, but to speak to every single wristbands, to control them individually.

And when you do that, you're able to create a canvas that has the ability to move and create shape.

And PIxMob will be releasing this new technology within the next two weeks.

There's going to be something exciting coming up that's going to be high visibility.

Now, earlier this week on Tech and Science Daily, we told you how Nvidia became the world's most valuable company.

Well, that's already no longer the case, as Microsoft has regained its title just days later.

Computer chip maker Nvidia lost the top spot after its shares slipped by 3.5% in the US on Thursday, leaving the company valued at $3.2 trillion.

Microsoft shares also dipped slightly, but it still ended the day's trading with $3.3 trillion.

And let's say the Big Tech Three, Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple, are now in a three-horse race to become the world's first $4 trillion company.

A gang of cybercriminals that has caused huge disruption to multiple London hospitals has published stolen data from an NHS blood testing company.

Qilin has been trying to extort money from NHS provider, Synnovis, since they hacked the firm on the 3rd of June.

NHS England has said it was aware the cybercriminal group had published alleged data, but they were not sure yet if what was shared was real.

They went on to say, as more information is revealed following the investigation, the NHS will continue to update patients and the public.

TikTok is launching a media literacy hub to help users spot misinformation ahead of the general election.

The social media giant said the hub had been created alongside fact-checking organization, Logically Facts, and the in-app space will focus on critical thinking and news literacy.

The move follows the rollout of a dedicated general election centre on the platform in the UK, which directs users to official information from the Electoral Commission.

Let's go to the ads.

Coming up, chimps help scientists find potential medicines and why everyone seems to be playing a banana game.

Welcome back.

Chimps have helped scientists find plants that have potential to become medicines.

University of Oxford scientists have identified 13 plants that have potent wound healing and infection fighting properties, thanks to help from some wild chimpanzees.

Researchers observed the great apes in an African forest feeding on bark, dead wood and leaves from plants that were not part of their normal diet after becoming ill or injured.

The scientists say watching how the chimps, the closest living human relative, seek help from nature when on well, could help fast-track the discovery of new drugs to treat chronic diseases and infections.

Now, are you a fan of cheese?

Well, if so, we've got some good news.

Research suggests that people who eat more cheese have better mental health and stress resilience.

The finding was part of a large-scale study of almost 2.4 million people and carried out by a team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

They found that mental well-being is the single most important contributor to healthy aging and longevity.

However, it should be noted that a higher intake of cheese was not directly responsible for longevity of life, but a standout contributor to high wellbeing scores.

And finally, there's a surprise summer hit in the gaming world at the moment and it's all about a banana.

Banana is a game in which players repeatedly click on the fruit and well, that's pretty much about it.

It was launched in April by a tiny developer and is right now the second most popular game on the PC platform, Steam, behind Counter-Strike 2.

Yes, the game does seem very dull, but there's more to it than meets the eye, as persistent clicking eventually leads to the appearance of another banana, which players can trade or sell on the Steam Market.

You're up to date.

Come back at 4 p.m. for The Standard podcast for all the latest news and analysis.

Tech and Science Daily will be back tomorrow at 1 p.m.

See you then.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.