This article was taken from the October 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Anyone can drop a beat -- the question is: when? Rana June wanted to find out, so she created Lightwave: activity-tracking wristbands that analyse a crowd's skin temperature, movement and sweat levels to give DJs feedback on energy levels, so they know when to crank up the tempo. "It's like Google Analytics for real life," she says.
Lightwave blends June's two seemingly disparate career strands; venture capitalist and DJ. Before launching the California-based startup, she founded Medialets, which raised $30m (£17m) in funding for its app analytics technology. But after picking up an early iPad, she became fascinated by the freedom it offered to the formerly machine-shackled DJ. "When I was playing guitar, I could wander around," June says. "So I thought, why not untether the DJ?"
The result was a portable, carbon-fibre exoskeleton running up to six iPads in sequence. Lightwave stemmed from June's frustration at lacking the data she had access to at Medialets; she wanted to know how her DJ sets were being received without relying on social media.
The wristbands, given out on the door like regular event wristbands, debuted at a raucous SXSW show where the data was used to spur the crowd into a girls-against-boys dance-off. June has also deployed the technology at London's Emirates Stadium to give fans real-time biometric data of footballers' performances, and is exploring its use in cinemas, too. "In business, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it," says June. "Artists are part of this data-driven world, so why not embrace it?" <span class="s1">
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
