Restaurant & Bar Design Awards Incorporates Latest Technology for Awards Event

The UK-based Restaurant & Bar Design Awards have taken the physical event to the virtual level by incorporating RFID identification technology, interactive audio environments and physical website integration.

In a bid to increase networking at it's awards event the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards commissioned Cinimod Studio to create an effective and visually stimulating solution. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology was used to identify key visitors on the two 'networking pods' during the evening's proceedings.

The tags embedded in shortlisted designers and sponsors' name badges used radio signals to send their identity to antenna receivers. Projections then highlighted guests' key professional characteristics (eg. projects designed, sponsor brands etc.) as they moved around the pods. The Awards was the first event that combined this technology to create a uniquely 'connected' environment.

Audialsense complemented the visual experience with an experimental use of interactive spatialised sound. With a series of discrete loudspeakers located around the site, the RFID badges of the guests were used to identify the eventual winners as they moved through the space.

 These ‘special’ guests then triggered the system into grabbing samples of the background music, breaking it up, and sending the resultant sound spiralling round the room, resulting in bursts of cracking static and broken, but recognisable sounds. This process gave everyone else at the awards event a strong audial clue as to the winners' identities - even before they themselves knew who had won.

Centrally located in each networking pod, special interactive tables created by Core Web Design completed the overall experience. Using ultra thin JVC screens, Core Web Design used the latest interactive technology to effectively communicate details of projects and sponsors to the event’s guests.