Just the Ticket
In ancient Chinese brush painting, the artist would use a seal to sign his or her work - and every subsequent owner of the piece would add a red seal next to it. It was a way to prove the authenticity of art. It was a great idea - and one that is surprisingly relevant in today’s events industry, where fraud is rampant.
According to CNBC, more than 10 percent of millennials have been the victim of ticket fraud. That’s a massive problem (hundreds of millions of dollars a year go to scammers who sell fake tickets to concerts, sporting events and even airline flights), and the industry hasn’t been able to fix the problem. Solutions from online verification to blockchain have been rolled out, but they all have a fundamental flaw: they don’t allow venues and promoters to know who is really buying tickets, and they don’t let buyers of aftermarket tickets know if they are getting a great seat or a worthless piece of paper.
The worst part of the story? There’s a proven solution to provide 100% verification at every stage of the transaction, from purchase to resale to entering the venue. And it doesn’t involve a single physical or electronic ticket. It’s 3D facial recognition technology, which is already helping businesses and governments provide unprecedented levels of security. It’s not theoretical or vaporware: it’s a real-world solution that millions of people are literally holding in their hands right now. The next step is for the ticketing/events industry to integrate facial recognition into its security approach.
Here’s how it could work. When a person buys a ticket to an event, online or in person, he or she currently provides credit card information, address, and other identifying details. This approach would add one more step: a standard 2D photo taken through a mobile or laptop camera. This would establish the true identity of buyers and allow venues to verify them. This digital faceprint would be used as a ticket at the front gate - no ticket needed. Advanced 3D face recognition with a 3D camera will ensure successful and transparent recognition based on any previous 2D photo from their phone or PC. This is not only convenient for people who attend events, but also makes it easier for the arenas and ballparks because they could have 100% assurance that attendees are using legitimate tickets. And because the photos are driven by biometrics, gate agents wouldn’t have to do anything to verify guests’ identities.
Frictionless entry is a great goal, but facial recognition can do far more: solve the fraud problem by binding digital images to all parties during a resale transaction. If an original buyer sells to a third party, his or her picture can also be “stamped” on the ticket (just like the ancient Chinese art collectors used to do with red stamps!) ensuring a seamless, verifiable chain of ownership. Why can’t we do that with ticketing?
(image: Wystan CC BY-SA 2.0 date modification by SensibleVision https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ )