The Epic Fail of Smartwatches: Heavy Metal Fans' Chaotic Dances Turn into Emergency Nightmares at Download Festival
- by Eugenius Prebble
- ⏱ - 1 Min
Metal Concert Attendees Leverage Mosh Pit to Send Distress Signals - Law Enforcement Expresses Frustration - Fanatics of Heavy Metal Urge Assistance in Moshpit
A mosh pit is the beating heart of any heavy metal concert — picture a frenzied crowd, swaying wildly, colliding almost rhythmically. While it may look like a scene straight out of a punk-rock nightmare, there's a code of conduct that ensures no one gets hurt.
But at a particular festival in the East Midlands, England, these mosh pits have gained quite the reputation, causing tension among the local police and emergency services. The problem? Smarter-than-thou tech accessories and their ridiculous false alarms.
Download Festival: Tech Troubles Stirring Up a (Not-So-)Silent Storm
The Download Festival held in Leicestershire lasts for three days, and if you ask the emergency services, it feels like Armageddon is looming on the horizon. With the crazy increase in false alarms, you'd think there was an actual war going on! Remember the scene from two years ago, where false alarms tripled? Yikes.
The culprit? The smartwatches that festival-goers don't seem to be able to part with, even during concerts. These genius gadgets are tuned to detect collisions and accidents — a seriously handy feature for our friends who find themselves in the thick of a mosh pit. However, the collisions and chaos of the mosh pit become a recipe for disaster when these devices start to scream for help.
All these false alarms had the local police investigating while those who faced real emergencies were left twiddling their thumbs, awaiting assistance. This year, the police are urging concertgoers to put those high-tech wrist gizmos in airplane mode or to be ready to take a call from the dispatcher if a false alarm kicks off.
This year, around 75,000 rockers are expected to join the party at the horse racing track venue. Luckily, Green Day and Korn will also be performing to keep things lively.
Sources: Leicestershire Police, "The Guardian"
- Festival
- Smartwatches
- False Alarm
- England
- Smartwatch Users
- East Midlands
Behind the Scenes:
— The design of smartwatches is to blame for the false alarms at heavy metal concerts. In the surging, chaotic mosh pits, the intense physical activity and accidental presses on the watches can trip the emergency SOS features. This leads to numerous false rescue calls and creates headaches for emergency services.
— Many smartwatches come equipped with built-in emergency SOS features that can be activated with a long press on the watch's side button or certain gestures. The feature is designed for urgent situations when immediate help is needed. However, this can sometimes lead to chaos during concerts when the movements and accidental presses can mistakenly trigger these features.
— This issue is a significant concern for emergencies services, as a large number of false calls can drain their resources and slow their response times for real emergencies. To help address this, concert-goers are advised to disable the emergency features during events or employ alternative methods to avoid accidental activations.
- In the heat of the mosh pit at the heavy metal concerts, smartwatches with emergency SOS features are often activated due to the intense physical activity and accidental presses, prompting numerous false rescue calls and causing difficulties for emergency services.
- To prevent the potential chaos and save resources for real emergencies, concert-goers are encouraged to either put their smartwatches in airplane mode or be prepared to answer a call from the dispatcher if a false alarm is triggered.
