Case Study - Beatlemania in Hamburg

RFID technology and ticketing lead visitors through Beatlemania in Hamburg, while ASC's audio, lighting and video technology and integrated media systems make the visit a real highlight.

The project:  Beatlemania is a new attraction housed in a narrow building on Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn. Just around the corner from Beatles Platz, Hamburg's new Beatles Square, Beatlemania takes visitors on a historical journey on five floors from the band's early days in Hamburg to their break-up. Behind the project is FKP Ausstellungs- und Betriebs GmbH, an initiative by Folkert Koopmanns, managing director of the concert agents FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen GmbH. The new exhibition company benefits greatly from the dedication and attention to detail of Ulrike Saiten, Ulf Krüger and Uwe Blaschke: contemporary witnesses, Beatles fans and music professionals.

The challange: The Beatlemania team wanted ASC to develop an RFID-based ticketing and visitor management system that facilitated cash desk and visitor monitoring, enjoyable signposting through the exhibition for visitors and triggering of information and activation of exhibits, all in one package. Using the data provided by the system, the team wanted to be able to react swiftly to visitor behaviour and preferences. They also wanted a system that could be developed further in future. The initial briefing with ASC and the joint brainstorming of the exhibits that followed led to the brief being extended to include tailor-made media engineering solutions that bring the exhibition to life with sound and visuals in an enjoyable way.

The solution: ASC developed software and a database for the cash desk that was adapted specifically to Beatlemania, enabling the functions and features of the exhibits to be activated and individual visitors' orders to be billed. A passport containing a chip card houses the visitor end of the RFID technology. When held next to so-called "magic points" in the exhibition, the passport triggers video and audio sequences. At audio points throughout the exhibition, the visitor can call up bilingual (German and English) commentaries. Video screens display interviews with contemporary witnesses, film footage and recordings of Beatles concerts and film clips from, for example, "Yellow Submarine" and "Help!". Several interactive features enable visitors to become part of the show. A modern karaoke box lets visitors sing a Beatles hit and save the performance in their passports, while in another feature a digital Sgt Pepper album cover can be edited to include the visitor's photo. Both the recording and the cover can be saved on the chip card and downloaded onto a USB stick as a personal souvenir.