In an alternate future, where the world has to face another life-threatening pandemic…
A person obsessed with going to music events will try to use limited “ubicomp” resources to relive those moments…
Just a month ago, the President of the United States of America declared this new pandemic as a national emergency. The last national emergency was the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2019 called COVID-19. This one has still not been officially named yet because of how relatively new it is. Symptoms seem to be the same as COVID-19 — cough, fever, and the list goes on. What’s worse is that we all have to stay inside, practice social distancing, quarantining, washing hands, etc. People are scared and worried about what has yet to come.
We have been staying inside our homes for most of our lives now. People only go outside to get groceries, go to work, hang out with friends, and go to organized events. Schools have been online for many years. And the government is in progress in putting all work online as well. As we predicted years ago, technology has taken over the world.
Alongside technology, the music scene has also been taken over. It has been a part of everyone’s lives, and it is the only thing that is keeping us together at this point. The new generation of young artists are topping the charts and getting mass attention. Music events including concerts, shows, and festivals are the main attraction to foreigners and locals alike. They all have one goal in mind and that is to have fun.
But since this pandemic has been ruining plans to go to these events, my mental health is going to eventually take a toll, and I am pretty sure it is the same for millions of others. I have planned to go to Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Electric Carnival Daisy (EDC) Las Vegas, and Lollapalooza Chicago with my friends. These three festivals are officially called the “Big Three” in the United States due to the attendance and ticket sales recorded each year. I have booked my flights and reserved my hotel/camping spot when passes were first available. I decided to go all out this year considering that I have not been to an event since Countdown New Years’ Eve in San Bernardino, California. I was very much looking forward to seeing my friends, the artists, and the event itself of course.
“Sasha, can you read my emails today?” I asked.
“Sure thing!” said Sasha, my virtual assistant AI built within my smart system called “The Orbit.”
The first email was from Coachella themselves. Basically, they have moved the dates to the Fall of this year, and refunds are optional if attendees can’t make it to the new dates. Minutes later, I got the same emails regarding new dates from EDC and Lollapalooza respectively.
“Flag emails regarding Coachella, EDC, and Lollapalooza, for now, Sasha. I will look at it again. Thanks.” I said.
“Anytime”
I try to stay positive throughout this whole situation. I don’t have to spend even more money, spend time deciding and picking out outfits, and figuring out which artist I am going to see. Even more on the positive side, some event promoters already announced that they will be hosting a “virtual festival” to make up for these troubling times.
Insomniac Events, the organizer of EDC Las Vegas and Countdown NYE, announced that they will host a “virtual rave-a-thon” later in the month with set times being released soon. Better than nothing I guess.
On the day of the virtual rave-a-thon, I was kind of excited to watch the Insomniac live stream. I know for a fact it would not be the same feeling as being on festival grounds. But once again, it was better than nothing.
“Hey Sasha, can you pull up the virtual rave-a-thon by Insomniac?” I asked.
“Insomniac Events is currently live streaming their ‘virtual rave-a-thon’ on Twitch. Would you like to open Twitch?” Ahh, Twitch. I totally forgot that existed, even though it has still been the #1 live streaming service since forever ago.
“Yes, please. And Sasha, can you pull it up on the TV in the basement?” I asked. The lights automatically turned off from upstairs as I head downstairs to watch the stream.
As I entered the basement, the lights came instantly on without saying a word. The lighting system displayed my personal default settings; white and a tad bit dim, just how I like it. I love my basement; it is everything I imagine what my dream man cave would be like. The TV turned on within a few seconds, and popular dubstep DJ/artist Svdden Death already started playing his live set. As I sat down on my couch, I really admired the live stream stage. The lights are going insane and weird sounds are bleeding out of my TV speakers. It was nice to listen to an actual live set for once. I really miss those days. It felt like a long time ago, but I know it has been only months since New Years’ Eve.
A few more songs in, I noticed that something was missing. I could not tell what it was at first, but something feels “out of place.” Then it hit me that I am not fully engaged in this set. Most of the lights and sounds are just coming off of my TV. I have a dozen smart LED light bulbs, and a pair of Bluetooth speakers to make my house feel and sound like a real live event. I feel like an absolute idiot of not taking advantage of this sooner.
“Sasha, can you turn the speakers on, with the volume at 50 percent please?” I asked politely.
“On it!” said Sasha.
“Sasha, can you also turn the basements lights to ‘sync’ mode?”
“Got it.”
Sync mode syncs the smart lights to the music that is currently being played. That is my favorite setting to mess around with. It is programmed that once every snare and/or clap hits, the lights blink white. And for other sounds that are not snares/claps, the lights are just a random color that moves with the music. If I want to be a certain color to match a song, I would just ask Sasha to do it. This mode is colloquially known as “smart music.”
It was close to perfect. The music is blasting through my two big speakers with the lights syncing with the music being played by Svdden Death. I could not have thought of another way to do this. Maybe I should consider getting more lights, or get speakers that have built-in LEDs? The possibilities are endless!
Now, all I am missing is my friends that I usually meet up with during these kinds of events. For a moment, I considered calling them up through the Orbit. However, I feel like it would be kind of an awkward call. It is honestly better to see them in-person with having that close connection. I am pretty confident that most of them are already doing the exact same thing. This whole situation made me realize how lucky I am to be able to experience this. There is no place like home.
