Designing Technology for Active Spectator Experiences at Sporting Events

This paper explores the active spectator experience at sporting events, by presenting and reflecting upon a design experiment carried out at a number of football1 events. The initial hypothesis of the design process, leading to the design experiment has been that the spectator experience is not merely an experience of receiving and consuming entertainment. It is also heavily reliant on the active participation of the spectator in creating the atmosphere of the entire event. The BannerBattle experiment provides interactive technology in sport arenas with a form of interaction based on existing behaviour in the context. The work presented also argues for a need to overcome the inclination to designing technological systems that imitate or compete with the experience of watching the television broadcast of the game. Experiments such as the presented BannerBattle are cornerstones in our exploratory research-through-design approach to designing technologies for social experiences.