RECORDING VIDEOS OR taking photos has become part and parcel of gigs now. Some don’t mind it but others feel it takes away from the experience as it can block the view of those behind them.

It turns out that Apple have been thinking about the problem as well going by its latest patent. One which details technology that could be used to stop fans from recording or taking photos of gigs on their iPhone.

9to5Mac say the patent, which was recently awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office, was first applied for back in 2011.

It describes a system where the camera would detect an infrared signal, which would disable both photography and video recording features.

In some embodiments, a device can, based on received infrared data, disable a function of the device. For example, an infrared emitter can be located in areas where picture or video capture is prohibited, and the emitter can generate infrared signals with encoded data that includes commands to disable the recording functions of devices. An electronic device can then receive the infrared signals, decode the data and temporarily disable the device’s recording function based on the command.

US Patent and Trademark Office US Patent and Trademark Office

The other way this technology could be used is to display information about something. One of the examples provided by the patent was going to a museum and using the same system to display information about an object you’re looking at.

Fans recording at gigs has been a contentious issue for both artists and those attending. Some startups like FanFootage try to find a middle ground by combining recorded footage from fans and syncing it up with high quality audio from that artist, asking fans only to record footage for certain songs instead of throughout the gig.

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