An interview with Mediaprobe CTO Nuno Dias, Head of Product Development Rui Coelho, and Head of Hardware Development Rúben Dias
Mediaprobe has been piloting a Live Events solution with a selected group of companies to measure the emotional impact generated in live events, by monitoring in real-time the emotional responses of participants.
An essential part of the solution is the technology that supports the realization of such pioneering projects. And who better to ask about science and technology than our CTO Nuno Dias, our Head of Product Development Rui Coelho, and our Head of Hardware Development Rúben Dias.
Nuno has been a pivotal figure in the establishment of Mediaprobe back in 2016. From day 1, the Mediaprobe co-founder has been at the helm of the company’s technological innovation and progress. Rúben came on board at Mediaprobe in 2017 to address the requirement for a user-friendly sensor capable of measuring galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate. Since then, he has spearheaded the development of all sensors for the company. Having joined the company in 2020, Rui moved through roles in client insights, data science/processing, and operations, gaining deep company understanding and culminating in him leading product development.
First things first – How did the Live Events solution idea come to life? What drove us to develop a product for live settings?
Nuno: Over the past several years, Mediaprobe clients have consistently expressed interest in measuring emotional engagement in live events. Many media content owners and broadcasters have recognized the need for closer relationships with their audiences, particularly after the global pandemic. This has led to a growing desire to compare emotional engagement with live content to that experienced through screens.
Mediaprobe stands out as a pioneer in measuring media content based on physiological data collected outside laboratory settings. While the company has successfully implemented this approach in somewhat controlled home environments, expanding it to less structured settings such as concerts, conferences, sports events, and other live gatherings presented a significant challenge.
Before the product could be brought to life, several key developments were necessary. Rui and Rúben will tell you more about the innovations that paved the way for the launch of this groundbreaking solution.
Rui: To elaborate on Nuno’s points – This solution started by design to pre-test content in settings such as cinemas. The idea was to have psychophysiological data to complement existing declarative solutions. The main reason behind this would be the restriction on using smartphones inside theaters where producers test their content.
The transition to events came as a response to an existing market gap, and with some adaptation and novel data processing pipelines, the product we know today can effectively measure emotional engagement inside venues where some mobility is expected.
Rúben: In terms of hardware, we wanted to create a new sensor specifically designed to measure emotional engagement in live events. The difficulty we were faced with was maintaining a stable Bluetooth connection between our sensor and smartphones, when there are several devices in close proximity. To solve this problem, we developed our current sensor (JamesFour), which has the ability to collect and store biometric data for several consecutive hours without the need for a smartphone. Also, we introduced a participant location system.
Mediaprobe has been involved in some high-profile projects like BravoCon 2023, FC Porto, and CNN Portugal’s International Summit. Can you tell us more about these projects leveraging the Live Events solution and their significance for Mediaprobe? Also, the partnership with Bauer Media Audio Portugal to measure the emotional impact of their concert “45 In the Night” was groundbreaking. Could you share some insights into how this project unfolded and the key findings?
Nuno: The BravoCon event in Las Vegas in 2023 provided the first opportunity to evaluate the live events product in a large venue that already required participant location tracking. This high-difficulty event allowed for the validation of the product from the start. Local events such as FC Porto and CNN Portugal’s International Summit further validated the product’s capabilities.
The “45 In the Night” concert raised the level of emotional engagement measured so far in live events and this reveals its relevance for other events’ benchmarking. The key findings were that the concert was more exciting than watching Portugal’s National Soccer team playing in the last FIFA World Cup, or as the Bauer team prefers to say, the experience was equivalent to 12 rollercoaster rides.
Rui: These projects helped to further consolidate the live events product and finetune the solution. BravoCon 2023 in Las Vegas posed a very interesting challenge, both in terms of measurement as well as the tech stack. While the FC Porto and CNN Portugal’s International Summit entailed a measurement scenario where people attended a single event in a designated seating area, BravoCon entailed an additional challenge because people were free to walk around while taking part in the project.
And regarding the work with Bauer Media, the benefit of having a partnership with multiple measurements of the same type of event helped shape the approach and the experience for the participants, making it more streamlined and effortless for them.
Rúben: The BravoCon 2023 was our first and biggest challenge because it was necessary to track people’s location in a large area with several points of interest and events happening simultaneously. To manage this we had to develop our solution for indoor location tracking, and required a thorough analysis of the Caesars Forum building plant.
The experience acquired at BravoCon allowed us to succeed in the following events – the FC Porto match, the CNN Summit, and 45 In the Night.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in developing and implementing Mediaprobe’s Live Events technology? How have you overcome technical or logistical challenges when working on large-scale events like the BravoCon, FC Porto football match, or major concerts such as the 45 in the Night?
Rui: When you approach the market with such innovative solutions, there are lots of challenges to overcome during the ideation process. An example is related to the interaction of all technological components and details of the solution. From the product and software point of view, a new mobile application had to be developed to assist with the operation onsite as well as the new infrastructure, in order to connect the data points collected during the event to the data processing team that creates the insights. Making sure this process was smooth and seamless and had a very low probability of error was of utmost importance. We particularly focused on minimizing manual steps and actions required for the team on the ground to ensure a very comfortable experience for the panelists.
Rúben: As mentioned before, our biggest challenge was tracking people’s relative positions at BravoCon. We had to develop two solutions: a solution that stores in the sensor, along with biometric data, data on the proximity to points of interest, and a second solution to determine the people’s presence in the different spaces.
In your opinion, how is Mediaprobe impacting the field of media and live event measurement? What kind of feedback have you received from clients like NBC and Bauer Media Group regarding the use of Mediaprobe’s solutions? How does the data provided by Mediaprobe help clients enhance their content and audience engagement?
Nuno: Based on clients’ feedback, Mediaprobe’s output stands out from other market solutions. While other in-the-market participant location solutions can measure larger samples, their engagement output lacks the sensitivity of Mediaprobe’s emotional engagement metric. Notably, some client organization staff are already utilizing Mediaprobe’s reports to fine-tune and enhance audience engagement efforts. Our solution gives our clients tangible values of the emotional impact of the experience on viewers. This opens up new opportunities for them, especially as they are able to showcase and deliver significant value to their partners – sponsors and advertisers.
Can you share some upcoming features or improvements we can expect from Mediaprobe? From a hardware perspective, what innovations are you focusing on to enhance the performance and efficiency of Mediaprobe’s measurement tools?
Rui: From the Product standpoint, the objective is to make this kind of monitoring increasingly easier to perform with less and less need for manual interaction with the technology. We also plan to have enhanced data viewing of what’s going on at any given time during the event, both in terms of general engagement and in terms of positioning. We are currently working on solutions that will enable several live events to be measured at the same time in different regions with different teams.
Rúben: We always aim to improve indoor location technology to increase accuracy and detection range.
For media professionals and event organizers looking to integrate advanced measurement technologies, what advice would you give them? How can professionals in the media and events industry leverage emotional impact data to drive better outcomes?
Nuno: The competition in the media industry is tremendous. Knowing that there are innovative technologies that can move the needle for an event, content production, or commercial activations equals having the upper hand. Understanding overall engagement, the most impactful moments and spaces, and audience response to different speeches, interviews, talent on stage, demos, and more is what can help you maximize fan emotional engagement in live events.
Rui: As long as Live Events keep happening with the participant in the center of the action, Mediaprobe will continue doing its part. Our solution focuses primarily on the participants’ engagement with the experience itself and translates into a better engagement pattern into more efficient campaigns and activations.
Rúben: Nuno and Rui said it all – what I can say is that our technology has wowed our clients, and we are very proud to be considered innovators in such a competitive industry.
Want to learn more about Mediaprobe’s Live Events solution? Register for our on-demand webinar “Build Fandom in Live Events: Unlocking Emotional Impact“
More news on Live Events:
Mediaprobe and Bauer Media Audio Portugal partner to boost the emotional impact of live events
FC Porto and Mediaprobe Join Forces for Live Event Measurement
