www.engadget.com: At least 15 visitors at Yuga Labs’ ApeFest, a celebration of the marvels of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, may have experienced serious eye injuries. Bloomberg reports that multiple people attending the NFT event in Hong Kong last weekend say they experienced vision problems, which they suspect stem from the event’s stage lighting.
5 comments:
The events described in this article are very problematic. Our number one priority as technicians and designers is to ensure the safety of everyone involved, and especially the audience. The audience enters a space not expecting for there to be any harm to them. This is why we often insist on 10:1 safety factors for objects above audience members' heads, while we may only need 5:1 for areas above performers and crew because it is a restricted area with people who theoretically understand the risks.
Moving to this specific example, I don’t even know how this could happen. There is a mention at the end of the article that in a previous event, the lighting was provided by a DJ, rather than dedicated lighting personnel. When providing entertainment to patrons, we need to make sure that we understand all of the risks of the equipment that we use and make sure that it is either intended for use in the way we are using it, or we have done extensive testing to ensure that it is safe.
At first, I was left speechless just by the insanity of people attending an event getting “welder’s eye” because of the sheer amount of UV light that was being used at this NFT party. And then I was totally floored when this article mentioned that this has happened before! This thing happened, admittedly at a smaller scale but still, in 2017 at another NFT event. I can not even comprehend the intensity at which they had their UV fixtures set to and how many of them were in use to burn people’s eyes. I literally do not currently know how you would even do that. Additionally, I hope the designer and, even further, the event organizer is ready for some crazy amounts of lawsuits from the attendees who were hurt. This is an insane issue that, with the smallest amount of forethought, could have been avoided. I think that any safety organization should have a tighter grip on these types of things.
I honestly thought NFTs had phased out. There was a lot of hype for a long time but then everyone decided they were stupid which I agree with. I also didn’t know that NFTs had left the completely digital space, this one is on a screen. NFTs confuse me, I don’t get it. This story is ridiculous, and the fact that it is not even the first time makes it even wilder. The incident raises questions about event organizers' responsibility to ensure the well-being of attendees, especially when incorporating novel technologies or elements that may have health implications. It also underscores the importance of proper communication and warnings to participants regarding potential risks associated with certain features of the event. On top of that, it seems that the company isn’t doing very good damage control so the whole thing is just a big mess. I think that NFTs won’t last forever but the people who have them will try to make the hype last as long as possible even if that means burning people’s eyes.
While very different logistically, this article reminded me of the Astroworld incident a few years back - mostly in the sense that event organizers did not take quick enough responsibility for their unsafe live event. There is no reason that audience members should be unsafe and injured for a flashy spectacle design. It’s irresponsible design. I personally will never understand the rage over NFTs. I’ve always seen them as a capitalistic commodification of art, and frankly, this incident being held by an NFT company doesn’t surprise me. There’s an apparent lack of care with the “art”, and now, the audience safety. I am by no means saying that any audience damage is okay. UV damage is really serious, and I can’t fathom as a lighting designer, why UV was even needed to execute their intended look in the first place. There are so many other entertainment fixtures available. I’m quite perplexed and disheartened as a whole by this news.
I’ve been reading so many articles about injuries or near misses, and there are so many ways to preventing that from happening. I don’t even know why the event was using UV lights in the first place, and what effect that would have on the stage vs not using it. If I knew that UV lights would cause damage to the human eye, I would definitely opted for another option, even if didn’t look as good, or give the specific effect that I wanted. I’m surprised by how the Yuga Labs’ PR response was very vague, and didn’t address the problem of the situation, even though it was already clear what was the root cause. If there was a previous event that caused a similar problem, then I would’ve been even more careful with my choice of lights, as to avoid the problem from arising again.
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