Photo Credit | AXS & Amazon One

AXS says enrollment takes less than a minute, and fans have the option to enroll with just one palm or both.

Thanks to a partnership between Amazon and ticketing technology company AXS, concertgoers at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver can now enter shows with just a scan of their palm.

AXS recently announced that it is adding the Amazon One palm recognition service to its contactless ticketing pedestals, allowing fans to scan their palms, instead of a ticket, to enter live events.

Blaine Legere, senior VP of strategy at AXS, said the relationship with Amazon began in a stealthy manner nearly three years ago.

“They brought to us a concept that was completely top secret, wasn’t able to be discussed and didn’t have a name but had to do with palm payments,” Legere said. “The first thing that the AXS side of the relationship saw was, ‘Wow, this would be an incredible way for entering our facilities.’”

AXS pitched a slight pivot of the palm recognition technology, which at the time was primarily targeted at touchless payments, to be used for entrance to live events. About a year ago, Amazon launched the retail capacities of the technology, all while working in silence with AXS.

On Sept. 14, the technology collaboration finally emerged from stealth at the Alison Wonderland concert at Red Rocks. The palm recognition capabilities are one feature of AXS’s stand-alone ticketing pedestals and are designed to speed up entry and reduce contact between concertgoers and employees.

Upon entering an event at Red Rocks, fans can either scan their digital ticket or choose to link their palm at the kiosk. While the technology is in its infancy, fans can enroll at a dedicated station just before they enter the venue, or at a second enrollment station inside for future AXS events.

AXS says enrollment takes less than a minute, and fans have the option to enroll with just one palm or both. When a user hovers a hand over the device, a palm signature is built by Amazon’s computer vision technology and links to an existing account, removing the need to show a ticket.

While it seems like a huge technological leap to link palms with tickets, Legere said it’s similar to AXS’s already-existing identity platform.

“The integration we did wasn’t terribly complicated because our platform is identity-based. It comes down to, I, Blaine Legere have an identity within the AXS ticketing platform and my palm also has an identity. Linking those two things was pretty simple for AXS to do,” he said.

According to Legere, Red Rocks was a natural fit to debut this technology, in part due to the challenging testing nature it provides as an outdoor venue. AXS also has a strong relationship with Red Rocks and the venue had volunteered itself for any innovation opportunities.

“We knew that if we could handle Red Rocks, given the challenges with the weather that comes with the altitude, one minute it’s raining, the next it's blue sky and the next it’s snowing. We intentionally said, 'Let’s test to the fullest extent and make sure once we’ve handled Red Rocks going to an indoor facility will be simple,’” Legere said.

After its debut at Red Rocks, AXS will slowly roll out palm recognition technologies at venues across the country. Legere expects that expansion activity to pick up toward the end of 2021 and into 2022.