SceneTap app provides list of best local bars

Kilroy’s on Kirkwood tops the list of Bloomington’s busiest bars, according to Chicago-based SceneTap.

The mobile app — available for both Android and iPhone — uses information from facial detection technology currently installed in a handful of bars in town and is looking to expand. 

With the use of the facial detection technology, the app is able to tell users real-time information about the bar scene before the users go out.

Facial detection often gets confused for facial recognition, according to SceneTap’s website. Facial detection simply detects a present face and then estimates sex and age by appearances.

“It doesn’t concern me,” senior Lizzy Dawes, a new user of the app, said. “Wherever you go these days, there are cameras around, even in supermarkets. If it helps SceneTap provide a good service and it’s safe, good for them.”

The app also relays certain demographics of the bars. It lists the male-to-female ratio, the average age of people at the bar and also how crowded the bar is.

“It came from being sick of spending money on cab fare,” Danielle Bemoras,
SceneTap’s director of marketing and an IU alumna, said. “The idea was literally drawn on a napkin at Kincade’s in Chicago.”

After researching different technologies, the initial developers of SceneTap decided on facial detection technology because it fit their needs and protects privacy.

“It’s completely anonymous. When bars agree to be on our network they have no way of collecting the information of who walks in the door,” Bemoras said.

Bemoras said SceneTap can also help local bars with their marketing efforts.

“Bars can track more accurately foot traffic, maybe discover peak times they didn’t think about,” Bemoras said. “Say if Farm brought in a DJ, they could see how the DJ actually changed the consumers that night and reevaluate for the future.”

The app can also help consumers save money.

“My favorite feature is probably the specials feature,” Dawes said. “It’s nice for someone who wants to find a cheap drink because it lists the specials for every place.”

The app started in the Midwest but has been launched in many cities and college towns from coast to coast.

“We’re trying to build out Chicago, as well as other already tapped cities,” Bemoras said. “Incredible updates for the user experience to make the app much more accessible to figure out features and improve aesthetics should be out within a month.”

There is also more to come for Bloomington app users.

“We have plans to relaunch SceneTap in Bloomington with added venues in the near future,” Bemoras said. “It should be ready by the end of fall.”