The alternative rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars has partnered with billionaire “tech bro” Sam Altman’s company Tools For Humanity to scan the eyeballs of concertgoers with a device known as “The Orb.”
The biometric eyeball scans create what the company calls a “World ID.” Tools For Humanity partnered with Concert Kit which connects the World ID to the Thirty Seconds To Mars tickets.
Image credit: EL SEGUNDO, CA, MAY 2, 2025: An orb is photographed during a grand opening event of World, a company co-founded by Sam Altman that uses orbs to scan eyes to help people distinguish humans from robots, in West Hollywood on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Hilariously, the eyeball scanning deal is specifically for buy-one-get-one tickets, meaning there could be a chance people will invite unknowing friends to the concert, only for them to realize their eyeballs will be scanned once they reach the venue gates.
“In Thirty Seconds to Mars’ case, they’ve used the technology to execute two-for-one tickets for those willing to get their eyes scanned and create a ‘World ID’ account. The allotted tickets, however, are only valid for select dates on the band’s upcoming Europe/UK tour in 2027,” Metal Injection said.
According to the band’s vocalist Jared Leto, the eyeball scanning is intended to counter ticket sales to bot accounts. Ironically, there was a foolproof system to prevent this issue in decades past. Concert tickets used to be physical paper items, often bought at music stores and smoke shops, or at the venue itself.
“Live music is about connection, energy, and shared experience,” he said. “Fans wait years for these moments, and too often bots get there first. We wanted to work with World to create something that helps protect the fan experience and gives real people a fair shot at being part of it.”
As concert tickets have nearly universally transitioned to digital smartphone based systems, concertgoers are not only faced with the prospect of nefarious digital skullduggery, but also the requirement to carry an expensive and breakable smartphone to the concert.
This is especially risky at punk and metal shows, as mosh pits run a substantial risk of breaking delicate items. Luckily for Thirty Seconds To Mars patrons, the band’s emo style is unlikely to make a crowd overly rowdy.
Regarding this new method of ticket sales, from smartphone scans to eyeball scans, Metal Injection wrote “This feels wrong on so many levels.”
The method by which various industries are dealing with digital and biometric issues (such as data breaches, hacks and unauthorized access) is ironic at best.
To combat the “problem” of digital and biometric information being compromised or misused, the “reaction” has been the “solution” of even more digital and biometric information being collected. This is particularly true in the medical field where healthcare providers are increasingly scanning various biometrics of patients while also facing an ever greater rate of data breaches.
8 Responses
I had to do that to go thru customs in tokyo japan 10 years ago, retina scan. it was not an orb though, it was like put your chin on something and look at the Hal 2000 computer thing. weird, I passed though, the japanese government let me in
Those who submit will not survive what is coming.
But the real question is how much are they getting paid by that company.
Who will have a database to…well, we know the money trail from there.
There will be plenty of idiots who will comply. Just like the brain-dead Amerikans who paid $1,000 a ticket to see Taylor Sh!t lip-sync.
America has gone full retard. I want to leave so badly.
They are not Rock…They are crap music.
nothing even close to rock
bullshit conformist commi scum more like it
F-that!
It’s not buy-one-get-one (BOGO) ticket sales, it’s buy-one-go-under-surveillance (BOGUS).