Totem Tuesday: July 16th, 2024
Hey there!
We
are
back.
Ladies and gentlemen
around the world
welcome to the
33rd consecutive edition of
🎉 TOTEM TUESDAY 🎉
(a literal and metaphorical party in the inbox)
Alright Tribe—let’s vibe.
We’ve got a bunch to catch you up on!
We just got back from a Fest Test at Lost in Dreams in L.A.
and there's SO MUCH TO SHARE
that we decided to dedicate the
first three sections of this newsletter
to debrief on the Testing with you.
🫶
A quick reminder before we get into the FUN STUFF...
If you missed a Totem Tuesday over the past few weeks,
here's where we are in the process:
We're still conducting QA testing, which is the final phase before rollout (keep reading for exciting Testing updates).
We expect that it will be at least another 5 weeks before we start shipping.
We are taking our time to conduct thorough testing all around the world, to guarantee a product that will knock your socks off.
Good things come to those who wait, we promise 🫶
By the way....
Have you seen the latest viral compassing video on Instagram?
(1M+ views and counting)
It's a fun one.
😁
OK! Enough housekeeping.
Let’s get into it.
This is our weekly progress report to all our favorite people.
Welcome to the Totem Tuesday 3-2-1.
3 things we accomplished,
2 things we learned,
1 thing coming up
Let’s go, Tribe!
___
P.S.
If this your first Totem Tuesday, welcome to the Tribe!
We are so grateful that you found your way here. 🫶
3 things we accomplished (in LA)
1) Navigation Testing
Last weekend, our Marketing team packed their bags and headed to Lost in Dreams in Los Angeles, CA to continue our QA Testing process.
But before we dive in, we want to express some gratitude to our friends over at Insomniac.
Thank you so much for putting us on the guest list for the festival, and generously offering to continue helping us out throughout this testing phase. It was great to meet with you in-person, and we're so very grateful for your support.
Lost in Dreams was the perfect next stop on the Totem Testing Tour.
The festival, located in the middle of Los Angeles, boasts 40K+ attendees across 2 days with multiple stages. The crowds were so dense that Carter's phone couldn't send a single text both days we were there!
Perhaps the most important feature we tested at Lost in Dreams was the Totem Compass' navigation abilities in those California crowds.
Fun fact: one of our team members actually got lost on Day 1, didn't have cell service, and could only find her way back by using the Totem Compass!
Here is a big takeaway from our Navigation Testing:
The Totems were able to reliably compass to each other across both days, after being calibrated for California's unique magnetic fields (more on calibration further down).
That said, there's some room for improvement to make the final 10 meters of peer navigation more consistent.
Here's something you may not know about the Totem Compass:
The Totem "collects" your peer light into the Touch Crystal once you've found your friend.
We initially thought that it would be good for the Touch Crystal to collect your peer once you got within 5 meters, but while we were testing, we learned that 5 meters is still a bit too far for dense crowds.
Around 20-30% of the time, the Totems would "collect" their peer a little too soon in the crowd, leaving us to look around for a minute before finding our friend.
So we're tweaking the code to make the peer-collection radius smaller for our testing this weekend at Tomorrowland!
2) SOS Testing
While in LA, we also did live Fest Tests of the SOS feature for the very first time. And it worked beautifully 🤩
The SOS feature is so important because, as festival-goers, there are times when we want to link back up with our friends but we aren't exactly in the headspace to venture out alone and find them.
The SOS button solves that problem!
Here's how SOS works:
- Press the depressed button on the back of your Totem Compass
- The button begins to blink red and your peer light on your friend's Totem begins to blink rapidly
- This signals them to come find you
We designed the SOS feature with intention and privacy in mind. 🩷 The button on the back of the Totem is depressed, to make sure you don't accidentally press it. We also made the SOS feature silent, kind of like a panic button underneath the security desk in movies. Nothing will alert the people around you that you've pressed the button—only your friends will know. Ultimately, our goal is to make you feel safer and more free—even when you're in a vulnerable state of mind. 🫶🏼
3) Bonding Reveal
One final WIN from the Golden State...
While we were in LA, for the very first time at a festival, we unveiled what Bonding will actually look like IRL! 😍
While the Bonding process has been working perfectly at HQ and around the world, this was our first time using the Totems with the beautiful customer-ready Bonding animation.
(peep the gif below)
Here's how Bonding works:
- Bring your Totems close together
- Press and hold the Touch Crystal with your finger
- A ring of light fills up and begins to breathe
- After successful Bonding, the ring of light changes to show the color of your new peer
- The ring of light then collapses into your new peer's light, before being collected into your Touch Crystal
At Totem, consent and privacy is everything. Which is why we've installed some security protocols in the Bonding process that will be helpful to remember. Your Totems must be held extremely close to each other, and you can only bond one Totem at a time. Each Totem exchanges a unique key so that no one can bond with you without your consent. 🤝
For more information on the Bonding process, check out our blog post!
2 things to learn
1) Touch Crystal Colors
We get so many questions from curious customers all around the world, every single week (keep 'em comin!) 💗
Here's the answer to a common question we've gotten recently.
Some people have commented on our latest viral video to ask why the Totem's peer light didn't match the crystal color on Carter's Totem.
The answer is pretty simple (and a lot of fun):
You can change the color of your Touch Crystal at any time 🤩
All you have to do is tap the Touch Crystal while your Totem is in Compass Mode!
(check the gif below)
There are 13 colors to choose from, reflecting the full light spectrum. Peep the diagram below to view all the color options!
We built this feature because beauty is important. We want you to be able to customize your Totem to your outfit & vibe, any time, any place.
2) IMU Calibration
To help us successfully find each other, we calibrated the Totems before the festival. This is a process called IMU calibration.
The Totem Compass uses an IMU to determine where North is. After all, the Totem can only know where something relative is (like your friend) is if it knows where something objective (like North) is!
The cool thing is that the Totem doesn't even need satellites to know where North is—the IMU can figure it out through magnetic fields. 🧲
To help us with Fest Testing, we have a North light on all the Test Totems. This is a way of making sure they're always accurate on directional headings.
Over time, the Totem's IMU can get a little confused in new places because magnetic fields are different all around the world. This was their first time in California, so they needed a little calibration before we went to the festival. 🤓
Calibrating the IMU takes about 10 seconds and ensures each Totem can navigate reliably and accurately.
PSA...
Be aware of magnets and iron when you're trying to navigate using your Totem Compass (just like with a normal compass). Super large speakers can also sometimes exert a magnetic field when you get very close—something to keep in mind at live events!
1 thing to look forward to
This one's TOO EASY!
This weekend, we'll have two Totemians in Belgium to do some testing at the world's most famous music festival, Tomorrowland!
Over the past 10 days, they've been testing the Totem Compass all around the European urban landscape—but now they're finally taking Totems to the Promised Land 🤩
This is a big deal.
Tomorrowland is one of the largest festivals in the world: 450K+ attendees and 16 stages! 🤯
Our team will be testing in both the campground and festival grounds. The weather is predicted to be pretty rainy, which will also be great for some water resistance testing.
Makaela, our stellar Director of Operations, is one of the two team members testing at Tomorrowland.
She was originally a customer and member of the Totem Tribe, and had been planning to attend Tomorrowland 2024 for the past 5 years. We're so thrilled that she finally gets to go—and gets to test the Totems on your behalf there!
When we say the Totem Compass is "by festival-goers, for festival-goers" we mean it.
🩷
A Very Special Feeling
Hey there 😊👋
You made it all the way to the end!
That's awesome.
You're awesome.
We're feeling a lot of great feelings today.
And it's all because of our Tribe.
We got to see
so
many
of you
in Los Angeles this past weekend,
and it rocked our whole world.
(Natalie, if you're reading this,
shout out to you because you absolutely rock)
So many of you recognized the Totem Compass
and wanted to see them,
hold them,
and wear them.
It was a special feeling,
showing these Totem Compasses working beautifully,
in the moment.
Lost in Dreams was a dream
that we got to live in real life.
Thank you, Insomniac, for making it all possible.
We'll be back very soon 😘
Totem Team, out.
✌️
(P.S. — if this is your first Totem Tuesday, we hiiighly recommend that you go back and check out the Totem Tuesday archives. Every single decision we’ve made with the product is detailed extensively in past editions. Have fun 😘)
