If you’re a true music fan, you know that in April, Southern California’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival marks the beginning of US festival season. In May, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas kicks into gear, and by June, festival season is happening in full force across the globe.
The quest for seeing your favorite music acts, while discovering new ones, and spending quality time with your besties in nature or under the night sky begin. Yet one thing can put a major damper on an event you’ve looked forward to (and saved up for!) all year long. It’s that moment when you’re separated from your friends and cell phone service goes down. Imagine that you’re at a different stage than your friends and one of them has your group’s parking spot pinned to their phone. With no way to find them, it could be a very long, stressful night of wondering how to safely get back to where you’re staying instead of experiencing the music you love.
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On day three of EDC, it’s 8:14 p.m. The site has been open for a little more than an hour and text messages have already stopped going through. It’s that dreaded moment. Yet with today’s latest technology, it may not have to be a scary situation. A new technology called the Totem Compass promises that you will “never get lost at a festival again.” This friend-finding compass claims to track your friend’s direction in real time within a 1000+ meter radius. Simply follow the light and it will lead you to your pals in a massive crowd.
Totem Compass Review: EDC 2025
At EDC, with 140,000+ attendees, and armed with a Totem, it’s time to find out if the claims are true. The device looks like a pendant or necklace and is worn around your neck. It contains technology based on satellites and a mesh network versus less reliable Wi-Fi, 5G or Bluetooth. It took less than an hour to charge before leaving for the site.
The rest of my Totem carrying tribe have set up a meeting spot and time to “bond” our devices before heading into the madness. We can add up to four friends each to track. They must also have the device (which retails for $69-89 at totemlabs.com). If you want to connect more friends, the hack is to “daisy chain” everyone by using one of your cohorts as another person’s bond who has a different set of friends. This can go on and on.
After meeting up, we pick up our Totems, hit the slightly raised button on the bottom to turn them on, then hold them horizontally. Note that the recessed button on the bottom is an SOS command in case you need a distress signal. More on that later. After the Totems connect to satellites, to calibrate the Totem, twirl one time at least 360 degrees with it in-hand held up. That’s right, twirl like you’re a candy raver or channeling your best Stevie Nicks. Nobody will think twice about it at a festival. Do this every time you want to establish a navigation path.
Now It’s time to hold two Totems next to each other, pressing and holding the top center button, also known as the Touch Crystal. This will “bond” you and assign a colored light to your friend so you will know which friend you are tracking by color association. Rinse and repeat for up to three more friends. All four colors will appear in a ring on your pendant. The colors also vibe to the music. Yep, an added bonus. Now you’re free to roam the festival grounds without fear of losing anyone. Also know, there are three brightness levels to keep your Totem at. Day Vibe will last up to 10 hours, Night Vibe up to 14 hours, and Eco Mode 24+ hours. You can also recharge with a USB-C cable, which is included in your package when you buy one.
In speaking with others using their Totems at EDC, the most common reaction was that it was so much easier to find friends once they “got the hang of it.” Most people admitted that there is a learning curve but once that’s mastered, using a Totem is “so worth it.” Others said, “We’re figuring it out but hopeful!” That seems to be true of most new technologies, until the moment when we can’t live without them. Remember when we didn’t have ChatGPT?
Another thing to know about your Totem is that it may require an update from time to time. If so, simply triple-click on the SOS button and it will initiate the update process. There’s no harm in doing this on a regular basis to make sure you are operating at maximum capacity. A couple of EDC friend groups admitted to being frustrated when they first tried to use their Totems on day one of EDC but once they did an update, it was a gamechanger.
It’s almost midnight at EDC and I’ve seen one bad DJ on the Main (Kinetic Field) Stage. Tell me why you need to keep taking your shirt off to play in-your-face techno that’s not really techno? There were better sets on the smaller stages like Quantum Valley with Le Youth, who threw down a notable moody EDM version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” and the mesmerizing Miss Monique. Obviously, I’m more into house, while my crew went off to discover bass but it’s time to meet up for Excision at Circuit Grounds. I’ll admit that at a festival, I let the music guide me and that means I can get lost easily because I’m not paying attention to what direction I’m going in, only what music I’m hearing. After attending many EDCs, it’s fair to say that festival’s logistics are especially challenging and chaotic.
It’s time to see if my Totem really does work with so many other people onsite. Truth be told, it was easy. I simply held up my pendant and followed the pink light prompt to my friend, even though I was totally lost. So, no panic or wondering how I’d get home. It’s safe to say, I’m pretty hopeful about the technology. On a side note, with the Totem, the more people using it at a festival, the better success rate everyone will experience, which is the opposite of cell phone connectivity. At EDC, there were 2000+ Totems onsite – so it was good connectivity.
The future of Totem looks promising as the company gets ready to release their app (projected for the end of June 2025) and a line of accessories including longer bedazzled Totem chains to make more of a fashion statement, among other items, that will deliver on the technology’s promise to make festival experiences safer, more immersive, and more beautiful.
As you head off to your desired summer festival, pick up a Totem and get one for a friend – or four – that you don’t want to lose track of. To keep updated on the latest Totem news, product enhancements, and discounts, sign up for the newsletter or head to the blog by visiting totemlabs.com. There’s even information on safety like Can someone nefarious track me? The answer is no. If you want more technical details about how the proprietary software and GPS technology work together go here.
Be safe and have the most amazing festival season imaginable!
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