Never lost at raves again: An interview with Carter Fowler Co-Founder and CEO of TotemLabs
If you’ve ever been to a festival or a rave, you know how easy it is to break apart from your group and how stressful it is to regroup and check if everyone is alright.
People new to the rave scene, and even the most experienced, may become overwhelmed by the crowd, loud music, the heat, the lights, want to explore the booths in the festival, meet with another group of friends or people they just met, or could even be having a bad trip or consumed more than what they were expecting and are now feeling unwell and wish to be alone. This feeling of becoming sensory overwhelmed is increasing by the day as a result of the mental health decline of the population. Not only does it make the friend group worried, but it can be too late to recover someone having an overdose by administering Naloxone and taking them somewhere safe.
This incognito of what may be going on with your cousin that you took to the first festival, your friend who you promised their parents that you’d take good care of or even your experienced friend who typically has their little escapade to become loopy was a party pooper for decades to many. However, this may be about to change.
We’ve all heard of sharing the location of our phones with apps, but let’s be real. When we are killing it on the dance floor when our favorite DJ is on, the last thing we care about is our phone, especially if it’s a rainy season. And the flames of the raver spirit still make you not miss this one festival where you’ll be muddy and ruin your phone, so you decide to leave it at home.
The reality is going to a festival with your phone. Sucks.
What if I told you that you can now find out where your friend group is, whether they are feeling unwell, and that it would look pretty awesome in your rave outfit?
To learn more about this technology. We spoke with Carter Fowler, Co-Founder and CEO of Totem.
A device that acts as a Compass helps you find your friends at festivals and other crowded events without cell service or Wi-Fi.
Check the interview below!
What is the Totem Compass, and how did the idea come to life?
Totem was born at EDC Orlando 2019, co-founder Chase Lemonds’ first ever major festival experience. Within hours, his phone had been stolen and he lost his friends in the massive crowds. As Chase wandered EDC’s sea of people alone, he had an idea that would change the festival experience forever. An idea that would keep people safe, give them true freedom at the event, and build precious memories with the people they love.
In 2023, Chase and I (Carter Fowler, Co-Founder) met and decided together to bring this idea to life.
Throughout 2024, our debut product—the Totem Compass—went globally viral 19 times, racking up over 125 million views, 2+ million shares, and generating over $1.5M in pre-orders.
In February 2025, we completed the initial product rollout, shipping 23,000+ Totem Compasses to customers in 60+ countries around the world. We are now gearing up for our first full festival season and our upcoming Seed Round, which will help us scale to meet the incredible demand that is pouring in!
How would you describe the Totem Compass, and what was the prototype behind the product?
Ever since that fateful weekend at EDC Orlando, Chase had been imagining the perfect solution to this worldwide problem. The first prototypes were actually a wristband that could be used to track friends at festivals… but over time and with many iterations, the Totem team developed the (now) world-famous Friend-Finding Compass that works without apps, cell service, or WiFi. The Totem Compass is a piece of “tech jewelry” designed to not only solve a huge real-world problem but look good doing it! The device features a beautifully simple interface with only 3 buttons and is about the size of a Double-Stuf Oreo, allowing users to wear it throughout the event. The eye-catching animations and aesthetic design make it an immediate conversation starter with anyone around you.
We live in an era where technology is on its hiatus. Every other week, there is a new release of devices. What makes the Totem Compass unique compared to other navigation or tracking devices?
Totem exists to bring people together. Not just physically, but emotionally, socially, and spiritually. We are here to help people connect with the REAL WORLD around them, and disconnect from screens and apps that rip us out of life’s most beautiful moments.
Massive tech and media companies all around the world build their business on convincing you that the most important things in life are not happening in front of you. This is tragic. Our lives happen right here, right now—nowhere else. Blink, and you can miss it.
Apps, screens, smart phones… they all have an insidious way of pulling you away from life’s most beautiful moments without your conscious consent. We aren’t here to pull you out of the real world. We are here to help immerse you in the real world.
We empower people to be more present during the most magical moments of their lives. To experience real joy alongside the ones they love. To connect on a deeper human level.
On a technical level, our best-in-class precision (often 1 meter or less in good conditions), real-time location updates (second-by-second), our incredible peer-to-peer range of 1km+ (something many people thought previously impossible on the 2.4GhZ spectrum), and the critical SOS Mode add to the reasons why the Totem Compass has become so beloved.
How does the totem compass work from a user perspective to a more technological perspective?
User Perspective:
The Totem Compass is screen-free and works without apps, so it communicates with the user through a language of light and color, rather than words.
There are 3 simple steps to use the Totem Compass from a user perspective:
- Bond your Totem Compass with up to 4 friends
- Find them any time, in any size crowd
- Vibe together and enjoy the memories
The Totem Compass features only three buttons: the power button, SOS button, and the beautiful glowing Touch Crystal, which is used to manage your Bonds. You can also change the Crystal’s color any time match your aesthetic.
Any time a user wants to be found by their friends, they can activate the SOS button to send an alert to all their Bonds. This makes their friend’s Touch Crystal blink “SOS” in morse code, letting them know that someone needs help.
Technological Perspective:
The Totem Compass uses Satellite signals to determine its location, and then leverages our Unity Mesh Network to communicate that location to bonded peers without any cell service, wifi, or bluetooth. The communications are encrypted and fully peer-to-peer, which allows it to work securely without any external data connection. Our software uses that location data to determine the directional heading of your friends, and guides you in their direction using a ring of pretty lights.
The location data is incredibly precise and sent/received every single second, making it easy to find friends even in dense crowds or if they’re on the move.
The device is color-coded. What does their different color mean?
Each friend that you Bond with receives a dedicated color on your Totem, which helps you differentiate between them. Their Bond Color is assigned based on the order you Bond with them–your first Bond is always pink, the second is green, third is blue, and your fourth is always yellow.
Because Bond colors are determined by order, you could be represented by a different color on different friends’ Totems. It just depends on the order in which they Bonded with you.
If you forget who is who, you can easily check which Bond Color is assigned to your friends by doing a Crystal Check. To perform a Crystal Check, simply move both Totems together so they’re almost touching, and your Touch Crystal will show you that friend’s color.
Otherwise, your Touch Crystal color is completely independent of the four Bond Light colors. You can change it whenever you want as a purely aesthetic choice, from one of 11 choices–whatever Vibe you’re feeling at that time!
How easy is it to set up and use for first-time users, and how can people do it?
We designed the Totem Compass with simplicity in mind, so that anyone can pick it up and use it with relative ease. Our goal was to make it simple enough for a 5 year old to use. With only three buttons on the user interface, learning everything you need to know is a sinch. We’ve got our Quick Start Guide (and accompanying video) to show anyone the ropes quickly, and a wealth of other resources on our website to become a pro!
One thing I love about the device is that it’s easy to work with technologically, allowing even the less tech-savvy to use it. Do you believe that simplifying technology could be the future?
Simplicity is one of our 4 core values at Totem. We deeply believe that beautiful solutions are simple solutions.
The world is becoming a more complex place with each passing day, and people are becoming fundamentally disconnected from reality. We are here to reduce complexity in your life, not add to it–creating products that allow you to really embrace the adventures of life and the beauty of the world around you.
One of our favorite quotes on this topic:
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to make them simpler.” — E. F. Schumacker
What is the maximum range or distance it can cover?
The peer-to-peer range between any two Totems is over 1000 meters, but our Unity Mesh Network extends that range for all Totems in the network, regardless of whether they are part of your group. Each additional Totem in the area extends your own range, even if you aren’t bonded with them. This means that in most situations, the range between two Totems won’t even be relevant as the mesh network gives them near-limitless range. Learn more on our blog!
One of the main preoccupations of family and friends in raves is that there may be limited or no cell service. How does the Totem Compass overcome such issues? Can users find their group even if there’s no cell service?
The beauty of the Totem Compass is that it works without cell service, Wi-Fi, or bluetooth. In most cases, cell phone service gets worse the more people there are in a confined space. The Totem Compass has the opposite effect—the more people that exist with Totem Compasses, the better they function.
The Totem Compass basically generates its own localized network, using peer-to-peer communication strengthened by our Unity Mesh Network.
What is the battery life, and how is it charged? Is the device rechargeable on the go with power banks?
The Totem Compass is designed to go all day on a full charge and charges super quickly using a portable charger, usually around 45 minutes to full charge. Vibe Mode lasts a typical festival day (10-14 hours) and Eco Mode goes more than 24 hours!
Even when Totems start to die, they give you at least 30-60 minutes of “low power mode” time to find your way back to your people. If your Totem does die and you don’t have a charger, your friends will still be able to find you if you stay put (because it’ll direct them to your last known location!)
We all know the rave spirit can’t be stopped even when it’s cloudy, muddy, or raining. How does the device behave in such settings?
The Totem Compass is designed for festivals–they’re very hardy! Super durable (check this video where we challenged people at Hard Summer to try to break it), not affected by clouds, and it’s water-resistant.
Your Totem is built for outdoor events, so no need to worry about rain, sweat, or humidity. Just don’t go swimming with it—they are not designed to be submerged in water.
How does the Totem Compass empower ravers to explore every corner of a festival without fear of getting lost?
The Totem Compass is all about freedom: freedom of choice, freedom of movement, and freedom of self-expression. Many people who attend music festivals do so with groups of the people they love, so oftentimes the barrier people face when wanting to experience other sets or explore activities is losing their friends. With the Totem Compass, you can explore whenever you want and always find your way back. There’s no more compromising on which sets groups want to see or forcing painful splits midway through sets. No more wasting time at meetup spots and hoping your friends remember… it completely changes the game and allows people to do what they want and never be lost again!
If one loses their totem during the rave, is there a backup app that allows the user to have multiple locations?
We made the Totem wearable and eye-catching specifically to ensure that people will never lose it. Hard to misplace something that’s affixed to your body!
That said, we may roll out a backup app in the future to integrate additional features like this, however it’s essential to us that the device never requires an app to work.
In the current stage of our society, we are noticing conditions such as anxiety, neurodivergence, and panic attacks that can be triggered during parties and raves. Is there any mode in your device that allows people to alert their friends that they are feeling unwell? If so, how does it work?
The SOS feature is one of the most important features of the Totem Compass. It keeps you safe at festivals and live events, even when you’ve lost your group. Sometimes at a festival, we’re not always in the headspace to venture out alone and find our friends, but we still want to link up with them. Once the SOS button is activated, the Touch Crystals on your friends’ Totems will start to blink SOS in morse code, telling them to come find you.
One important thing to note is that the SOS button is silent and discreet, kind of like an alarm button on the underside of a security desk like you see in movies. Sometimes, when we’re feeling vulnerable and frightened in a public setting, we don’t want the people around us to know that we’re experiencing discomfort. We want to be able to signal for help without alerting the people around us. The discreet nature of the SOS button respects your privacy.
We’ve heard from so many people with disabilities, autism, seizures, and other medical conditions about how much of a difference SOS makes. No one deserves to feel lost and afraid in the middle of something that should be beautiful.
More than a compass and tool, I see this product as a friendship locket that can birth incredible stories about how their friendship became stronger in cases of distress. Do you have any particular story you would be willing to tell?
I agree completely – we call the Totems “a love compass” for a reason! With a device like this, the stories of human connection never end. Even beyond the festival world! In fact, we had a customer reach out a few weeks ago who used the Totems while hiking in a remote area. They helped tremendously in keeping everyone together along the trails, and the SOS signal came in clutch when one of their friends needed help. Ultimately these simple stories of human connection are what make life worth living. They are our fuel, our motivation, and our greatest reward. We’re very excited to hear more and more stories about things like this as time goes on.
What’s the most common feedback from users in the rave scene? And what makes the Totem Compass a must-have for ravers?
Getting lost is a universal human experience, one filled with incredibly powerful emotions. Every day, we get feedback about how this can fundamentally change the festival experience for the better. I can’t tell you how many messages we’ve received from people saying they “NEED” this in their life. Even if you’re the most responsible and coordinated group ever, the fact that no set conflict, bathroom break or food trip will ever split your group up or result in unnecessary meetup times and logistics is the most freeing thing ever – that’s what really makes Totems a must-have. Once you feel that freedom, you really can’t go back!
People also love that our pricing is so inclusive for the entire community. We’ve worked incredibly hard to keep prices low ($69). Just because someone doesn’t have hundreds of dollars to spend, doesn’t mean they deserve to be lost.
As a team, what are other rave essentials someone must have in addition to your device?
Hydration pack (we love Lunchbox), Totem Compass, method for paying for food. That’s all you really need. If you have the Totem Compass, you don’t even need to bring your phone—but understandable if you need it to call an uber afterward, or want photos/videos.
How might it contribute to harm reduction by ensuring friends can find each other in critical moments?
Our mission is to make live events safer, more immersive, and more beautiful.
To that end, harm reduction is a big priority for us at Totem, and one of the main motivating factors behind the creation of our SOS feature. As festivals become more and more popular every year, so do the ODs, injuries and deaths that can be prevented!
On top of Totems already being able to help with emergency situations by alerting friends for assistance, we are in talks with major festival organizers to integrate Totems into their operations to allow medical teams to find endangered people quickly and avoid serious medical emergencies.
In the future, do you plan to integrate customizable features? Like marking personal spots (stages, tents, meeting points, identifying and avoiding overly crowded areas, etc. That could be accessed via an app.)
Yes we do—big plans here! We’ll announce later this year so watch out!
Where can people buy the Totem Compass and keep updated with your work and future projects?
You can check out our product page for more info and to order now here, sign up for our weekly Totem Tuesday newsletters here, or follow us on Instagram for all of our exciting video content!
