Hospitality is one of the most interesting applicative environments for systems integration: from the management of guest rooms to multimedia rooms, from security to spas…but the future seems to have many surprises in store
So, what will the hotels of the future be like? Hotels.com, along with futurist James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures, tried to answer: “The trends in technology, science, energy, and entertainment will significantly change the hotel experience. The emergence of a new science of hotel design, which is a combination of the use of big data, artificial intelligence and a prediction of travelers’ dreams, entails a change in the entire experience of travel.”
Among the projections for 2060 that include dreams on request and reservations for Mars (fascinating possibilities but perhaps of less interest for our readers), there are some we already see signs of today, or that could establish the development of tomorrow for Systems Integrators. Indeed, the room of a smart hotel is predicted to be completely customizable: entry is controlled by facial recognition, the TV will interact with the user and every surface will be a touchscreen, reactive and interactive, mirrors will project news and content in real time, while it will be possible to see the hologram of a concert, the temperature will adjust itself automatically…and this is only when it comes to the world that we are (already a little bit) familiar with. But we can imagine Hotels in augmented reality, part physical and part virtual, where clients will experience environments that until that point could only be imagined; and above all environmentally sustainable, powered by renewable energies integrated among each other, and even 3D printers for making objects and thus eliminating the need of luggage, or at least allowing a kind of “in-room shopping.”
Fantasies? Risky dreams? From a certain point of view, yes, if only because it is never easy to imagine the future. However, many technologies already exist: olfactory marketing, for example, and a small taste of the future of hospitality that was seen at the latest Fuorisalone, with the Blank Hotel put together by 3P Technologies that featured a touchscreen at the room’s entrance, through which it was possible to take photos that were then projected in the room itself. In short, certain technologies are already around, others are surely on the way, but that which will still be needed is the appropriate mindset, or rather the ability to imagine the future on the part of hoteliers themselves. We can imagine the future and have fun with its projections, but they only come about when someone actually starts to believe in them and, beyond just imagining, acts. And who knows if one of us will really be able to experience…I won’t say checking-in on Mars, but at least the thrill of being handed a towel by a “Jeeves” made of nuts and bolts!
For a tour of the hotel room of the future:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdhvKO11Cto&feature=youtu.be
Enjoy your (for now imaginary) stay, everyone!
