Some way off (maybe), but visitors to the FiturTech hospitality exhibition in Spain this week are experiencing what some believe will be the hotel room of the future.
ITH Room Xperience is a project developed in conjunction with Spanish design studio SerranoBrothers to take the hotel experience to the next level, at least in terms of how guests interact with it and integrate their own technology into its systems.
The prototype, supported by the likes of Microsoft, Toshiba, Bang & Olufsen, PayTouch, is full of apps, gadgets, high-tech furniture and more.
Here is a clip:
It’s not the first time blue-sky thinkers have cast their eye over various parts of the industry, with previous efforts covering aircraft in 2050, the madness of the QR Code Hotel, and a tongue-in-cheek effort from UK-based hotel chain Travelodge.
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About Kevin May
nice – providing a high tech environment that allows an individual to be isolated from their local environment and wrapped in a cocoon of their everyday life.
Doesn’t that somewhat undermine the benefit of travel? To expand ones horizons by experiencing new places and cultures? Why isn’t this just a room in someone’s house – that way, they would not need to travel to the destination at all…
I totally agree with two aspects – a) using technology to improve Eco/Sustainability and b) technology like the smart glass that can enable more efficient use of space.
My prediction would be that by the time somebody would want to fill a hotel with units like this, the user interface will be predominantly voice, if not neural, so save the expense of all the touch screens. One video wall will probably suffice unless one wants to build pods with no exterior exposure.
I tend to lean the other way, with hotels focusing on the guest experience by helping them to more productively engage with the local environment and discover authentic in-destination experiences. That would also apply to helping them meet fellow guests or local residents with common interests for enriched social encounters.
Those are the sorts of things that differentiate the travel experience from simply renting a hotel room. People shouldn’t travel to only stay in the hotel, they should experience the analog world – not just live surrounded in their own virtual world. Again, they can save a lot of time and money to do that perfectly well at home.