Tech Talk

Recent posts

Merging High Tech With High Touch to Create a New Hospitality Paradigm
Posted: 03/23/2023

One of the key challenges facing today’s hoteliers is that of high tech vs high touch. Does technology conflict with personalized service? Is it possible to offer both during the same visit? And can hotels that utilize technology in favor of human interaction achieve guest loyalty?

Business travel is picking back up and families may be taking their first or second real vacations since the pandemic cancelled so many plans just a few years ago. To ensure that guests have the best on-site experience possible, hoteliers are increasingly looking to new technologies to make their stay more comfortable than ever. With an advanced property management systems (PMS) and integration platforms, hoteliers can increase operational and staff efficiency, but also meet changing guest expectations for a high-value but relatively low-touch experience. We looked ahead to see what changes we expect to see sweeping the hospitality industry this year.

Long-term readers of this blog know that I rarely focus on a single company or product. My goal is to help readers understand new and emerging technologies, when and why they might be useful, and what to consider if you are buying them.

Read More +

The Future of Hotels
Posted: 02/21/2023

Hotels have always been a high-touch low-tech business. Today, and into the foreseeable future, hotels are moving away from the pure ‘people serving people’ model towards a more high-tech low-touch business, and doubling down on digitalization. In the paragraphs below, I envision ways in which tech can innovate and enhance the guest experience throughout the guests’ 6 stage hotel journey: Imagine-Book-Stay-Report-Recommend-Return.

Read More +

Definitely Doug 2/10/23: Planning for June
Posted: 02/10/2023

The question I have heard most often in recent months is “where are you going in the last week of June?”. As most readers are aware, two trade shows featuring hotel technology are scheduled during the same dates that week. Many of you are still undecided which to attend. Knowing that your decision will be based at least in part on where others are going (hoteliers and exhibitors both), I decided to try to get some real data that I could share.

Read More +

comment on this article

Wallpaper, Dual-View and Holograms: The Biggest and Best of DSE 2017

05/10/2017

by Bill Geoghegan

In a world constantly vying for your attention, unexpected content and form factor is king. While large digital displays in High Definition (HD) or Ultra High Definition (UHD) are almost a commodity, new form factors are successfully capturing the attention of potential consumers. Whether it is the digital outdoor roadside signs that change every few seconds, a series of displays with sequenced creative content, or displays that draw attention because of their unusual size or placement, digital signage is being used to capture the attention of a growing population which is fixated looking at mobile phone screens.

The 2017 Digital Signage Expo held in Las Vegas was a Mecca for new designs and content systems geared to Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising.

Both literally and figuratively at the front of the exhibits was LG, which introduced a family of products based on their organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. This technology allows displays to be curved and ultra-thin. In addition to a multi-curved display, LG also introduced its Wallpaper and Dual-View products. The Wallpaper is 3.65 millimeters (0.15 inches) thin, can be viewed from any angle, weighing less than 17 pounds for a 65-inch display. Dual-View has displays on both the front and back, which can be presented as the same or different content. I guess if both sides are independent displays, there is no front or back. It can be suspended from above with a rotating mount or configured in a stationary flat or curved display.

LG Curved Dual-View Display
Beyond the standard 16x9 aspect ratio screens, a number of vendors are offering displays in configurations that lend themselves to specific application such as directions, notifications, etc. Aspect ratios of 16x5 lends itself to displays that are mounted perpendicular to a wall, with information such as airport gate numbers with the flight and departure information alternatively displaying.

Numerous vendors displayed integrated touchscreen solutions for self service, for uses like restaurant menus. The success of these offerings is dependent on the integration of the touchscreen with the back end process, and the intuitive organization of the content. Two concerns with the touchscreen self-service environment are that the screens are difficult to keep clean with the high finger traffic, and the reticence of many people to touch a surface that has been touched by others. Perhaps the most futuristic and Sci-Fi like product presented at DSE may be the answer.

While it is not yet ready for commercial use, Asukanet out of Japan has engineered an interesting solution. The content of a standard monitor is passed through a plate at a 45-degree angle and is re-formed in mid-air as a hologram. That hologram can be configured to re-form within a specific location. A sensor can determine where a person is ‘touching’ the hologram, and interpret that location as any touchscreen interface would. The result is a screen that never needs cleaning and can’t be contaminated. Asukanet only sells the plates, but the integration of this clever product into production looks like it is only a matter of time. To see the technology, go to www.aska3d.com.

Please look for the Summer/HITEC issue of Hospitality Upgrade where more information about TV technology will be shared.