It's Media Day here at CES 2018, where we'll be live-blogging our way through the most notable emerging tech -- and the crowds -- Tuesday through Friday. Hundreds of new products will be previewed this week by some of the biggest technology companies in the world, along with the plucky upstarts looking to make a name for themselves with a big debut among the 170k+ attendees.
We've pulled six products from the CES ethers that we want the hotel industry to adopt and incorporate, stat. From air quality monitors to next-gen in-room safes, here are the emerging tech products we expect to see in hotels when we check in.
Last year brought more than attempt at reimagining the local corner store; a disruption few customers were necessarily demanding. But the idea has serious potential in one classic space: the sad, sad hotel lobby store. Aipoly's Autonomous Store Platform allows customers to walk into a store, grab anything off a shelf, and be charged without ever interacting with a store employee so long as they've downloaded the app.
Front desk attendants could easily work the app download into the check-in process with guests, and rather than linking a payment method, it could all just appear on a guest's final bill along with other incidentals.
It's not hard to imagine this making for an exponentially preferable experience to the current shame spiral one faces when running down to the hotel shop to pick up a roll of Tums or a a box of condoms. Or worse, needing either of those in the middle of the night, long after the store attendant has locked up for the day. Actually, we wouldn't just prefer an AI hotel shop experience, we demand it.
Honestly, this just looks like a really, really cool shower. In addition to looking like something you would find in the bathroom of your high design hotel, the Elmer packs in the sort of features that hotels will need to begin adopting as their guests upgrade their own bathrooms at home.
A built-in acoustic sound system and wellness shower head make for what looks like a great bathing experience, and it isn't hard to imagine hotels striking quick deals with their toiletry partners to make full use of Elmer's essential oil mixer component.
Nearly every hotel room the world over is fitted with a safe. But more often than not, it's a clunky black shoebox-size brick, bolted down within a closet. Sure, you drop your passport inside when staying at a resort, but you hardly make the most of it because it remains out of sight and out of mind. And even in the most carefully considered design hotels, these safes look out of touch with their surroundings.
It isn't difficult to imagine an iKeyp tastefully hung next to the door of every hotel room, politely reminding you to deposit whatever extra cash, jewelry, prescription bottles or other valuables you won't be taking out on the town with you.
iKeyp sends text notifications when it is opened, and hotels could program the smart safe to remind you to empty its contents an hour before your checkout time. This one is a no-brainer.
This clever projector system has been making waves in the video game community in the days leading up to CES for its head-scratching ability to project two different images, games or program onto the exact same space, each visible only to one person. If that sounds confusing, just watch the video below.
MirraViz may not have set out to solve the timeless problem of how to occupy a family of four in a two-bed hotel room, but they certainly have nonetheless. Family destination hotels, take note, as well as restaurants looking to provide different viewing experiences from one single screen. This could be huge.
The hotel industry is already hip to the fact that 30% of Americans are allergic to down. The majority of hotels have long since swapped out their allergy-inducing feather pillows for hypoallergenic options, ecause no business wants its guests to suffer a crippling asthma or allergy attack.
Sensio expands upon that potential for good, by allowing hotels to prepare and arm their guests with information about air quality, allergens and other potential triggers no matter what city guests are touching down in. Airlines already warn passengers flying to La Paz or Cusco that they can expect immediate symptoms of altitude sickness as soon as the cabin depressurizes. So why shouldn't hotels in say, Beijing or Los Angeles, provide guests with measurable data that can dramatically improve their stay and experience?
The companies light-changing panels could make for a nice tech-led design feature in hotels. They can be synched with music as well as voice activated devices including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
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Stay tuned for more exclusive CES coverage, as well as our live blog from Vegas.
Image by KEEM IBARRA