Hotel Of The Future
MonsieurEvil
Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 4Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 4Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
<div class="IPBDescription">Weekend news blurb</div> (A weekend update from MonsE, still at work since 8am... -_- From PCWorld: <a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111042,00.asp)' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,...,111042,00.asp )://http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...111042,00.asp )</a>
All this stuff an no mention in in-room virtual reality pr0n... tsk tsk.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->A Night in the Hotel of the Future
PC World tests the gadgets and gizmos of a traveling techie's dreams.
Michael S. Lasky, PCWorld.com
Friday, June 06, 2003
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA -- Admittedly, the Hilton Garden Inn's gadget-crammed Room 267 is not your typical lodging. But stay just one night there, and you'll want it to be.
The invitation-only "Room of the Future" is housed in a special Hilton University wing of the property near Los Angeles International Airport. It comes furnished with a legion of next-generation products to enhance guests' business productivity, comfort, and entertainment.
Futuristic Features
"Not all the devices that we expect to be a hit with guests are," notes Barbara Bejan, the hotel's general manager. "But that's fine, since the room's main purpose is to see what guests like and dislike."
Among the niceties of this high-tech hotel room are:
a wall-mounted, 42-inch flat-screen HDTV Panasonic plasma television connected to a Technics receiver with surround-sound Bose speakers;
a Philips DVD/CD player;
a second, smaller flat-screen LCD monitor next to the Jacuzzi bathtub;
motion-detection lights that activate when guests enter the room;
a biometric room safe that uses a thumbprint as the lock and key;
free broadband, accessible via laptop or the TV;
a Panja touch-panel remote control that manages lighting levels and room climate; opens and closes the drapes; controls the TV, radio, and DVD player; and even repositions the head and foot of the king-size bed;
a compressor-less mini-refrigerator that is completely silent;
a Panasonic massage chair, a heated toilet seat/bidet, a computerized five-nozzle shower, and a defogging bathroom mirror.
Features that click with customers may eventually be implemented in other rooms in the Hilton family of properties, which also includes Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood.
Already a hit is free guest-room printing, Bejan says. Hilton teamed with PrinterOn, a site that enables remote printing. After guests log on to the PrinterOn page devoted to Hilton Garden Inn, they can send a print job to the hotel business center's color printer, which is available around the clock. Or, guests can forward the print job to another hotel in the chain, which will secure the printout until they arrive at the location.
PC World Tests the Room
When Hilton invited PC World to stay a night in the Room of the Future, I jumped at the opportunity. It might be work, but it's work in what Bejan calls "a boy's playroom."
A Smart Card reader lock system allows entry with an enhanced credit card such as the American Express Blue card. I used the hotel-supplied card and immediately spotted the TV camera by the front door. The camera was handy later that evening, when I used the room's Airphone to view and talk with a visitor before opening the door.
Security extended to the in-room safe, which was large enough to hold my laptop. A single flick of my thumb was all I needed to secure my belongings. Another touch of my thumb opened the safe, an easier method than remembering a combination or trying to properly punch buttons.
The wood-paneled room's T-shaped wood desk with its ergonomic chair offered adjustable lighting and a convenient ethernet port for the free Internet access. No notebook? I could have used the wireless keyboard to surf, with the 42-inch plasma TV as a monitor (for $10 a day).
But it was difficult to sit behind a computer with so many other toys available to test. The Panasonic massage chair, a leather recliner with a remote control, seemed uncomfortable at first. After I started its massager, the stress of the day melted away. Wait--now the room was too bright! Using the Panja universal touchscreen remote, I closed the curtains and blinds, dimmed the lights, turned on the TV, and switched channels. I was all but ready to move in permanently.
High-Tech Bathing
I walked to the bathroom, which was replete with a glassed-in shower offering five nozzles and computerized water-temperature control. While it sounded luxurious, it proved ultimately more annoying than enjoyable, with a few surprises.
First, guests need 20/20 vision to deal with the plethora of controls. I don't usually wear my glasses into a shower. Since I couldn't see what buttons I was pushing, the ****-level nozzle blasting 102-degree water came as a shock--and my attempts to shut it off only caused other nozzles to splash me as if I were in a penitentiary riot. (Hilton's plan to install a voice-activated control could be just the solution.) Another surprise: Despite all the high-end design, the shower lacks a soap dish.
I decided to try the Jacuzzi bath, with its overhead flat-panel TV. I poured a capful of shampoo into the water for some bubbles and left the room.
Minutes later, the tub was full of water, and the room was full of suds, spilling onto the floor--a Jacuzzi on steroids. I plunged in and found the controls, realizing ruefully why the hotel does not supply bubble bath oil. And the tub TV shows only whatever channel is playing on the TV in the bedroom; no switching from the bathroom.
Next, time for the VSS king bed. It was not a mattress, but a system of air baffles and slats instead of springs. The head, foot, and left and right sides of the bed articulated up and down via remote controls at each side--great for sitting up to read and to watch TV without having to amass pillows.
When I turned off the room lights--the whole dozen of them--with the remote, the room took on the look of a planetarium, what with all the glowing device LED lights scattered about. But I was too comfortable to let them bother me. I woke up the next morning in the same position I fell asleep in.
This might be the room of the future, but after one stay, I want it now. Want to check it out? Hilton Honors members are frequently upgraded upon the room's availability. You can also ask to reserve it directly.
If you want to try it, you may be able to by contacting the Hilton Garden Inn, El Segundo, directly. The magic number, again, is Room 267.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
All this stuff an no mention in in-room virtual reality pr0n... tsk tsk.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->A Night in the Hotel of the Future
PC World tests the gadgets and gizmos of a traveling techie's dreams.
Michael S. Lasky, PCWorld.com
Friday, June 06, 2003
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA -- Admittedly, the Hilton Garden Inn's gadget-crammed Room 267 is not your typical lodging. But stay just one night there, and you'll want it to be.
The invitation-only "Room of the Future" is housed in a special Hilton University wing of the property near Los Angeles International Airport. It comes furnished with a legion of next-generation products to enhance guests' business productivity, comfort, and entertainment.
Futuristic Features
"Not all the devices that we expect to be a hit with guests are," notes Barbara Bejan, the hotel's general manager. "But that's fine, since the room's main purpose is to see what guests like and dislike."
Among the niceties of this high-tech hotel room are:
a wall-mounted, 42-inch flat-screen HDTV Panasonic plasma television connected to a Technics receiver with surround-sound Bose speakers;
a Philips DVD/CD player;
a second, smaller flat-screen LCD monitor next to the Jacuzzi bathtub;
motion-detection lights that activate when guests enter the room;
a biometric room safe that uses a thumbprint as the lock and key;
free broadband, accessible via laptop or the TV;
a Panja touch-panel remote control that manages lighting levels and room climate; opens and closes the drapes; controls the TV, radio, and DVD player; and even repositions the head and foot of the king-size bed;
a compressor-less mini-refrigerator that is completely silent;
a Panasonic massage chair, a heated toilet seat/bidet, a computerized five-nozzle shower, and a defogging bathroom mirror.
Features that click with customers may eventually be implemented in other rooms in the Hilton family of properties, which also includes Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood.
Already a hit is free guest-room printing, Bejan says. Hilton teamed with PrinterOn, a site that enables remote printing. After guests log on to the PrinterOn page devoted to Hilton Garden Inn, they can send a print job to the hotel business center's color printer, which is available around the clock. Or, guests can forward the print job to another hotel in the chain, which will secure the printout until they arrive at the location.
PC World Tests the Room
When Hilton invited PC World to stay a night in the Room of the Future, I jumped at the opportunity. It might be work, but it's work in what Bejan calls "a boy's playroom."
A Smart Card reader lock system allows entry with an enhanced credit card such as the American Express Blue card. I used the hotel-supplied card and immediately spotted the TV camera by the front door. The camera was handy later that evening, when I used the room's Airphone to view and talk with a visitor before opening the door.
Security extended to the in-room safe, which was large enough to hold my laptop. A single flick of my thumb was all I needed to secure my belongings. Another touch of my thumb opened the safe, an easier method than remembering a combination or trying to properly punch buttons.
The wood-paneled room's T-shaped wood desk with its ergonomic chair offered adjustable lighting and a convenient ethernet port for the free Internet access. No notebook? I could have used the wireless keyboard to surf, with the 42-inch plasma TV as a monitor (for $10 a day).
But it was difficult to sit behind a computer with so many other toys available to test. The Panasonic massage chair, a leather recliner with a remote control, seemed uncomfortable at first. After I started its massager, the stress of the day melted away. Wait--now the room was too bright! Using the Panja universal touchscreen remote, I closed the curtains and blinds, dimmed the lights, turned on the TV, and switched channels. I was all but ready to move in permanently.
High-Tech Bathing
I walked to the bathroom, which was replete with a glassed-in shower offering five nozzles and computerized water-temperature control. While it sounded luxurious, it proved ultimately more annoying than enjoyable, with a few surprises.
First, guests need 20/20 vision to deal with the plethora of controls. I don't usually wear my glasses into a shower. Since I couldn't see what buttons I was pushing, the ****-level nozzle blasting 102-degree water came as a shock--and my attempts to shut it off only caused other nozzles to splash me as if I were in a penitentiary riot. (Hilton's plan to install a voice-activated control could be just the solution.) Another surprise: Despite all the high-end design, the shower lacks a soap dish.
I decided to try the Jacuzzi bath, with its overhead flat-panel TV. I poured a capful of shampoo into the water for some bubbles and left the room.
Minutes later, the tub was full of water, and the room was full of suds, spilling onto the floor--a Jacuzzi on steroids. I plunged in and found the controls, realizing ruefully why the hotel does not supply bubble bath oil. And the tub TV shows only whatever channel is playing on the TV in the bedroom; no switching from the bathroom.
Next, time for the VSS king bed. It was not a mattress, but a system of air baffles and slats instead of springs. The head, foot, and left and right sides of the bed articulated up and down via remote controls at each side--great for sitting up to read and to watch TV without having to amass pillows.
When I turned off the room lights--the whole dozen of them--with the remote, the room took on the look of a planetarium, what with all the glowing device LED lights scattered about. But I was too comfortable to let them bother me. I woke up the next morning in the same position I fell asleep in.
This might be the room of the future, but after one stay, I want it now. Want to check it out? Hilton Honors members are frequently upgraded upon the room's availability. You can also ask to reserve it directly.
If you want to try it, you may be able to by contacting the Hilton Garden Inn, El Segundo, directly. The magic number, again, is Room 267.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Comments
-a bed.
-a standard key lock.
-A shower
-regular bathroom
-supplied soap and shampoo.
-a closet.
No need for remote controlled beds or 15 mile wide plasma screen to take a shower and go take a snooze.
I think I am officially afraid of water now lol
Just... ew <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
I saw this doco on TV a while ago about these little hotel rooms Japanese businessmen use to sleep the night in the city without having to commute back home. They were a horizontal tube set into the wall and you climbed inside, cryopod style. About a meter across and 2 meters deep. Inside there was a bar fridge (That you could have stocked with whatever you wanted, just ring ahead), a hot drink dispenser (Coffee or Hot chocolate), a TV set into the ceiling, a bed, a reading light, personalized aid-conditioning and a curtain. Everything you need in one little cozy, efficient pod.
Now <b>that's</b> Japanese ingenuity for you.
--Scythe--
I saw this doco on TV a while ago about these little hotel rooms Japanese businessmen use to sleep the night in the city without having to commute back home. They were a horizontal tube set into the wall and you climbed inside, cryopod style. About a meter across and 2 meters deep. Inside there was a bar fridge (That you could have stocked with whatever you wanted, just ring ahead), a hot drink dispenser (Coffee or Hot chocolate), a TV set into the ceiling, a bed, a reading light, personalized aid-conditioning and a curtain. Everything you need in one little cozy, efficient pod.
Now <b>that's</b> Japanese ingenuity for you.
--Scythe-- <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Replace that TV with a computer, and I will live there.
------------------------------- <- Horizontal
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| <- Verticial
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^_^
--Scythe--
--Scythe-- <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
They would be truly ingenius if they would stop having 85 bajillion people living in their micro-country and needing to sleep in what amounts to a well-equipped sewage pipe.
Pwnt, nippon.
Pwnt, nippon. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
In that case, I suppose we're not particularly ingenious here either. Here in the US we have quite a bit of unpopulated land and more wealth than a good number of smaller nations combined. At the same time we waste plenty, and have an unfortunate number of homeless people living in cardboard boxes in downtown alleys near buildings of multi-billion dollar corporations that couldn't care less.
I can assure you, there are a good number of people--even here--who would consider such a "sewage pipe" to be luxury, even if it was only equipped with a quarter of what Scythe described. Pwnt, fellow spoiled American <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Pwnt, inexperienced youth! <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Well, <s>they haven't managed to catch me yet</s> I haven't seen the inside of a mental institution, so I'll take your word for it.
Now, as for how to "fix" the situation of having people living in well-equipped sewage pipes...since (as I understand it) there are a number of earthquakes in that general area preventing too much building deep underground or with tall skyscrapers, how about....<drumroll please>
Floating city-states!
Yes, floating cities connected to the Japanese mainland. If you can't build up or down, build out. Talk about luxury hotel of the future--take the elevator to the airlock a couple hundred feet down, and you can take a submarine ride! Or something. I dunno, how about all of <i>you</i> try to think up a solution? (Or open a new thread for it, if I'm hijacking this one)