Hilton's Smart Rooms

Some of my past clients watch  hospitality innovation trends, so here is more.    In the past participated in innovation sessions for the customers of smart hotel spaces.

Hilton’s IoT-filled ‘Connected Room’ will be a treasure trove of guest data   By Eric David

Hotel giant Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is jumping on the IoT bandwagon in 2018 with Connected Room, new hotel rooms that will come fully stocked with smart home devices that guests will control from their mobile phones.

Hilton hotels have already offered guests a few smart features, such as mobile check-in and keyless room access, but Connected Room will add a number of other IoT amenities, allowing guests to remotely control their room’s temperature, lighting, TV and more. The rooms will also make it easy for guests to connect to their streaming media accounts for platforms like Netflix and Hulu.  .... " 

Roots of Inorganic Growth

Interesting stats, in particular how this can be driven by analytics.

The roots of organic growth      By Kabir Ahuja, Liz Hilton Segel, and Jesko Perrey

There are many paths to growth, and high performers take more than one—supported by reinforcing capabilities such as advanced analytics and digital customer-experience management.

Growth is a tonic for most companies. It attracts talent and creates strategic options while generating financial resources to fund new moves—provided the growth is profitable. It’s also been harder to come by over the past decade, as a sluggish macroeconomic environment and accelerating, technology-driven disruption have ratcheted up pressure on businesses. ....

The potential of advanced analytics

Across all the growth lenses, we found significant potential for an upside in advanced analytics. As Exhibit 2 shows, even at today’s low levels of penetration, advanced-analytics capabilities were strongly associated with the highest levels of growth, suggesting they will be a critical platform for the next generation of performance. ....  " 

Hilton Builds Connie Assistant with Watson

More hotel chains thinking about the usefulness of virtual assistants.   Notably includes Watson, and using conversation via a humanoid bot called Nao, and a Watson driven system called Wayblazer.   Must such bots be humanoid?  The model of a concierge is used.

In TNW: 
" ... Earlier this year, Hilton started a test with a concierge robot for its chain of hotels in the US. ...  The project is based on a partnership with IBM’s Watson program.

The robot – named Connie, after the hotel’s founder Conrad Hilton – is available to answer questions from customers. Connie knows everything about the hotel, neighborhood restaurants, tourist attractions, and so on. ... " 

See my list of assistants being investigated.

Coke Freestyle Machine as IOT

We were early examiners of late stage differentiation in the Coke Freestyle machine.  Now its common to see,  Thought of it as a way to understand how consumers tastes change by location, and to deliver those tastes.    But never saw it as an IOT idea.  Time to change our thoughts on that.  This piece also gives a short history its development and how it is evolving.   In Fastcompany. 

" .... "The Freestyle content bundle is the combination of work from 10 different groups within Coke," Steve Hilton, the global IT director for Freestyle, told the Summit audience. "It touches everything, from the content running through the machines all the way to taste-testing the recipes.

"It makes sure the right drinks are going over the air to the right restaurants."

Today, Coke Freestyle machines do 12 million user transactions a day around the world. Users can not only create custom mixtures, but they can also store them on a smartphone and then call them up on the Freestyle screen—even though the machine was designed before the first iPhone came out. ... " 

Intelligent Personal Assistants

At today's CSIG meeting Jim Spohrer pointed us to the growth of the intelligent personal assistant,  aka VDA,  and that the Wikipedia article on the topic had a good list and links to work under underway.   The article contains much more.   The idea continues to grow.   Items marked with a * have been covered here.  Here is the list:

(This post is NOW continually updated with new links, hundreds of posts)

*Accenture's MyWizard'
*Accenture's Amelia
*Alibaba Tmall Genie
*Alibaba using AliGenie 
Braina
*Microsoft's 'Cortana'
*Microsoft's 'Invoke'  With Harman-Kardon Using Cortana
*Microsoft Home Hub
*Enterra Aila
*Amazon Echo
*Amazon Show   Amazon Echo with screen
*Google's 'Google Now'
HTC's 'Hidi'
Maluuba Inc's 'Maluuba'
*Cognitive Code's 'SILVIA'
*Cisco's Spark Conferencing Assistant
*Apple's 'Siri'
*Apple's HomePod
*IBM Watson Analytics
*IBM Watson Assistant
*Wolfram Finance
*Wolfram Alpha
Nuance's 'Vlingo'
*Samsung's 'S Voice'
*Samsung's Otto
*Samsung's Bixby  (S8 Phone Assistant)
*BlackBerry's 'BlackBerry Assistant'
*LG's 'Voice Mate'
*LG's Hub Robot
*Baidu's Duer.
*Baidu's Little Fish
*Pepper Retail Robot by Softbank
* Facebook M
*Mattel Aristotle by Nabi  (Baby Monitor)
*Jill Watson  - TA at Ga Tech
*Mycroft
*Kasisto Financial Assistant
*Kuri by Bosch
*Ginger by Intel  (unknown since its acquisition)
*Otto by Samsung
*Viv by Viv Labs
*Google Home   by Google
*Google Assistant by Google
*DingDong by LingLong
*Einstein by Salesforce (links to current collaboration with Oracle?)
*Project Evo by Microsoft
*Connie by Hilton/IBM
*Smart Assistant by Lenovo
*SoundHound for Hyundai
*Essential Home


See also Virtual Personal Assistants.  In Wikipedia.

Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation

Was reminded of this resource recently.  Had used it to inspire some of our work with agent based models, good to see they are still going strong.  Articles vary in technical depth.   From their description:

" ... The Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation is an interdisciplinary journal for the exploration and understanding of social processes by means of computer simulation. Since its first issue in 1998, it has been a world-wide leading reference for readers interested in social simulation and the application of computer simulation in  the social sciences.

Original research papers and critical reviews on all aspects of social simulation and agent societies that fall within the journal's objective to further the exploration and understanding of social processes by means of computer simulation are welcome. .... " 

 Just a few of their peer reviewed articles in the latest edition: 

An Agent-Based Model of Status Construction in Task Focused Groups
André Grow, Andreas Flache and Rafael Wittek

Self-Policing Through Norm Internalization: A Cognitive Solution to the Tragedy of the Digital Commons in Social Networks
Daniel Villatoro, Giulia Andrighetto, Rosaria Conte and Jordi Sabater-Mir

Modeling Education and Advertising with Opinion Dynamics
Thomas Moore, Patrick Finley, Nancy Brodsky, Theresa Brown, Benjamin Apelberg, Bridget Ambrose and Robert Glass

Mobilization, Flexibility of Identity, and Ethnic Cleavage
Kazuya Yamamoto

Exploring Creativity and Urban Development with Agent-Based Modeling
Ammar Malik, Andrew Crooks, Hilton Root and Melanie Swartz

How Evolutionary Dynamics Affects Network Reciprocity in Prisoner’s Dilemma
Giulio Cimini and Angel Sanchez

Innovation Suppression and Clique Evolution in Peer-Review-Based, Competitive Research Funding Systems: An Agent-Based Model
Pawel Sobkowicz

Does Longer Copyright Protection Help or Hurt Scientific Knowledge Creation?
Shahram Haydari and Rory Smead      ....  "

SXSW Accelerator Finalists in Big Data and Beyond

Thought provocative SXSW accelerator finalists. In particular the big data in the enterprise section, but more beyond that.

 " ... For the 2014 SXSW Accelerator pitch competition presented by Oracle, more than 500 web-based companies applied for their chance to shine at Startup Village. We are excited to announce the finalist that will pitch on stage on Saturday, March 8th and Sunday, March 9th in the Hilton Hotel with some of the best in recent startups from around world.

The level of innovative ideas that were submitted made it very challenging to pick the top companies for each category. Some highlights include online identity verification that will help eliminate fraud and increase revenues for retailers, and a service that enhances your travel experience allowing you to point your smart-phone camera and translate images instantly without a data connection.  ... " 

Last Chance: Analytics for Executives.

LAST CHANCE.  Regional interest talk from successful professional practitioners.  In particular, suitable for executives seeking to understand the practical use of Analytics.

TIBCO Spotfire and the Data Analytics Foundation personally invite you to the Analytics Value Proposition Series – From Mess, to Models, to Insight 

Wednesday, October 30th, 10am-1pm  (complimentary lunch)
Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
35 W. 5th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

Register Here NOW .
This seminar takes a unique perspective to analytics and Big Data.  It introduces the full cycle of how analytics can simply and effectively be introduced into business process.  This method not only includes decisions and data, it allows for the integration of analytics into the decision process itself.  Integration can vary from installation into an App used by employees, inclusion in a mobile device, or used as a template for strategic action.   We will describe this approach, and provide a number of real examples of its use.  Examples at the talk will be drawn from supply chain, retail, marketing, financial services, energy awareness, manufacturing and executive information delivery.

Featuring:

Jeffrey D. Camm, Head of Operations, Business Analytics and Information Systems, Founding Director of the Center for Business Analytics, Fellow, University of Cincinnati

Franz Dill, Advanced Analytics Practice Lead, Data Analytics Foundation

Mike Fry, Associate Professor and Linder Research Fellow, Department of Operations, Business Analytics and Information Systems, University of Cincinnati ... 

(If you can't attend this meeting, contact me and we will arrange another session to present it  - Franzdill@gmail.com)

Talk: From Mess to Analytical Models

A few seats left:

TIBCO Spotfire and the Data Analytics Foundation personally invite you to the Analytics Value Proposition Series – From Mess, to Models, to Insight 

Wednesday, October 30th, 10am-1pm (complimentary lunch)
Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
35 W. 5th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

Register Here.

This seminar takes a unique perspective to analytics and Big Data.  It introduces the full cycle of how analytics can simply and effectively be introduced into business process.  This method not only includes decisions and data, it allows for the integration of analytics into the decision process itself.  Integration can vary from installation into an App used by employees, inclusion in a mobile device, or used as a template for strategic action.   We will describe this approach, and provide a number of real examples of its use.  Examples at the talk will be drawn from supply chain, retail, marketing, financial services, energy awareness, manufacturing and executive information delivery.

Featuring:

Jeffrey D. Camm, Head of Operations, Business Analytics and Information Systems, Founding Director of the Center for Business Analytics, Fellow, University of Cincinnati

Franz Dill, Advanced Analytics Practice Lead, Data Anaytics Foundation

Mike Fry, Associate Professor and Linder Research Fellow, Department of Operations, Business Analytics and Information Systems, University of Cincinnati ... 

(If you can't attend this meeting, contact me and we will arrange another session to present it  - Franzdill@gmail.com)

Martin Lindstrom on Personal Branding

Intriguing learnings and video:

Look at Me Now! Personal Branding on TODAY Show(1)
New York City. In a world growing increasingly more obsessed by celebrities, we tend to overlook one important fact: as individuals, celebrities have pretty much mastered the art of turning themselves into powerful, eye-catching and memorable personal brands. Think Madonna, Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt – even Barack Obama. What can we learn from them? In Part 1 of this riveting TODAY Show segment, Lindstrom concludes that by mimicking some of the fundamental rules employed by celebrities, we have the power as individuals to develop ourselves into a influential personal brand. ... '

Executive Decisions: Goals and Metrics

In InformationWeek, good article and case study:

" ... The terms "scorecard" and "dashboard" are often used interchangeably, but there's an important distinction. Scorecards are all about tracking against defined metrics, and most scorecards are attached to a methodology, such as the Balanced Scorecard or TQM, says Mychelle Mollot, VP of worldwide marketing, analytics, and performance management at IBM. "Top executives have actually laid out a map for where they want to drive the business, and they've created metrics that will drive the behavior that will get them there," Mollot says.

Dashboards display key performance metrics and perhaps green, yellow, and red zones, but they don't tend to show predefined targets or goals established by management and aligned to strategy.

Whether they call their decision-support tools scorecards or dashboards, only a small percentage of leading companies have actually mapped out enterprise-wide goals with a formal methodology. (The Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame currently lists only about 120 members, including Best Buy, Hilton, UPS, and Wells Fargo.) Some companies come up with their own methodologies, but the key question is whether it's a comparative decision-support interface --does it track performance trends relative to predefined goals? A much larger chunk of companies use dashboard-style interfaces that simply monitor the health of the business. "These types of decision-support tools aren't often attached to a grand methodology or linked down to the bottom of the organization," Mollot says ...

Places of the Future

Fraunhofer Institute has put together some research in constructing a hotel room of the future. Marriott tried to do something that included lots of easy interconnectivity in a hotel room, so you could create your own heaven ... or depending on view perhaps it was the other place? I was part of an innovation group that worked with Hilton to do something similar, though all the resources we had were some flip charts.

I now have been involved with and seen a number of examples of 'of the future' concepts, including homes, stores, hotels and decision centers. I have never seen anything close to any one implemented completely. Yet they are great places to test how a new idea can be presented to a consumer and react to the values it claims to provide. Another example recently brought to my attention is the Brussels House of the Future.

The Fraunhofer hotel example looks well thought out, though again much about information technology rather than architecture or direct comfort. Includes mention of scent delivery. One architecture example, curved walls, are known to produce a calming effect, but are very expensive to deliver. Includes a video.

Mariott's Plug-In

Last year I attended a meeting put on by Hilton about the future of the business traveler. One of the biggest gripes by frequent travelers was the connectivity issue. I have had many, many problems with connectivity. Early on it might have meant crawling under the bed to splice a telephone line. Now its mostly getting a wireless connection to work with our VPN. It is improving, but the technology is there to make it much better. Now I see that Mariott plans to introduce room plug-in panels that will adapt to many kinds of digital devices. More from Mariott. See the panel above, which does not seem particularly revolutionary, but it is certainly in the right direction. Videos and demos at the Mariott site. Not devoted to just getting work done!