IOT – Internet of Things - small, relatively simple connected devices.
Processing power and memory has dropped dramatically in cost over the last 5 years, so it is now cost effective to put CPUs into small battery or mains powered devices that can sell for relatively low prices. The infamous “Internet fridge” was one of the original concept devices but never really took off. Amazon Echo was one of the first practical devices and it has spawned an ecosystem of similar devices, and Amazon has opened the Echo up to developers to extend its capabilities. Smart watches led by Apple and Samsung are other examples. The original vision was sub $10 devices that do one function well eg water flow measurement or mini webcams, which share their data with a nearby master PC, and the PC then links to a wider network. Some predictions say there will be 75B connected devices by 2025. The small devices will all have a unique IDs, so they can be considered physical extensions of the Internet. The idea is to distribute processing power to the edges of a network, rather than relying on an expensive big computer to do everything.
Pros
- Can fulfil some simple tasks very well eg door intercom with video and picture sent to a mobile app, or Bluetooth door locks opened by an app, or smart meters for auto power measurement.
Cons
- Security is a big unknown. Hackers are starting to target some devices to get deeper access into homes and corporates. Small devices are unlikely to have regular software updates, so if they are hacked they become liabilities. In October 2016, the largest “denial of service” attack ever was launched on a US Internet service provider using an IoT “botnet” – rogue devices all acting in concert, including baby alarms. This led to parts the Internet going down for a few hours, including Twitter, Netflix, and CNN.com.
Uses in hospitality? Some chains are trying to enhance guest experience by pre-empting wants, eg turn the room thermostat pre-arrival to a preferred temperature or set ambient mood lighting or pre-tune the TV to your favourite channels. The settings can be saved in guest profiles for future visits to promote loyalty. A few hotels such as Village are dabbling with in-room Alexa or Siri to offer a personal concierge using voice commands. The experimentation tends to be in millennial chains or big budget chains like Marriott who have their own internal IT development teams or innovation centres. The traditional hotel PMSes haven’t caught up, so don’t expect Opera to offer Alexa interfaces any time soon.
For 5-star hotel brands, room controls are useful, but the human touch still wins out. Guests are more likely to want to talk to a human on reception than trust recommendations from Siri.
Last words from a tweet I saw recently:
“My son (4 years old), who has grown up watching us talk to Siri and Alexa, thinks you can talk to anything that has a screen or is plugged into the wall. This morning he told the toaster to order him a new lego set”.
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