A glimpse was provided of the technologies to be featured in the GUESTROOM 2010 prototype, hotel room and adjacent pavilion.
The display will debut next month at HITEC (Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference) 2006, June 19-22 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Based on a worldwide, comprehensive study, more than 40 different technologies have been chosen to be featured in the pavilion. Few of the technologies are only conceptual, while a majority is capable of installation within 90 days.
HFTP began soliciting applications globally in early January 2006. Once collected, a sub-committee of the HITEC 2006 Advisory Council considered the completed applications, as well as research gathered from a variety of industry and non-industry sources. From this point a guest room footprint was developed and input was solicited from a community of road warriors. The process generated a final list of "must have" technologies that were then invited to participate.
"Our goal is to provide attendees some ‘wows,' stimulate conversation and have the pavilion act as a catalyst for future thinking in the technology arena," said Carol Campbell Beggs, VP of technology at Sonesta Hotels International and chair of the 2006 HITEC Advisory Council. "The features in Guestroom 2010 are not meant to be totally comprehensive. For example, we have stayed away from in-room bars, textiles and architecture — except for in our guest room footprint. There were also some technologies that we expected to include, but a representative prototype or working model remained elusive."
"HFTP has been inundated with inquiries from both press and industry stakeholders wanting to know what will be in Guestroom 2010 and who is providing it," said Frank Wolfe, CAE, HFTP's executive vice president and CEO. "We would be doing an injustice if we tried to describe some of the featured technologies. One item alone caused more than six hours of conference calls with customs importers just to determine how to classify it.
"In fact, we have not even shared a complete list of the technologies with the HITEC Advisory Council, HFTP's Board of Directors or our sponsors," continued Wolfe. "We decided yesterday to provide this glimpse to satisfy the flow of requests coming into our headquarters office. The Guestroom 2010 prototype and its adjacent pavilion will feature a bed without a mattress, a 3D TV without the accompanying glasses, a shower that cleans itself, a sound that helps you concentrate, light and art that matches your mood, a valet that is always there, a faucet that recharges itself, an alarm clock that hides if you don't wake up, a highly unusual room design, and many other items too numerous to include here."
Some of the companies that have been selected to provide technologies for Guestroom 2010 and its accompanying pavilion are: Ammique; Brondell; Ceiva; Cisco; Concierge Networks; cStar Technologies; deepLight; EMA Innovation, LLC; Flame Free Candles, Inc.; FoneKey, Inc.; Goodman Manufacturing; Global Business Center, Inc.; Guest-Tek; Hog Wild, LLC; IBM; INNCOM International; Intelligent Consumer Products; i.Tech Dynamic, Ltd.; LUX Art & Design; MotoMan, Inc.; Multi-Systems, Inc.; Polyvision Windows; Safeplace In-room Safes; SAFLOK; Servidyne; Sharp; SpectraLink; SPD Systems, Inc.; Seura, Inc.; Tiare Technology, Inc.; Philips; TeleAdapt; Teledex; TOTO USA; UCA, Inc.; and ZVOX Audio.
In addition to Guestroom 2010, HITEC 2006 will feature more than 640 hospitality technology exhibits, education sessions from more than 80 world-renowned hospitality technology experts, and a plethora of networking opportunities. For more information, go to
www.hitec.org 
