This hotel chain is using biometric data to find you the perfect vacation spot
This hotel chain is using biometric data to find you the
perfect vacation spot
BY MELISSA LOCKER July 2, 2018
AccorHotels wants to read its guests’ minds—and their
heart rate and EEG and galvanic skin response, too.
The company teamed up with Toronto-based agency Cossette
and digital experience creators The Mill to develop an immersive sensory
experience that will hopefully reveal what guests want in a vacation before
they do. The program, called Seeker by Le Club AccorHotels, is being unveiled
as Le Club, AccorHotels’ loyalty program, merges with the Fairmont President’s
Club, Raffles Ambassadors, and Swissôtel Circle. They wanted a unique way to
let incoming loyal guests know that they would be able to continue offering
very personalized service—and what better way to do that then to read their
minds?
The online version uses a computer’s webcam and the
front-facing camera on a smartphone to measure heart rate and pulse to
determine the kind of travel that a person finds most appealing—based on six
different metrics, including psychological, personality, destination, and style.
The experience measures biometric reactions to a variety of images and
experiences: Think cold versus hot destinations; relaxation versus adventure
travel; rural or urban environments; and whether you’re traveling for family or
romance. In addition to the online version, AccorHotels is also developing
kiosks that will appear in a few of their hotels by the end of July.
Members of the press got a preview of the tech last month
in a fully immersive experience, and it was—not to use too technical of a
term—super cool. After strapping on a stylish headband that monitored alpha and
gamma brain waves, and wrist cuffs to monitor heart rate and skin response,
there was Ferrofluid to play with, a waterfall that would allegedly determine
whether you love tranquility or adventure, motion-tracking that figures out
whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, and pillars straight out of the
Fortress of Solitude that gauge your affinity for either modern or rustic
environments.
At the end of the experience, biometric data was run
through a custom algorithm and translated into a colorful psychographic
illustration. In my case, the computer gave me what is reportedly my ideal
travel destination—Baidu, China.
The only thing left to do is start a Kickstarter for a
plane ticket now!
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