Boutique Design - July/August 2017 - 51

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Audiovisual Experiences
Make Hospitality More Memorable
audiovisual overlay must be integrated into
the overall design thinking. It is an intricate
dance between the brand's expression in
the physical environment and how interactive digital media plays a role in enhancing
experiences. At one point, mobile check-in
may be the tool. At another location, it may
be large-scale digital projections.

By David Kepron, Vice President

Global Design Strategies - Distinctive Premium Brands,
Marriott International

Marriott International has 31 distinctive
brands that share a commitment "To Be
The World's Favorite Travel Company."
When bringing our brand experiences to life,
digital content and audiovisual experiences
play a significant role from design to
customer engagement.
The customer journey starts long before the
welcome smile by a doorman or associate at
check-in. Customer engagement starts with a
digital connection through an Internet search
scanning destinations, property photos and
opportunities for excursions. When guests
arrive on property, their journey has already
been well under way. From arrival to checkin, a ride in an elevator, to the guestroom
and back, we consider signature brand moments and how to engage guests each step
along the way. And we ask, where are digital
and audiovisual experiences appropriate?
Architecture, design, materials, finishes
and furniture make up the physical
environment. The digital pieces and the

No two properties may be the same in how
they engage the senses, trigger emotion
and foster lasting positive memories. What is
consistent is the question of whether or not
the introduction of digital content improves
the guest experience?
A good example is Renaissance, where
the brand strategy and design foundation
require digital interactivity on projected
surfaces, using audiovisual content to
enliven public spaces.
If you go to the Renaissance Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, you encounter a projected
digital experience in the elevator corridor,
where projected graphics are motionreactive. As you walk through the lobby, wall
content modulates to your movement. It's
very subtle, but it becomes something that
you naturally start to play with.

with scenes of New York. They introduce
intrigue and a sense of mystery that capture
your attention.
Marriott continues to study audiovisual
experiences such as digitally immersive
environments, the Internet of Things, adaptive interfaces and the neuroscience of
customer engagement in a digital world.
The influence of a digitally mediated culture
on an emerging generation of guests will
result in vastly different expectations about
their relationships with the brands they love.
Providing digitally immersive audiovisual
environments can engage and empower
guests in making hotels stays memorable.
As the global trade association for the
commercial audiovisual industry, InfoComm
International is helping hospitality designers
create a more successful future through the
integration of compelling audiovisual experiences.

Farther down the corridor, there is a virtual
concierge, where you stand and point to the
wall at what you're interested in. Sensors
respond to your arm motion, activating additional content and helping you determine
where you can go for dinner within a fiveminute walk, or where you can go
shopping or have a cultural experience.
In the lobby, the digital projections continue,
as environmental art and graphics. You don't
directly interact with them, but they augment
the environment, providing a digital tapestry

www.infocomm.org
INNoVATIoN SPoNSoR oF

2017
http://www.infocomm.org
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