Boutique Design - January/February 2018 - 3

integrated and passenger-friendly
experience available.
Brown says, "We want to make passengers aware of what is available to them
for their multiple options, and then guide
them, through digital platforms, to their
chosen venues, because these ships
are massive.
"Ocean Medallion is a proprietary technology that delivers interactive location
information. Wherever you are on the
vessel, the Ocean Medallion platform
knows your preferences for food and
beverages or music, for example, based
on what you inputted to the platform
before the cruise. It also learns from your
feedback during the cruise, and gives you
evolving options and choices to make
your experience more seamless."

Audio is part of the whole cruise
experience, whether it's spectacular
sound for entertainment or crystal-clear
sound for passenger information.
"For announcements in the corridors,
which highlight activities, we process the
audio for unmistakable clarity and spend
a lot of time making sure the levels are
correct," Brown says.
Princess also customizes lighting for each
of the different restaurants and venues,
with changing settings throughout the
day, depending on the time and event.
A lunch setting is different than a
dinner atmosphere or evening cocktail
ambiance. Specially selected background
music is chosen to work with the lighting
to complete an integrated and
pleasurable experience.
Making the cruise your own

For passengers faced with a plethora of
activity choices, Princess has developed
a proprietary customization and wayfinding system it calls Ocean Medallion. Regal
Princess has already been retrofitted with
this platform, the most interactive,

Princess wanted to get away from apps,
so it developed an actual medallion, like
a thick coin, worn as a necklace, broach
or wristband. Each of the 4K displays and
screens around the vessel, including passengers' own smartphones, interact with
the medallion and feed them targeted
information.
"You get it in the mail before the cruise,"
says Brown. "You go to a webpage and
add it to your cruise booking information.
You can choose light, medium or intense
interaction. For 100-percent participation, you can put in very specific preferences like 'I really love hamburgers, I
want to go to 7:00 shows and I want to go
on adventure excursions,' and it will keep
feeding relevant information to you."

If you choose a light level of interaction,
it will just open doors for you without you
even having to touch a handle. For
example, when you get to your cabin,
your door will open automatically.
When you go to the restaurant or the
bar, staff will know your name.
It all adds up to quality

"Whatever we're doing, we're doing it
with an absolute sense of quality," says
Brown. "We're partnered with Broadway
and Hollywood legend Stephen Schwartz
to create new production shows and
we're moving into the realms of more
detailed storytelling, which is very
exciting. The main goal is to provide
options and variety of quality."
Right now, Princess Cruises is upgrading
the fleet to the best technology that is
currently available, which is 4K video with
360-degree audio and Ocean Medallion
wayfinding. But technology never rests, so
in the future, it will be 8K or 16K, whenever the content is available. For Princess
Cruises, the quest for better and better experiences is never-ending. Derrin
Brown sums it up with an old example:
"You're finished painting the bridge and
you have to start again. The whole
journey is exciting."
AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated
Experience Association, is helping
hospitality designers create a more
successful future through the integration
of compelling audiovisual experiences.
AVIXA represents the $178 billion global
commercial AV industry and produces
InfoComm trade shows around the world.
For more information,
visit www.avixa.org/hospitalityAV

http://www.avixa.org/hospitalityAV

Boutique Design - January/February 2018

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