IBM has developed a robot for Hilton Hotels that will work along with its staff to guide guests with all the practical information they may need.
Connie interacting with Hilton’s guests
Hilton Worldwide, in collaboration with IBM, has commissioned a project named “Connie,” which is a new-age IBM Watson empowered tech concierge. Connie, christened after Founder of the Hilton group Conrad Hilton, bridges the gaps in the vast expanse of travel know-how and devises travel solutions which are easy, profound and highly personalised. Connie, the robot, pulls its expertise from innovations and vast experience of IBM tech pioneers Watson and WayBlazer.
Connie is currently appointed at Hilton McLean, Virginia, and uses Watson APIs such as Natural Language Classifier, Text to Speech and Speech to Text to address customer queries on operations, bookings, services and local tourist hot spots. The back and forth interaction between Connie and the user enhances the travel experience of the guests whilst simultaneously allowing Connie to make modifications and improvements in its solutions. Check out Connie, the robot, in the video below:
“We’re focused on reimagining the entire travel experience to make it smarter, easier and more enjoyable for guests,” said Jonathan Wilson, vice president, product innovation and brand services, Hilton Worldwide. “By tapping into innovative partners like IBM Watson, we’re wowing our guests in the most unpredictable ways.”
“This project with Hilton and WayBlazer represents an important shift in human-machine interaction, enabled by the embodiment of Watson’s cognitive computing,” said Rob High, IBM Fellow, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of IBM Watson. “Watson helps Connie understand and respond naturally to the needs and interests of Hilton’s guests – which is an experience that’s particularly powerful in a hospitality setting, where it can lead to deeper guest engagement.”
“WayBlazer is excited to bring Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities directly to the traveller as a way to improve the in-destination experience,” said Felix Laboy, CEO of WayBlazer. “We believe providing personalised and relevant insights and recommendations, specifically through a new form factor such as a robot, can transform brand engagement and loyalty at the Hilton.”
While Connie is lending a helping hand to the Concierge Desk at Hilton McLean, Aloft Hotels has put a robot named Botlr on butler duty! You can read about Botlr here.