Hoosta Magazine

The hotel industry looks to the future, with far-out ideas from robot bellhops to rooms that monitor your health.

• LOBBY
Choose-Your-Own Check-In Tired of rooms that are not as advertised? Now you can pick your own, based on 3-D photos and room reviews from previous guests. And the hotel can upsell an executive to the penthouse suite by showing him that plasma TV in the living room.
The “Botler” Did It Bellhops are so 20th century. This robotic butler not only carries your bags but lives in your room for the duration of your stay. It can be programmed to fetch room service and take away trash and dirty dishes. Best of all, it won’t glare at you while you fish in your wallet for a tip.
Kinetic Corridor It isn’t just the lobby and rooms that cater to your needs. When the corridor detects human CO2 emissions, LCD panels on the ceiling become a blanket of stars, and illuminated signs point guests to their rooms, with large numbers for tired eyes. The carpet’s nanofibers fight static and stains.
A Key to Everything No longer are your room key, hotel phone, and concierge separate entities. After scanning your fingerprint, this voice- and touch-controlled wireless gizmo lets you read e-mail, book theater tickets, and order room service - while you’re still in the elevator.

• ROOM
Bath and Beyond The nanotech revolution means spotless antibacterial bathroom tiles, not to mention intelligent bathtubs that mold to the shape of your body. It’s gentler on the environment too. Water from the sink and shower is filtered into the toilet reservoir, rather than going down the drain. And all toiletry bottles are biodegradable.
Remaking the Bed Since it takes up so much of a room’s real estate, a bed ought to be multipurpose. This one flips over into a work surface or rises all the way up to become a ceiling panel. The bed’s base lights up in each configuration, thanks to built-in light-emitting capacitors (LECs).
A More Comfortable Comforter The sheets are made of special nanofabric that keeps itself clean and can be adjusted for firmness and heat. Biosensors measure your body temperature and instruct the fabric to adjust accordingly.

Fashion Police Can’t decide what to wear to the big meeting? A reader scans the ubiquitous RFID tags in your clothes, and the room’s software suggests the best combination - or points you to local clothing boutiques.
Home Cooking Guests are offered room-service menus, TV shows, radio stations, and news printouts from their home state or country.
The Hot Seat This multitask chair is equipped with reading lights, fold-up tablet tray tables, and integrated speakers near the ears. The nanofabric is flexible, breathable, antimicrobial, and even self-repairing. The vertical antenna on the right tablet functions as a videocamera. When it’s active, the tablet screen below becomes a viewing screen. The muscle stimulation switch provides a relaxing massage. Can your Aeron do all that?
Power Up Don’t worry about bringing charger cables. Electricity is transmitted magnetically via a mesh power grid stationed under floors and behind walls.
Happy Feet Pads on the bathroom floor read your vital signs while you’re barefoot at the sink and figure out what nutrients you’re lacking; they’re then mixed in a gel and available in a dispenser next to the faucet.

• KITCHEN

Porta-Gallery Taking a cue from Airstream trailers, this all-in-one prefabricated kitchen can be dropped into a modular hotel suite, then removed for the next guest. Everything is made from bioengineered cornstarch materials. The dishwasher doubles as a storage area for dishes, which get blasted with antimicrobial cleaning solutions to ensure that they’re always clean. The stove and oven function as a single unit. The storage unit on the right is a pantry, fridge, and minibar, which can be loaded from the hotel corridor through a trapdoor in the wall.

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