By Orit Naomi, HTN Staff Writer - 6.4.2024
The Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, has introduced a novel approach to in-room concierge services, utilizing hologram technology developed by Proto. The technology has been installed in the hotel’s penthouse and presidential suites, enabling guests to interact with hotel staff through holographic projections.
This marks the first instance of a hotel incorporating this product into its rooms, a move that Proto CEO David Nussbaum hopes will be replicated across the industry. The device, named M, is a compact tabletop unit, measuring 29 inches in height, 12 inches in width, and 8.5 inches in depth. It operates by capturing video via a camera or mobile device linked to the device’s software. The video is then projected in real-time into the space behind the device’s screen, allowing the guest and the holographic staff member to interact visually and audibly.
The technology within the device comprises a series of projections and evenly distributed LED lighting, designed to render the subject three-dimensional and lifelike. The software platform that drives the technology can be used to link a network of these devices. The hologram can either be a real-time projection of a person, a recording, or a digital avatar.
Previously, Proto’s hologram technology has been utilized at notable locations in New York, including Lincoln Center, Rockefeller Center, Moynihan Station, NYU, and by the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center, and, most recently, Terminal 4 at JFK Airport, where comedian Howie Mandel beamed in live to surprise travelers. The company, based in Los Angeles, holds the patent for hologram machines and the secure platform enabling holoportation. Proto operates across various sectors such as enterprise, education, entertainment, healthcare, telecommunications, sports, arts, and retail. Its client roster includes prominent names like Amazon AWS, Verizon, Accenture, PwC, Christie’s, and NBC Universal.
Proto’s first hologram device, The Epic, was a seven-foot-tall unit released in 2021. The company has demonstrated both devices in a social media video.
While the hotel is currently focusing on the interaction capability, it is also exploring other potential uses for the devices. These could include enabling guests to attend remote meetings, offering shopping experiences with luxury retailers on Rodeo Drive, hosting business speakers, and providing entertainment and fitness content.
Nussbaum agrees that the potential applications for hotels are vast. He cites the example of Hotel X Toronto, which recently installed a life-sized display in its lobby to serve as a digital concierge. Nussbaum also promotes the technology as a means for companies to reduce business travel and its associated environmental impact.
Proto is not the only company seeking to introduce hologram technology into the hospitality sector. Last year, startup Holoconnects installed a similar hologram box to replace front desk workers at a new Aiden hotel in Denmark, as part of a 30-hotel deal.
Upon entering the hotel, a guest’s movement activates a pre-set hologram video that is projected into a Holobox with dimensions of 1.8m by 0.9m. The guest is then greeted with a variety of options displayed on a large touchscreen, which include pre-recorded information about the hotel. If the guest requires assistance from a live representative, a customer service employee can remotely connect and appear as a hologram within the box. The strategy is to have a single staff member in a central location managing emails and calls, as well as servicing hologram boxes, for up to five hotels.
Proto boasts a roster of high-profile investors, including Paris Hilton, Howie Mandel, Quavo, Lil Wayne, Brittney Griner, Marshawn Lynch, Robert Griffin III, Albert Pujols, Tim Draper, and Mike Walsh. Since its founding in 2019, the company has raised $12 million in a series A funding round and is currently offering an open convertible note.
The company’s business has primarily been in the entertainment industry and for marketing and advertising purposes, with its technology being used in airports, theme parks, cruise ships, and by over 120 other entities. It has also been used by around 40 universities for remote teaching and was recently showcased at an AARP convention as a potential tool for combating loneliness and enhancing telehealth for the aging population.