<div>The next time you check into a hotel, you could be going places. Well, that is if you’re lucky enough to be at the New York Marriot Marquis or the London Marriot at Park Lane. </div><div> </div><div>If you do happen at these two properties in the next two weeks, you could request some VRoom Service --- not a vacuum cleaner or car rental, but a dash of Virtual Reality for when you’re bored. </div><div> </div><div><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="width: 200px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/mala-bhargava-mdm.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; margin: 1px; float: right;"></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Mala Bhargava</strong></td></tr></tbody></table>It seems a bit odd that you’d go to another country, check into a hotel, and proceed to experience virtual reality when you can as well get real reality, but let’s remember that not everyone wants to just watch television or listen to music when getting back to their hotels after a day out. Not the millenials, anyway, and that’s who the hotel industry is going to have to please. </div><div> </div><div>Marriot has decided to take the lead with an experiment in giving its guests something different by way of in-room entertainment. They can order VRoom Service, upon which a little attaché case with instructions on the inner side of the lid and the VR equipment arrives. The headset is Samsung Gear headset – and indeed the experiment is in partnership with Samsung Electronics, US. Guests can keep the headset for 24 hours. </div><div> </div><div>When the guest is all outfitted with the VR gear, he or she can try out VR Postcards, travel experiences in which a user can get immersed in stories from real travelers. At the moment, the content is limited to just three of these postcards, taking the guest to China, the Andes Mountains and an ice cream shop in Ruanda. But if it turns out to be a hit, this can be developed as an interesting experience in hotel rooms. </div><div> </div><div>Mark Zuckerberg had his eye on similar experiences when he bought Oculus Rift, the VR company, and often talks of one day being able to share full-fledged experiences via virtual reality, the way one shares posts and photos and videos today. </div><div> </div><div>While VR in a hotel room may or may not work, there’s no doubt that the hotel guest of tomorrow is going to need different experiences than are available today and of course, they’re going to be heavily powered by technology. </div><div> </div><div> </div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
