Japanese Project To Create Automated Hotels

Yet another cool thing from the Land of the Rising Sun.

A new project to develop “unmanned hotels” in Japan may soon
eliminate the burdensome task of checking in at the front desk.
A consortium of five companies, including the trading company
Itochu and consumer credit provider Orico, are working to
develop a network of hotels that rely on an online reservation
and payment system, RFID-enabled Orico credit cards that
serve as keys, and RFID-enabled door entry locks.

When hotel guests reserve a room online with their RFID-
enabled credit card, a “key” is assigned to the card.
Since the credit card is the key, guests can bypass the check-in
process and proceed directly to the room at the allotted time.
The door lock recognizes the IC chip embedded in the credit
card, opening for the guest upon arrival.
The system eliminates the need for front desk staff to remain
on duty.

Japanese law requires hotels to maintain staffed front desks,
so the unmanned hotels will not be completely staff-free.
However, the hotels are expected to require only half the
ordinary number of personnel.


SOURCE:
Pink Tentacle

Very cool, I can see this catching on in Japan pretty fastly.
I think it c/would be a great technology for America as well,
especially if it ends up being cheaper than having actual
people doing the jobs.


Comments, Opinions?

[edit on 10/27/2006 by iori_komei]

im really interested in theranism. i respect ur beliefs alot so if u can fill me in more on theranism i would really appreciate it thank you