ATTRACTIONS FORESIGHT™
Robots will replace people in some functions
CUTTING COSTS 9. ROBOT WORKERS
The ability to perceive the minds of others is emerging in robots and this, coupled with advances in sensor design, will take us to a point where robots will become viable as workers, going from being attractions exhibits to being front of house and delivering guest services. Robots are being prototyped for use in a number of leisure sectors. Starwood, for example, announced it’s trialling room service by robot in its hotels. Robot butlers deliver trays and trolleys, which helps to keep costs under control while retaining the ability to offer this kind of service. The hotel industry is struggling to
keep room service viable – hotels are abandoning it, or cutting back on the 24-hour service – and operators are seeking ways to salvage the situation. Robots may be the answer. Staffi ng costs in attractions are a
signifi cant and fi xed proportion of overheads, so there’s a fi nancial incentive
to deliver services without increasing costs and robots meet this need. In addition to representing a reduction
in costs, money spent on robots will also count as infrastructure investment, so they’ll be treated as balance sheet assets, making them a more attractive option than incurring higher overheads due to increased salary and employee costs. The attractions industry will have a
great fi t with a robot workforce, especially in science centres and theme parks, where they can become part of the story. Robots are already being successfully used in education and we think they’ll become a valid and valuable part of the attractions workforce as technology improves. Corporate America had its best year last
year at a time when unemployment was at its highest, so as a trend, there’s a move towards making more money from less people. We see the move to robot workers as an inevitable part of this wider trend.
An image in Disney’s patent application features a marionette version of Jack Skellington
CONTROL OF THE SKIES 12. DRONES
Drone tech is advancing fast and early adopters are looking at applications. Three drone patents fi led by
SHIFTING THE COST OF TECH 10. BYOD & BYOW
Bring Your Own Device and Bring Your Own Wearables are the future, as operators shift the cost of acquiring hardware to the consumer and concentrate instead on providing the apps to create experiences. Smartphones can open up opportunities
to increase profi ts by passing costs back to users: we’ve seen this in systems such as Sonos, which couples wireless speakers with an app, enabling listeners to use their mobile device to control the music. Operators can take advantage of the
trend to engage with customers, extend the experience beyond the facility, drive down costs and offer more customisation.
36
THE NEW PATRONS 11. CROWDFUNDING
Crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter – which launched in the US in 2009, Europe in 2012 and Canada and Australia in 2013 – are transforming the funding of attractions, arts and culture projects. In the US, for example, Kickstarter channels more funding into the arts than the government does. Crowdfunding websites are proliferating
rapidly worldwide and being used to raise fi nance for a wide range of attractions- related investment, from new museums to technological innovations. ● See Kickstarter in Leisure Management Q1 12:
http://bit.ly/1jPnstR
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
Disney suggest larger-than-life puppets could be drone powered, bringing characters to life with greater control than previous air- borne characters which have simply been fi lled with hot air or gas. The application indicates drones
could replace Disney’s fi reworks with an aerial display system based on the fl oating pixel, or “fl ixel”, which would fi ll the sky with giant screens. In addition, it appears Disney
plans to use drones “where it’s desirable to provide an aerial display” for large-scale shows in both indoor and outdoor settings. Drone-mounted cameras have
potential applications in attractions for a wide range of uses from education – where they can take camera feeds to show aerial views – to guest photography. They could also be used to monitor safety and security, especially on larger sites.
AM 1 2015 ©Cybertrek 2015
PHOTO: © SHUTTERSTOCK/ KISELEV ANDREY VALEREVICH
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