PanasonicChallenges

Poor guest experiences in the hospitality industry reduce brand image and guest loyalty. Panasonic Corporation of North America saw the opportunity to use its technology to create exemplary experiences.

Initiative

Panasonic teamed with IBM to build the Panasonic Connected Solutions Platform using IBM Watson technology and the IBM Cloud platform to develop solutions that create personalized guest experiences. Together, Panasonic and IBM Services developed the Panasonic DCP, built on IBM Watson IoT™ and IBM Cloud. The DCP incorporates an ever-growing number of IBM Watson application programming interfaces (APIs) that can continuously expand the scope and functionality of Panasonic offerings and solutions. “Even though AI is often just a catchphrase, having the cognitive services of Watson helps increase the value of the concierge mirror,” says Oliver Akinrele, Senior Engineer.

Panasonic created the Panasonic Digital Concierge Mirror as the first solution to build on the DCP. The Digital Concierge offering enhances the digital mirror design with Watson Assistant, Watson Natural Language Classifier, Watson Text to Speech, and Watson Personality Insights APIs on IBM Cloud. Now guests can have a natural language, interactive dialog with the mirror to tap into the hotel’s guest and concierge services. The Digital Concierge solution also provides information about the surrounding area, including dining, entertainment, transportation, and weather.

Result

Panasonic and IBM are working together to create a range of opportunities for customer-focused service industries to enhance consumer experiences around location-based services and content consumption through the cloud. IBM Cloud is a critical component of the company’s AI strategy, according to Akinrele. “Thanks to IBM Cloud, we can integrate Watson into many of our other technologies. With it, we can access multiple services, including IoT solutions and data storage services.”

In fact, Panasonic is already injecting an unmatched wow factor into the hospitality and entertainment environments by enhancing some of its vast array of electronics offerings with AI and cloud technology.

Panasonic plans to continue expanding its connected solutions vision by using IBM Watson technology intelligence and its LinkRay solution to provide natural cognitive functionality and expanded features throughout the service industry. Panasonic has been showcasing a Smart Aquarium application that uses LinkRay technology and the Digital Concierge solution to create immersive and awe-inspiring visitor experiences. Panasonic hopes to use this technology to create new opportunities for zoos and aquariums throughout the US to provide information-rich, personalized experiences to visitors.