[use cases] Intelligent Hotel Room

I'd like to contribute a use case to this discussion. I thought this was
interesting because the system configuration is extremely dynamic and
there's a lot of user interaction. Also, I think the value of this use case
would be appreciated by any frequent traveler. 

 

Intelligent hotel room

1. What is the user motivation for the use case?

Katherine is a frequent business traveler. She stays in a variety of
different hotels in many cities and different countries. In each hotel room
she is able to control the lighting, heating/air conditioning, locks, alarm
clock, water temperature, and entertainment in her room. If someone knocks
on the door she can see who's there from the TV or from her phone (a
security camera is outside her door). Control is available from her mobile
device, or she may be able to interact with the hotel room's services
through an ambient device located in the room. It is important for user
satisfaction for Katherine to get immediate access to these services when
she checks in (without installing hotel-specific software), but it's also
important that she not have access after she checks out. She doesn't have
time to learn a new user interface for every hotel, or even every hotel
chain, that she stays in, because she stays in so many different places. 

The user should also be able to control the room remotely through her mobile
device; for example, she would like to be able to warm up the room when she
is within a half hour or so of arriving back from dinner. This would support
energy savings because the room could be colder when no one is there.
Similarly, geofencing could also be used to turn on the lights when she's
approaching the room. 

The user would also like to have her preferences made known when she checks
in. For example, the room should automatically know her preferred room
temperature, preferred units (metric vs. English), and her preferred
language. However, her preferences may have to be overridden by the hotel
(for example, if she prefers a temperature that is too high or too low, or
if her preferred language is not available). In that case, she needs to be
informed that her preferences can't be met and she should be offered
alternatives. 

Privacy is also important in this use case. For example, the user doesn't
want it to be generally known whether or not she's in the room. Security is
important for preventing unauthorized access to the room or its services. 

The user sometimes also shares a hotel room with a colleague, in which case
both occupants need to have access to the same capabilities. 

 

2. How does this translate to a technical Description 

 

This use case describes a dynamic configuration where different users are
coming and going into the same space. It terms of control it is very similar
to a smart home, but the difference is that the occupant of the room changes
on a very frequent basis.

 

Discovery is very important so that users' devices can be used to find the
hotel room's services and their capabilities. It also points out the
importance of:

Interoperabiltiy across vendors

Uniform user interface across hotels

Communication of user preferences between users' device and hotel.

 

3. What application domains are related (e.g. referring to the taxonomy) 

Smart buildings

 

4. What interaction pattern with or btw things can be observed 

The hotel communicates with the room to allow/block access to control of a
room as required when a guest checks in/checks out.

The security camera communicates with the phone and/or the TV so that the
camera image can be displayed.

The user's mobile device communicates with the heating/AC to set preferred
temperatures.

The user's mobile device communicates with the TV to set preferred languages
and channels.

The user communicates to the alarm clock, TV, heating/AC and water to set
alarm times, TV channels, and water temperature when she wants to change
them.

 

5. Which Aspects are not considered 

How access to the hotel services are authorized (e.g. passcode, biometrics,
smart room key).

How access is turned on/turned off for new and departing guests.

 

Best regards,

Debbie Dahl