Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) in Las Vegas is involved in efforts to have all its 4,748 rooms equipped with artificial intelligence by mid-2017. The hotel will be installing Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Echo, a device capable of responding to voice commands. Amazon Echo delivers information through its voice assistant, Alexa.
Added convenience for guests
Steve Wynn, Chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd, said equipping their hotel rooms with Amazon Echo would enable hotel guests to configure audio-visual components, drapery, temperature, and lighting using voice commands. Future enhancements would continue to be added as both Amazon and Wynn continued to partner in a bid to offer more value to the hotel’s clientele.
“If I have ever seen anything in my 49 years of developing resorts that has made our job of delivering a perfect experience to our guests easier and help us get to another level, it is Alexa,” Waynn said.
The installation of Amazon Echo devices will begin this month starting with suites. The project is expected to be completed by the summer of next year. It was not clear from the announcement whether it would be possible to make purchases from Amazon from the Echo devices installed in Wynn’s hotel rooms.
Privacy concerns
Guests who are uncomfortable being in a room with an AI speaker will have the option of muting it for privacy reasons. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon has previously said that hacking the mute button on an Echo device is harder than hacking a smartphone. It will also be possible to entirely shut down the Echo devices at the Wynn Resorts.
Hotel industry experts say the development has been a long time coming. While voice commands have previously been used in hotel guestroom technology in the past in a rudimentary way, the initiative taken by Wynn Resorts would have a bigger transformative effect.
In Wednesday’s trading Amazon.com Inc shares edged lower to close the day at $768.82. Wynn Resorts Ltd, on the other hand, fell 1.43% in Wednesday’s trading to close the day at $92.46 a share.