South Korea's telecom KT Corp. will introduce its AI technology to hotels, apartments, building and cities overseas, starting with Vietnam and the neighboring region, the company announced.
South Korea's largest telecom company KT Corp. will introduce its home-developed AI technology to hotels, apartments, building and cities overseas, starting with Vietnam and the neighboring region, the company announced last week.
KT signed an agreement with Hoa Binh Construction Group, Vietnam's largest construction company, in September to bring AI-powered hotel and apartment services to Southeast Asia. The two companies also agreed to later cooperate on smart buildings and cities in major metropolitan areas throughout the region.
With the success it obtained in launching smart hotels in South Korea, KT is ramping up the effort to provide localized AI hotel services as well as smart city solutions in Southeast Asia, said Lee Pil-Jai, Senior Executive Vice President of KT's Marketing Group. Vietnam is the first stop. "It's a big first step for KT's AI platform to reach out to the world."
Smart hotels has gained traction in South Korea recently. In July, KT opened Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences, which is the first hotel in South Korea offering AI-assisted room services, according to the company. Another hotel that has adopted KT’s smart platform is L'Escape, a boutique hotel in downtown Seoul.
KT announced earlier this month that it will put Nugu Candel, its latest version of smart speaker, into 100 rooms in the Paradise Hotel Busan. The speaker can answer guests’ inquires about hotel facilities and tourism information in surrounding areas. The speaker will also be placed in the hotel’s restaurants and wine bars.
An earlier version of Nugu was put in 250 rooms in the Walkerhill Hotel. The speaker can be used to control room settings like temperature via voice commands.
The company said it plans to open three more smart hotels across Seoul by 2020 in partnership with global hotel chains Accor, Hyatt and Marriott.
GiGA AI Platform gets popular in South Korea
KT's AI platform GiGA Genie Hotel is a multi-functional, voice-recognizing infotainment system. The hotel rooms' lights, temperature controls and TV respond to voice commands such as "Genie, please set the room temperature to 20 degrees." Toiletries and other supplies may also be requested with voice.
Voice commands are currently available in Korean and English, and additional languages, including Chinese and Japanese, will be added, KT said, adding that it also plans to provide more concierge services for the Genie Hotel Platform, such as checking hotel bills, checking out and paying for the mini bar and room service.
GiGAeyes, an intelligent video security and image analysis service, detects intrusions in real time, both inside and outside of the hotel. It also serves as an around-the-clock fire monitor. KT-MEG optimizes energy management by analyzing big data to predict and control energy demands during peak hours.
GiGA Genie Hotel is a special customization of GiGA Genie, an AI-powered smart home media hub launched in 2017. With more than one million subscribers in South Korea, KT's voice-activated AI platform allows users to see what they command on touch screens or TV screens. The Genie platform can also be used in apartments, resorts and hospitals, the company said.