Last week, two major hotel groups, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International, announced the addition of public telepresence suites in key cities worldwide. The technology allows for people who are in different locations to meet as though they are face-to-face, with high-definition video and audio streaming in real time, no matter what the distance.
Marriott plans to introduce its first telepresence meeting suites, using AT&T’s Telepresence Solution, in 25 cities starting this fall, including New York, San Francisco, Washington, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Frankfurt and London. Starwood will roll out its first ten TelePresence rooms using Tata Communications’ network by the end of the year at Sheraton New York Hotels and Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Center Toronto Hotel, The Westin Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center, with additional openings slated for Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
What this means is that soon, ready or not, you’ll be having more face-to-face meetings than even before – even if some of them are virtual. So now is the time to brush up on your body language cues and develop your ability to accurately read the nonverbal signals of others. The visual technology revolution is in full swing!