Several new tech projects for the travel and hospitality industry were shown at the Institute for Infocomm Research's fair yesterday. The annual Infocomm and Media Horizons seminar and exhibition, in its 15th year, has a different theme each year, and is used to show the results of innovative work done by local researchers. Here's a look at some of the more interesting projects showcased:
INFRARED INTERACTIVE BILLBOARD
What it is Passers-by use body movements to interact with games or graphics projected onto screens.
What it can be used for Interactive billboards, games and maps.
WEB OPINION POLL
TRANSLATOR
ROBOT BARISTA
What it is Hear what other netizens have to say about a tourist attraction before visiting it.
How it works A computer program mines blog sites for words connected to the tourist attraction. It determines if the words are positive, negative or neutral, and filters out spam or advertisements.
What it can be used for Gaining Net users' sentiments about places, services or even commercial products.
What it is A program that translates your statements from English into other languages and vice versa.
How it works Two uses possible. In one, text messages are used to get translations. Or, DVD players or computers with the program give real-time subtitles of foreign TV programmes in the language of your choice.
What it can be used for To help tourists when they visit countries where the language spoken is unfamiliar
to them.
What it is A robotic arm that takes drink orders, uses a machine to make them and serves them up.
How it works The robot recognises human speech, including colloquialisms, and sends the order wirelessly to the drink machine.
What it can be used for Besides hotel restaurants or coffee bars, similar robots could be used in hospitals, where their cameras and sensors size up a patient's injuries before a doctor can arrive.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on November 22, 2008.
