Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Google unveiled its new Google Assistant Interpreter Mode, through which users are able to receive translations for dozens of languages and conduct conversations in real time. Following this announcement, Hyatt and Dream Hotel Group announced plans to pilot this feature in select U.S. properties. The concierge desk at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is also demoing the technology during CES.
Caesars Palace
With CES attendees in Las Vegas, Caesars Palace is piloting the new Google Assistant Interpreter Mode at its concierge desk for guests and visitors. According to Google, the feature will be rolled out over the next few weeks on Google Home devices and Smart Displays, helping users have real-time spoken conversations and (on Smart Displays) written translations in dozens of languages. The technology could help hotels better accommodate international travelers and improve their guest experience.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is collaborating with Google to pilot Google Assistant Interpreter Mode at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport’s concierge desk. Interpreter Mode will enable guests and colleagues that speak different languages to communicate via spoken and written translations of their own languages on a Google Home Hub.
“At Hyatt, we view technology as a way to scale care for our guests and colleagues and enhance the meaningful human connections that are fundamental to our industry,” said Alex Zoghlin, global head of strategy, innovation and technology for Hyatt. “As international tourism continues to rise, implementing solutions like Interpreter Mode ensures the needs of today’s global traveler base remain at the core of our innovation strategy. We are excited to collaborate with Google on a new technology that offers the potential to create widespread impact across the hospitality industry.”
To use this solution, hotel guests will identify their language on the Google Home Hub screen and hotel colleagues will activate Interpreter Mode to translate the conversation. In addition to assisting guests, this solution is being used to support colleague engagement efforts.
“Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport welcomes guests and colleagues from around the world, creating a diverse mix of backgrounds and languages,” said General Manager Irby Morvant. “With the possibilities presented in Interpreter Mode, we strengthen our commitment to provide a seamless guest experience, and create a welcoming and inclusive environment for colleagues.”
Dream Downtown
Volara and Dream Hotel Group announced a fully integrated, hospitality-grade deployment of Google’s live translation technology covering dozens of languages. Dream Downtown in New York is among the first hotels in the world to go live with this technology.
When global travelers approach the front desk or concierge, they can say things like, “Hey Google, be my Chinese interpreter,” and simultaneous real-time translation will support the guests’ needs. Complementing this translation functionality is Volara’s software that enables Dream Downtown guests to ask the Google Assistant for hotel information, concierge recommendations, or services.
“Google Assistant Interpreter Mode is a perfect accompaniment to Volara’s patent-pending Accuracy Engine that leverages data from millions of hotel guest interactions with voice assistants to significantly improve the accuracy of responses provided,” said David Berger, Volara CEO. “Our technology has long been helping guests with unique accents and distinct colloquialisms receive voice-automated service when they travel. We are absolutely thrilled by the seamless nature of Volara and Google’s technologies working together, and we are delighted that Dream Hotel Group is first to deploy this joint solution.”
“Google is the leader in multilingual computing, so it’s natural that its voice assistant would be able to support the global clientele staying at Dream Hotels,” said Christian Cooper, Dream Hotel Group vice president of IT. “By adding two fully integrated Google Hubs running Google Assistant Interpreter at guest check-in and the concierge desk, Dream is showing its commitment to delivering a frictionless experience for global travelers. Volara plus Google Assistant Interpreter equals a hospitality-grade, highly accurate, multilingual voice assistant for Dream Hotels.”
