Marriott and MIT want your hotel to be a social network
14 Aug 2014 • engadget.comIf you travel often, you know that it’s hard to socialize at hotels; short of a chance encounter, you’ll probably end up drinking at the bar by yourself. MIT and Marriott may have a better solution in store with their Six Degrees app. The mobile software uses LinkedIn to find connections between you and other guests. You’ll know if someone is a college alum, works at the same company or shares your love of scotch. Staff can organize events if there are enough people with common interests, and there’s even an LED-equipped table that lights up a line between visitors when there’s a match.
Although I very much dislike Facebook and what it has done to the idea of friendship - I really like the idea of ad-hoc social networks I could join and leave as time or location permitted. I dislike that this example is based on LinkedIn but I do see the need for some sort of identity system for such a network to be truly useful and not just a creepy anonymous chat service.
Will be interesting to see if ideas like this go anywhere.