This New Hotel Room Is So Groundbreaking That They Patented It
Can a hotel room be so groundbreaking that it deserves a patent? If it's the WorkLife Room, billed as the “guestroom of the future,” the answer apparently is yes.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just approved InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)'s application for its new WorkLife Room at its Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts brand. It's part of an ambitious $200 million overhaul of the hotel chain and an unusual achievement in an industry where, if you've seen one room, you've seen 'em all.
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Delta to Start Scanning Faces at Airport Check-In
Delta will later this year roll out facial recognition at its terminal at Atlanta International Airport for anyone traveling on an international flight.
The airline said the biometric facial scanning is optional — a move that will shave off a few minutes off each flight — but will help border and pre-flight security authorities before jetting out of the US. It’s the latest roll-out of facial recognition trials at Detroit Metropolitan and New York John F. Kennedy airports.
What might be convenient to some, to others it’s a privacy violation — and some argue that without approval from Congress, it could be illegal.
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United Implements New Boarding Procedure
The Better Boarding process, as United is calling it, utilizes just two boarding lanes rather than the five that United had been using for more than five years.
Under the process, group 1 will board through lane 1 and group 2 will board through lane 2. Then, groups 3, 4 and 5 will board through lane 2 when called, while groups 1 and 2 may continue to board through lane one.
Along with the extensive trial in Los Angeles, United has been testing the new boarding procedure at scattered other airports since last fall. The carrier says the process results in passengers spending less time in line, which, in turn, declutters boarding areas.
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