Marriott Dabbles With Tech Wizardry to Further Reinvent Brand

Marriott Hotels has been getting in bed with some interesting high-tech friends to deliver two high-concept hospitality experiences revolving around virtual reality (VR) and an app connecting like-minded hotel guests. Last week, Marriott unveiled "fully immersive, 4-D virtual journey teleporters" developed around Facebook's Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. The CGI special effects crew at London's Framestore film studio, who created the blockbuster film Gravity, produced the VFX experience inside the headsets. New York-based experiential marketing firm Relevent handled the roll-out. Initially placed outside City Hall in Manhattan for a five-day trial run, the teleporters are booths outfitted with heat lamps, fans and mist sprayers designed to emulate the sun, wind and ocean spray. Those are activated while people virtually explore a Maui beach and London skyscraper via the Oculus VR. NYC City Hall was chosen as the first location in order to grab couples married only minutes before to test out the headsets. After New York, the teleporters move out for a road show across America, appearing at a series of seven other Marriott properties and nearby cultural attractions through mid-November. "Marriott has been leaning in on technology the last year or two, and the real purpose of why we're doing what we're doing is not a marketing stunt," says Paul Cahill, SVP of brand management for Marriott Hotels. "When we sta