Materialise’s 3D printed hands-free door opener eliminates direct contact with door handle
17-3-2020
3D Printing technology may lend a hand in preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. Materialise, a Belgium-based pioneer in 3D printing, has designed a 3D printed door opener that makes it possible to open and close doors with your arm, removing the need for direct contact with door handles. The company is offering the printable design for free and calling upon the global 3D printing community to 3D print the door opener and make it available all around the world.
Call for anyone who can print this hands-free door opener in 3D…. The file can be downloaded here.
“The power of 3D printing in combination with Materialise’s three decades of 3D printing expertise made it possible to turn an idea into an innovative product in less than 24 hours,” says Fried Vancraen CEO of Materialise. “By making the design available digitally, it can be produced on 3D printers everywhere and become available around the world in a matter of hours. In this case, we designed the product in Belgium and people in China, Europe or the U.S. can now 3D print the door opener locally.”
TrashBot by CleanRobotics | A smart trash can that uses AI
10-3-2020
US-based robotics company CleanRobotics recently was named a semifinalist in the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE competition for its product TrashBot. TrashBot is a trash can using sensors, camera’s and Artificial Intelligence to separate trash from recyclables. This is how it works: Garbage is thrown into the bin after which a small door slides over the opening. The garbage is analysed using robotics, computer vision and artificial intelligence to detect and separate landfill from recyclables. TrashBot does this more accurately than human beings, capturing high quality waste data and it lets staff know when it’s getting full. Cloud connectivity allows individual units to learn from the global TrashBot fleet, becoming more intelligent over time. TrashBot also has a monitor for corporate communications, education and advertising.
The selection between landfill and recyclables is done way more accurately by TrashBot than by humans. Plus the fact that it lets staff know that the bin is getting full makes TrashBot a perfect solution for convention centers, commercial buildings like malls, stadiums, airports, bus- and train stations. As the pressure to recycle will increase the TrashBot will help these facilities to take out the uncertainty of the recycling done by humans and do it more efficient.
BUNK hotel Amsterdam |A new hotspot in the former Sint-Rita church
9-3-2020
After the booming success in Utrecht, Amsterdam now also gets a BUNK Hotel. BUNK opened its doors on the 5th of March in the former Sint-Rita church in Amsterdam North. After a thorough renovation, the monumental building has room for 300 guests. Is it a hotel with hostel prices? Or a hostel with the quality and service of a hotel? BUNK invites you to experience it yourself. BUNK has a sympathetically priced restaurant and a broad cultural programming. With the compact rooms and Pods, the lively shared spaces and the free cultural offer, BUNK focuses on connecting with the neighborhood and the world.
Last Tuesday, the 3rd of March, I was present at a dinner at the BUNK hotel. You are already impressed upon arrival by the transformation of this large church into a hotel. Great to see the BUNK pods but also the 107 compact rooms in the belly of the church, a separate concept. From April onwards you can and go sleep there, I believe this is a special and pleasant experience in Amsterdam. It’s also a great place to enjoy dinner with dishes based on various international cuisines, including that of Amsterdam. ^ Oscar van der Maas
Booking.com Launches New Pilot App CityBook in Amsterdam, London and Paris
25-2-2020
Booking.com, one of the world’s leading digital travel companies committed to making it easier for everyone to experience the world, recently announced the launch of a new pilot product, CityBook, a responsive digital guide for cities that seamlessly combines inspiration, planning, navigation and experience all in one place. The first pilots launched in the cities of Paris, London and Amsterdam.
This Pilot product leverages machine learning to make instant recommendations for travelers to easily explore all the best a city has to offer on the go. Booking.com just made exploring cities a whole lot easier.
Trends we spotted | Week 8
24-2-2020
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among other links to articles about the Crystal Clear Bread Challenge, cheese made from cauliflower and Popcorn Chicken Pizza.
Burger King New Zealand released a sandwich with just French Fries and at the New York Fashion Week Croc’s latest collaboration has been released: Crocs clogs for KFC fans!
KFC China created ‘pocket franchises’ via Wechat, a virtual franchise system to engage customers and encourage people to order from the restaurant. And the Travalyst coalition announces the development of new sustainability frameworks to help travellers to find sustainable travel and tourism options.
Trends we spotted | Week 7
17-2-2020
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among other links to articles about a nicotine-like ‘meat patch’ and the Fondue Pizza by Pizza Pilgrims and The Cheese Bar.
An international project upcycles shellfish to tackle plastic pollution and Café Jack and Beyond in London serves ‘bottomless Cake and Prosecco’. And a new water-saving defrosting system, called Boss Defrost, offers a more sustainable solution.
And an article on how the Coronavirus is hitting the business of American Chinese Restaurants and some inspiration for Valentine’s Day 2021!
Click on the title if you like to read the full article. Enjoy reading!
The city of Igualada & Airbnb | ‘Healthy Destinations Lab’
14-2-2020
A healthy tourism project between the city of Igualada (Spain) and Airbnb provides a blueprint to promote lesser-known destinations across the world. As told by Airbnb the number of arrivals of guests to the region increased 50% in one year propelled by domestic travelers. In late 2018, Igualada City Council and Airbnb announced the creation of the “Healthy Destinations Lab”. The innovative project brought together industry, policymakers and locals to explore, generate ideas and collaborate on building a healthy and sustainable tourism model for the municipality of Igualada, located within the L’Anoia region in Catalonia (Spain).
We wrote about the ‘Global Office of Healthy Tourism’ by Airbnb back in 2018 and recently they published a whitepaper on New Sustainable Tourism Destinations in which they, amongst other topics about sustainable tourism, subscribe the project with the city of Igualada in the Anoia region in Spain. The effect of the project: Guests arrivals in the Anoia region grew by almost 50% in 2019, 71% growth of domestic travel in the Anoia region in 2019, 16 of the 35 municipalities in the Anoia region received travelers through Airbnb.
Punk, Royals and Shoreditch | The new nhow London hotel has a special interior design theme
4-2-2020
NH Hotel Group recently opened its first nhow property in London at the beginning of January. nhow is a brand that surprises and inspires its guests by offering them an unconventional experience, which is unique to each hotel’s location. nhow London is part of the exciting new development 250 City Road.
Check out their Instagram account for more details of the interior design which has ‘London reloaded’ as theme. You’ll be welcomed by Henry the robot and we love the Big Ben rocket sculpture in the lobby!
Mandarin Oriental Miami | 20 Years of Hospitality celebrated with a ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer
4-2-2020
In honor of the hotel’s 20th anniversary, five-star Mandarin Oriental, Miami is gifting newlyweds the honeymoon of a lifetime with the ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer. Named for the traditional 20th anniversary gift of platinum, the offer includes a seven-night honeymoon at any Mandarin Oriental hotel worldwide when booking a wedding at the Miami hotel.
Great initiative by this large key player within the hospitality industry, showing the importance to always keep utmost attention for creating exceptional and unforgettable guest experiences (no matter how large the organization is). A great example for other chains? Although this ‘Platinum Wedding and Honeymoon’ offer has a high price tag it might be an opportunity for other chains as well, a kind of ‘all in one wedding’ offer.
Trends we spotted | Week 5
3-2-2020
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among other links to articles about ‘Truth & Tonic, the first plant-based café on the Strip in Las Vegas and at an ATM outside of the new Vagabond venue in London, dispensing a glass of prosecco!
Other articles are about CHEW, another personal and reusable straw and an eco-friendly chocolate bar by Kit Kat, flavoured and sweetened with cacao fruit!
The Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid will reopen its doors in the summer of 2020 and Beyond Meat had another collaboration with Dunkin’ this time! A limited edition of the Beyond D-O-Double G Sandwich with Beyond Sausage!
And a very important development in Spain Aqua Abib created a solar-powered system that turns salt water into drinking water and commercial salt. Big, bigger, biggest – At the Lamanna’s Bakery in Scaborough Canada they created very big pizza slices and even sweet ones like The Donut Slice!
Materialise's 3D printed hands-free door opener 
Materialise's 3D printed hands-free door opener 
Materialise's 3D printed hands-free door opener 
Materialise's 3D printed hands-free door opener 
