My Brain Technologies imagines wearables for Marriott

Finally, we know the two finalists selected for the Marriott Hotels Testbed accelerator program. These two start-ups are My Brain Technologies and Mymanu.

The French company My Brain Technologies and the English startup Mymanu both won the last eight stages of this selection. The key is an incubation space to develop their products in hotels in Europe.

Mymanu provides wireless headphones, known as Clik, which can provide real-time translation in 37 languages. Ideal for those who can only speak in their mother tongue. A good idea for communicating with hotel staff.

My Brain Technologies, meanwhile, hopes to implement Melomind, a brain training helmet that uses neuroscience to combat stress and anxiety and help people relax. For Marriott hotel guests, this would provide a stress relief session that could be incorporated into a personalized coaching program during their stay.

This year, around 150 companies from 24 different countries have applied for the program. For this new opus, wearables and more generally IoT devices represented 20% of the products offered; compared to only 3% at the start of the program in 2016.

Last year's winner Dazzle offered a voice-activated personal assistant that uses artificial intelligence and real human brains to answer customer questions. This product is already used in several Marriott hotels in Europe.

Personally, I find this Marriott hotel program and initiative absolutely brilliant. It offers the possibility to small companies to publicize, develop and market their products. It remains to be seen whether all the winners will always be used, in the long term, in Marriott hotels. Aren't they going to be trapped in a few years?

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