Katharina Aguilar on Smart Hotel and the Power of Physical Space

The power of the physical space continues to increase in times of digital transformation, according to Katharina Aguilar. In her talk with elevatr, the co-founder of the innovation agency 7places passionately explores how technology and identity interact and how this interplay can be translated into physical space.

“None of us consciously puts our smartphone aside for more than a few hours these days” – Katharina Aguilar is herself the prime example of the connected guest. She loves technology and is open-hearted with her data. The fact that not all guests like this is one of the challenges she has “accepted” with her agency 7places. Because the careful handling of personal data is just as much a premise in an increasingly networked guest journey as the perfect interplay of identity, technology and design in a room.

When a hotel is smart, which countries are particularly keen to experiment with smart physical places and why the responsibility that a physical space bears is often still underestimated – that’s what we talk about with Katharina in this podcast episode. Also to be heard: What the “7th Place” has in store for the young founder.

The topics of the elevatr talk with Katharina Aguilar at a glance

• Interdisciplinary Founder Quartet: Katharina Aguilar, Vanessa Borkmann, Bianca Unger and Frank Dittel (from 03:10)
• 7places to be: From Smart Hotel to Gastrospace to Smart Destination (from 04:41)
• The more technology the smarter? Why there is not THE smart hotel in Katharina’s eyes (from 07:07)
• Whether nail studio or hotel project: Space follows identity! (from 09:13)
• Detox is a must: What responsibility does the physical space assume in the process? (from 12:30)
• All power to the data: How much can and should a hotel know about its guests? (from 14:37)
• Open Data and Co-Everything: The Future Topics of the Industry (from 19:30)
• Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Dubai, Russia: What these countries have in common in terms of physical locations (from 26:30)