Zhang Yang

    nicolezyyy@163.com

    A WIDE variety of innovative products were showcased by over 40 South Korean high-tech companies during the 18th China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) that kicked off at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District yesterday.

    Shin Doo-young, assistant manager of Oasys Story Co. Ltd. in South Korea, said his company is looking for business partners to bring the company’s hotel intelligent management system, Doong-zi, into China.

    According to Shin, receptionists will no longer be necessary at a hotel once the system is in place, as the system enables guests to check into and check out of a hotel all by themselves.

    He said that guests can choose hotel rooms using the system via its website or app, and they can make a payment with a credit card, WeChat Wallet or Alipay. After that, digital keys will be sent to the guests’ phones, which allows them to open the smart locks of their rooms without using physical keys.

    “Over 100 hotels in South Korea are using our system. Hotel management will be a lot easier as hoteliers can log into the system on their phones to check room availability,” Shin said, adding that the company has been developing the system for 20 years.

    According to Shin, their system is free for hotels with 30 rooms or less, while those with 31 to 50 rooms must pay 300 yuan (US$43.7) per month, and larger hotels with more than 50 rooms need to pay 500 yuan each month to use the system.

    In another exhibition booth, Anon, a technology company from South Korea, showcased a sleeping mat that could satisfy users’ needs over four seasons by adjusting its temperature from 26 to 40 degrees Celsius.

    Lee Jun-oh, a staffer from the company, said that the sleeping mat’s temperature changes when the temperature of the water infused into the mat’s interlayer is changed. He said the sleeping mat — as thin as 1 millimeter — is connected to a shoebox-sized container where the water is stored and processed, but the water is recyclable so users don’t have to change it.

    Lee said that users could manually adjust the sleeping mat’s temperature with a remote control, or they could let the mat automatically change temperature by detecting the surrounding temperature.

    “We’ve sold around 50 sleeping mats per day since it went on the market in South Korea in September,” Lee said, adding that the company is paving its way to the Chinese market by looking for potential distributors or buyers in China during the fair.

    According to Lee, the sleeping mat is priced at around 1,800 yuan. Apart from being used in homes, hotels and hospitals, the easy-to-carry sleeping mat can also provide convenience for campers, he said.

    The number of South Korean exhibitors participating in the CHTF hit a record high this year, with over 40 exhibition booths being set up in the South Korean Exhibition Area in Hall 1 of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, according to the fair’s organizers.