Interactive kiosk
Encyclopedia
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
featuring specialized hardware and software designed within a public exhibit that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, and education.
Early interactive kiosks sometimes resembled telephone booth
Telephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
s, but can also be used while sitting on a bench or chair. Interactive kiosks are typically placed in high foot traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
settings such as hotel lobbies or airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s.
Integration of technology allows kiosks to perform a wide range of functions, evolving into self-service kiosks. For example, kiosks may enable users to enter a public utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
bill account number in order to perform an online transaction, or collect cash in exchange for merchandise. Customised components such as coin hoppers, bill acceptors, card readers and thermal printer
Thermal printer
A thermal printer produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing an image...
s enable kiosks to meet the owner's specialised needs.
History
The first self-service, interactive kiosk was developed in 1977 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
by a pre-med student, Murray Lappe. The content was created on the PLATO computer system and accessible by plasma touch screen interface. The plasma display panel was invented at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
by Donald L. Bitzer. Lappe's kiosk, called The Plato Hotline allowed students and visitors to find movies, maps, directories, bus schedules, extracurricular activities and courses. When it first debuted in the U of Illinois Student Union in April 1977, more than 30,000 students, teachers and visitors stood in line during its first 6 weeks, to try their hand at a "personal computer" for the first time.
The first successful network of interactive kiosks used for commercial purposes was a project developed by the shoe retailer Florsheim Shoe Co., led by their visionary executive VP, Harry Bock, installed circa 1985. The interactive kiosk was created, manufactured and customized by ByVideo Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA. The network of over 600 kiosks provided images and video promotion for customers who wished to purchase shoes that were not available in the retail location. Style, size and color could be selected, and the product paid for on the kiosk itself. The transaction was sent to the Florsheim mainframe in St, Lousi, MO, via dialup lines, for next-day home or store delivery via Federal Express. The hardware (including microcomputer, display system, touchscreen) were designed and built by ByVideo, while other components (like the CRT, floppy disk, printer, keyboard and physical housing) were sourced from other vendors. The videodisc material was created quarterly by ByVideo at Florsheim's direction, in ByVideo's state-of-the-art video production facility in CA. This kiosk network operated for over 6 years in Florsheim retail locations.
In 1991 the first commercial kiosk with internet connection was displayed at Comdex. The application was for locating missing children. The first true documentation of a kiosk was the 1995 report by Los Alamos National Laboratory which detailed what the interactive kiosk consisted of. This was first announced on comp.infosystems.kiosks by Arthur the original usenet moderator.
The first company to launch a state-wide interactive kiosk program was Imperial Multimedia
Imperial Multimedia
Imperial Multimedia is a developer of interactive kiosks based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States, The company was established by Fred Lochner in 1999...
in 2007. Imperial Multimedia
Imperial Multimedia
Imperial Multimedia is a developer of interactive kiosks based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States, The company was established by Fred Lochner in 1999...
installed interactive kiosks in 31 of Virginia's State Parks and these electronic kiosks included park overviews, printable maps, waypoints, points of interest, video tours of trails, and emergency information.
Today's kiosks brings together the classic vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
with high-tech communications and complex robotic and mechanical internals. Such interactive kiosks can include self-checkout lanes, e-ticketing, information and wayfinding, and vending.
Design and construction
The aesthetic and functional design of interactive kiosks is a key element that drives user adoption, overall up-time and affordability. There are many factors to consider when designing an interactive kiosk including:- Aesthetic design: The design of the enclosure is often the driving factor in user adoption and brand recognition.
- Manufacturing volume: This will determine which manufacturing processes are appropriate to use (i.e. sheet-metal, thermoformed plastic etc.).
- Graphic messaging: Plays a key role in communicating with potential users.
- Maintenance and thermal design: Critical in order to maximize up-time (the time between failures or crashes).
- Component specification: Typical components include Touch-screen, P.C., pointing device, keyboard, bill acceptor, mag-stripe and/ or bar-code scanner, surge protector, UPS etc.
- Ergonomic: Is important to ensure comfortable and easy user accessibility.
- Regulatory compliance: In the US it is important to design to ADA. Electrical standards include UL in the U.S. and CE in Europe. In the retail space you have PCI certification in the U.S. which is descendant of VISA PED (relative of Chip and PINChip and PINChip and PIN is the brandname adopted by the banking industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the rollout of the EMV smartcard payment system for credit, debit and ATM cards.- History :...
in Europe). - Interface design: Designing for interactive kiosks typically requires larger buttons and simpler decision trees than designing for a web or computer based interactive. Catchy attractive animations and short dwell times are important.
Government usage
Several countries have already implemented nation-wide installation of kiosks for various purposes. One example of such large scale installations can be found in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where thousands of special-purpose kiosks are now available to aid job-seekers in finding employment.
The United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
has created immigration kiosks where visitors register when they enter the United States. There are also Exit kiosks where visitors register when they leave the U.S.
Internally the U.S. government has institutions such as the Postal Service which utilize HR kiosks for their disconnected employees to update their training as well as monitor and maintain their benefits.
Industry usage
It is estimated that over 131,000 kiosk terminals exist in the U.S. alone.Groups who use kiosks in their business environment include: Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...
, United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
, JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways Corporation is an American low-cost airline. The company is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Its main base is John F. Kennedy International Airport, also in Queens....
, GTAA
Greater Toronto Airports Authority
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority operates Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The GTAA operates Canada's largest airport facility with a traffic of 31.0 million passengers in 2006. The authority's headquarters are on the airport...
, Future Shop
Future Shop
Future Shop is Canada's largest consumer electronics retailer. Future Shop currently operates a total of 146 stores across all of Canada's provinces as of December 2008....
, The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
, Target Corporation
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
, and Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
.
Telekiosk
The telekiosk can be considered the technical successor to the telephone boothTelephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
, a publicly accessible set of devices that are used for communication. These can include email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
, SMS
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
, as well as standard telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service. Telekiosk is rarely seen or heard anymore.
Telekiosks gradually appeared around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the first years of the 21st century. Some are situated in shopping centres and transport terminals, with the intention of providing detailed local information. Others are in public places, including motorway service areas and airports.
The International Telecommunications Union is promoting the use of the telekiosk in Africa and parts of Asia where local people do not have access to communications technology. In part this work addresses the "digital divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
" between rich and poor nations. There are, however, great practical benefits. The scheme in Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
aims to provide an E-Post system, whereby messages are relayed by telephone, then delivered by hand to rural areas, easing the problems of transporting letters across the countryside. Health, agricultural and educational information is also available.
Financial services kiosk
The financial services kiosk can provide the ability for customers to perform transactions that may normally require a bank tellerBank teller
A teller is an employee of a bank who deals directly with most customers. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier. Most teller jobs require cash handling experience and a high school diploma. Most banks provide on the job training....
and may be more complex and longer to perform than desired at an ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
. These are sometimes to referred to as "bank-in-a-box" and the first prime example would be the Vcom units deployed in 7-11 in U.S.
These units are generally referred to 'multi-function financial service kiosks' and the first iteration was back in late 90s with the VCOM product deployed in Southland (7-Eleven) convenience stores. Check-cashing, bill-payment and even dispensing cashcards. New multi-function machines have been deployed in "c-store" markets supported by Speedway and others.
By 2010 the largest bill pay kiosk network is AT&T for the phone customers which allows them customers to pay their phone bill. Verizon and Sprint have similar units for their customers
Photo kiosk
An interactive kiosk which allows users to print pictures from their digital images. The marquee example began with Kodak who had one point had over 100,000 units up and running in the U.S. Many of these units were customized PC's with an LCD which would then print to central printer in Customer service. Two major classes of photo kiosks exist:Digital Order Stations -- This type of photo kiosk exists within retail locations and allows users to place orders for prints and photographic products. Products typically get produced instore by a digital minilab, or at another location to be shipped directly to the consumer, or back to the store to be picked up at a later time. Digital Order Stations may or may not support instant printing, and typically do not handle payments.
Instant Print Stations - This type of photo kiosk uses internal printers to instantly create photographic prints for a self serve paying customer. Often located in public locations (hotels, schools, airports), Instant Print Stations handle payments. Often such systems will only print 4x6 inch prints although popular dye sublimation photo printers as of 2008 allow for 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 8x12. It's more a matter of resupply labour economics and chassis size.
Internet kiosk
An Internet kiosk is a terminal that provides public InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access. Internet kiosks sometimes resemble telephone booths, and are typically placed in settings such as hotel lobbies, long-term care facilities, medical waiting rooms, apartment complex offices, or airports for fast access to e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
or web pages. Internet kiosks sometimes have a bill acceptor or a credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
swipe, and nearly always have a computer keyboard, a mouse (or a fixed trackball
Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
which is more robust), and a monitor.
Some Internet kiosks are based on a payment model similar to vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
s or Internet cafés
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
, while others are free. A common arrangement with pay-for-use kiosks has the owner of the Internet kiosk enter into a partnership with the owner of its location, paying either a flat rate for rental of the floor space or a percentage of the monthly revenue generated by the machine.
Internet kiosks have been the subject of hacker activity. Hackers will download spyware and catch user activity via keystroke logging
Keystroke logging
Keystroke logging is the action of tracking the keys struck on a keyboard, typically in a covert manner so that the person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored...
. Other hackers have installed hardware keystroke logging devices that capture user activity.
Businesses that provide Internet kiosks are encouraged to utilize special Internet kiosk software and management procedures to reduce exposure to liability.
Ticketing kiosk
Many amusement parks such Disney have unattended outdoor ticketing kiosks. Amtrak has automated self-service ticketing kiosks. Busch Gardens uses kiosks for amusement parks. Cruise ships use ticketing kiosks for passengers. Check-in Kiosks for auto rental companies such as Alamo and National have had national deployments.Giving or Donation kiosk
A company called SecureGive sells donation kiosks to non-profit organizations, Church facilities, and other corporations use a giving kiosk to accept funds, donations, tithes, offerings at the self serve kiosk. Many giving kiosk are designed to accept credit and pin based debit, print receipts, and provide email confirmations to the donor.Movie ticket kiosk
Many movie theaterMovie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
chains
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
have specialized ticket machine
Ticket machine
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine , is a vending machine that produces tickets. For instance, ticket machines dispense train tickets at railway stations and tram tickets at some tram stops and in some trams...
s that allow their customers to purchase tickets and/or pick up tickets that were purchased online. Radiant and Fujitsu have been involved in this segment.
DVD Vending kiosk
An example of a vending kiosk is that of the DVD rental kiosks manufactured by several manufacturers, where a user can rent a DVD, secured by credit card for $1 per day.Beginning in 2002 new vending kiosks have started to be deployed which dispense a variety of items including electronic device and cosmetics.
Visitor management and security kiosk
A visitor management and security kiosk can facilitate the visitor check in process at businesses, schools, and other controlled access environments. These systems can check against blacklists, run criminal background checks, and print access badges for visitors. School security concerns in the United States have led to an increase in these types of kiosks to screen and track visitors.Building directory and wayfinding kiosk
Many hospitals today utilize interactive kiosks to allow visitors to find doctor's offices, departments and patient rooms. This use of the kiosk alleviates some of the mundane tasks of the hospital staff and allows them to focus on the more important ones. Harris County Hospital DistrictHarris County Hospital District
The Harris County Hospital District is a governmental entity with taxing authority that owns and operates three hospitals and numerous clinics throughout Harris County, Texas, United States, including the city of Houston...
, Baptist Hospital of Miami
Baptist Hospital of Miami
Baptist Hospital of Miami is a non-profit hospital located in Miami, Florida, United States operated by Baptist Health South Florida.Founded in 1960, the 650 bed facility is now one of the largest hospitals in the Miami area...
, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the largest and oldest children's hospitals in the world. CHOP has been ranked as the best children's hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report and Parents Magazine in recent years. As of 2008, it was ranked #1 in the nation for...
and the Cayuga Medical Center are but a few medical centers utilizing interactive touch screen kiosks with a building directory and wayfinding solution.
Hospital and medical clinic registration and check-in kiosk
Hospitals and medical clinics are looking to kiosks to allow patients to perform routine activities. Kiosks that allow patients to check-in for their scheduled appointment and update their personal demographics reduce the need to line up and interact with a registration clerk. In areas where patients must make a co-pay kiosks will also collect payment. As the requirements for documentation, waivers and consent increase kiosks with integrated signature capture devices are able to present the documentation to the patient and collect their signature. A business case for registration and check-in kiosks is built around: 1) workload reduction, 2) data quality improvements, 3) consistency of registration process, and 4) patient experience improvement. A large community hospital has been able to reduce their registration staff by 30%, improve data quality, and shorten lineups.Kiosk reliability
Reliability is an important consideration, and as a result many specialised kiosk softwareKiosk software
Kiosk software is the system and user interface software designed for a kiosk or Internet kiosk. Kiosk software locks down the application in order to protect the kiosk from users. Kiosk software may offer remote monitoring to manage multiple kiosks from another location...
applications have been developed for the industry. These applications interface with the bill acceptor and credit card swipe, meter time, prevent users from changing the configuration of software or downloading computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
es and allow the kiosk owner to see revenue.
Kiosk manufacturing industry
Historically electronic kiosks though are standalone enclosures which accept user input, integrate many devices, include a software GUI application and remote monitoring and are deployed widely across all industry verticals.POS-related "kiosks" are "lane busting" check-outs such as seen at large retailers like Home Depot and Kroger.
Simple touchscreen terminals or panel-pcs are another segment and enjoy most of their footprint in POS retail applications and typically facing the employee. Terminals include NCR Advantage (740x terminal) and the IBM Anyplace computer terminal. These units are considered "kiosks" only in functionality delivered and typically only incorporate touchscreen, bar code scanner and/or magnetic stripe reader.
Market segments for kiosk and self-service terminal manufacturers include photo kiosks, government, airlines, internet, music, retail loyalty, HR and financial services, just to name some.
Customer flow, queue and check-in
This segment includes healthcare patient check-in and "take a number" type custom flow. Devices range from simple ticket dispense to biometrics (fingerprint readers) for patient check-in.See also
- Self-service kiosk
- Vending machineVending machineA vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
- Automated teller machineAutomated teller machineAn automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
- Kiosk softwareKiosk softwareKiosk software is the system and user interface software designed for a kiosk or Internet kiosk. Kiosk software locks down the application in order to protect the kiosk from users. Kiosk software may offer remote monitoring to manage multiple kiosks from another location...
- Internet cafeInternet cafeAn Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
- KioskKioskKiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...