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IBM Travel Kiosk developed for people with mobile impairments
Business travel has changed dramatically over the past ten years. New and innovative ways are now being used to maintain brand loyalty as well as streamlining company policy and practice into a competitive global market across all industry sectors.
Airports, hotels, supermarkets etc have all changed the way they conduct business by integrating new forms of self service systems to enhance customer experience.
Self service technology has become the forefront of most business practice. Today, travellers can manage their own check-in, travel insurance, car rental hire, train tickets and hotel reservations by simply using a self service kiosk or web or mobile applications.
As time has gone on, these systems have become more advanced in their services offering more customised applications to suit all customers needs and requirements. From adding additional features and products to the hotel bedroom, to dietary requirements on an aeroplane, travellers can access a whole world of information and bypass the long queues.
While many self service kiosks have the credibility to enhance travellers experiences and trip, there are still many restrictions which limit people’s usage of the innovative systems such as people with a visual or mobile impairment, due to the surface being touch screen.
The self service industry are consistently trying to eliminate this problems so that kiosks are accessible to all members of the public.
Once these barriers have been formally removed, touchscreen manufacturers can:
- Continuously improve traveller experience and differentiate themselves.
- Build brand loyalty in an increasingly competitive global market.
And some businesses are taking that next step with innovative technology, providing new solutions for people with disabilities. In an earlier post we wrote about innovative kiosks, we looked at self service kiosks that had been installed around the world to accommodate for the visually impaired. We found that in New York state, talking travel kiosks had been installed to help the visually impaired find useful information about what to do, where to go, transport and travel information etc. The full article can be found here.
For more information about self service kiosks and how they can help improve your business visit Europe’s number one leading distributor and manufacturer of touchscreen equipment, Protouch.
A driver-less taxi has been developed which could make traffic jams, petrol fumes and crowded buses a thing of the past.
The futuristic taxi has no driver so no unwanted chatter to accompany you on your journey, just a button in the wall which you press to start the taxi to take you to your final destination.
The four-seated cab was introduced at the Science Museum in London yesterday and will be used next year to take people from car parks to Terminal 5.
Professor Martin Lowson, the man behind the electronic pod, said, “They could have the same effect on transport this century as the rocket had on the 19th.”
Lowson, who has a background in rocket science, added, “We believe that our PRT system can transform cities in the 21st century to provide the optimum form of environmentally friendly urban transport, relieving congestion and reducing emissions.”
Battery powered, the bubble-shaped taxis transport passengers from A to B once they have inputted their information and destination on the touch screen.
The taxi can reach speeds of up to 25mph and would travel along their own narrow road system.
Once the destination has been submitted on the touchscreen a message is sent to the vehicle which then follows an electric pathway.
Throughout the journey passengers can press a button to speak to the controller if necessary.
For more information about touchscreen systems and how you can implement them into your business visit Protouch today.
Self service kiosks are all about interacting with the customer so it is important you get it right to grab their attention.
To top off the weekend, we have found some cool touch screen systems which all allow consumers to interact with self service systems on another level! Enjoy!
Holy kiosks
"Ring the Bells" exhibit for the Pope John Paul II Culture Centre in Washington DC
The Pope John Paul II Cultural Centre integrated innovative technology and group interactive environments to engage the visitor, foster participation and help deliver the messages of the centre.
Guests can walk around the gallery viewing a variety of different exhibitions each with its own angle, information and creativity.
There are a wide range of interactive exhibitions at their leisure. Each guest is given a swipe card upon arrival, which stores the information they have viewed during their time at the centre. At the end of the day guests can gather together and review all the information over dinner at their exclusive restaurant via interactive video screens on the table.
Historical kiosk
“Interactive Table” at the Churchhill Museum in London.
The highly interactive and innovative touch screen system allows guests to the Churchill Museum in London the chance to learn the exciting story of Winston Churchill’s life.
The 15 metre interative table is a state-of-the-art Lifeline exhibit where visitors can access all information about his life down to the specific weeks and days. The touchscreen system engages users to put key events of Churchill’s life into context and engages users through a variety of animations and sounds.
Getting into touch with art
John Constable exhibition at the Tate Britain Museum reveals the different layers of the painting
The interactive touchscreen allows users to draw and view the different layers of John Constable’s artwork. The design hardly looks like a kiosk showing that technology can be pushed to new and exciting levels to create something that everyone wants a piece of.
Drawing on the touchscreen
As much as a self service kiosk sounds like a promising integration into your business, use it incorrectly and it could leave you out of pocket.
Many people fail to identify that in this day and age technology has advanced rapidly and children are growing up knowing it as well as they do the english language.
Here is an outline of the most common mistakes people make when installing a self service kiosk and how you can prevent these problems from occuring.
1. Failing to present a truly compelling offer to the customer dwnload avatar movie
Many businesses rely on the idea that people use kiosks purely because they are a ”cool” and “quirky” new technology. In this instance, many businesses leave the kiosk to its own devices and offer the same standard services which the customer can receive elsewhere.
A self service kiosk adopted into a store is designed to make shopping easier for the consumer without directly affecting their shopping habits. The second it becomes a hindrance is when consumers will use other methods to pay or worst still shop somewhere else.
For example, when redbox rolled out their DVD rental kiosks, they believed that the convenience of renting a dvd in the supermarket was so compelling to consumers they could charge a standard rental fee of $3.99 and succeed.
Eventually reality hit and they had to decrease the price to $1 per day for users to completely change their rental habits and use the kiosk as it was more convenient and cost effective.
2. Relying on intangibles for an attractive ROI
Many businesses who implement kiosks into their business rely on inconclusive figures to retrieve an attractive ROI.
For example, many people assume that if the kiosk helps build the brand, extend the company’s reach or improve the customer experience in turn it will translate to a bigger bottom line.
While all of these items are important when installing a kiosk, it is difficult to find the funding if kiosk installers don’t provide strong data driven evidence of these benefits and how they will help increase profit.
To avoid this, deployers should spend just as much time on the planning the front end of the kiosk as they do planning the actual kiosk system and what it includes.
It is all well if a business designs and implements a self service kiosk flawlessly but if it does not illustrate its advantages then it could lost its potential funding.
A good way to show how kiosks will increase ROI is to conduct a third party consumer survey firm to gather evidence of a possible kiosks success.
3. Failing to differentiate between the pilot stage and the scaling stage
The objective during the pilot stage should be simple and straight forward-deployers must determine whether they have received enough consumer interest to make worthwhile the additional time and resources the scaling stage will require. This means looking at the ongoing costs, staffing and operation of the kiosks following rollout.
4. Failing to realise that the first attempt will be flawed
The first time you roll out a kiosk won’t be perfect as mistakes will only appear when customers have tried and tested the technology.
Some kiosk installers will spend too much time with market research and focus groups which don’t necessarily bring money to the business.
A good way is to get it out on the market at its earliest convenience and see what real consumers think of it and how it could improve as its their opinion that matters the most.
5. Building the Eiffel Tower then placing it next to the storage cupboard
Kiosks are a new and improved form of retail and the essentials to retail is location! location! location! It is completely pointless spending copious amounts of time developing a kiosk to have it sat in the corner of the store out of sight and out of mind.
Careless placement of a kiosk can leave businesses believing the kiosk was a failure and either changing the whole design and development or getting rid of it completely.
Placing it in areas that have high volumes of traffic and target your specific market will be the best solution in order for consumers to get the best out of your business.
For more information about self service kiosks and other kiosk news visit Protouch.
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