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Interactive kiosk

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An Internet kiosk with a touchscreen in Vienna, Austria in 2005 An Interactive kiosk is a computer terminal that provides information access via electronic methods. Interactive kiosks sometimes resemble telephone booths, but can also be used while sitting on a bench or chair. Interactive kiosks are typically placed in high foot traffic settings such as hotel lobbies or airports.

Integration of technology allows kiosks to perform a wide range of functions. For example, kiosks may enable users to enter a public utility 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 printers enable kiosks to meet the owner's specialised needs.

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[edit] History

The first self-service, interactive kiosk was developed in 1978 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The first successful network of interactive kiosk used for commercial purposes was a project developed by the shoe retailer Florsheim Shoe Co.. [citation needed]

Today, interactive kiosks can be found in a multitude of environments and for many purposes including: self-checkout lanes, e-ticketing, information and wayfinding, and vending.

The first touchscreen is shown by Elotouch at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN. 1982 is also the first year that the word "Internet" is used. Factura (which was first kiosk company of any note) will be founded 4 years later. <ref>http://www.keefner.com</ref>

[edit] Construction

Interactive kiosks sometimes have a bill acceptor or a credit card swipe, and nearly always have a computer keyboard, a pointing device (such as a mouse, trackball or touchscreen), and a computer display.

[edit] Interactive Kiosks Around The World

[edit] 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 Kingdom, where thousands of special-purpose kiosks are now available to aid job-seekers in finding employment.[citation needed]

[edit] Industry Usage

It is estimated that over 131,000 kiosk terminals exist in the U.S. alone.[citation needed]

Groups who use kiosks in their business environment include: Northwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, GTAA, Future Shop, The Home Depot, and Wal-Mart.

[edit] Types of kiosks

[edit] Banking Kiosk

A banking kiosk can provide the ability for customers to perform transactions that may normally require a bank teller and may be more complex and longer to perform than desired at an ATM.<ref>http://www.cues.org/pls/cuesp/!cues1.main?complex_id_in=3069666.3069668.3069996.11250602.page</ref>

[edit] Digital Minilab

A kiosk that functions as a digital minilab allows users to insert a memory card to print photographs.

[edit] Internet Kiosk

An Internet kiosk is a terminal that provides public Internet access. Internet kiosks sometimes resemble telephone booths, and are typically placed in settings such as hotel lobbies or airports for fast access to e-mail or web pages. Internet kiosks sometimes have a bill acceptor or a credit card swipe, and nearly always have a computer keyboard, a mouse (or a fixed trackball which is more robust), and a monitor.

Some Internet kiosks are based on a payment model similar to vending machines or Internet cafés, 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.

[edit] Movie Ticket Kiosk

Many movie theater chains have specialized ticket machines that provide information about the movies that are being show now or in the future.

[edit] Vending Kiosk

An excellent example of a vending kiosk is that of McDonald's Redbox kiosk.<ref>http://www.redbox.com</ref>

[edit] Kiosk Reliability

Reliability is an important consideration, and as a result many specialised kiosk software 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 viruses and allow the kiosk owner to see revenue remotely.

[edit] Kiosk Manufacturing Industry

The development and supply of kiosk technology has been dominated by three companies: IBM, NCR Corporation, KING Products and Solutions Inc. and Kiosk Information Systems. The kiosk industry surpassed $1 billion in worldwide annual revenues in 2004.[citation needed]

[edit] Tradeshows, Publications and Awards

Several tradeshows based around kiosk technology exist. One such is KioskCom, which is an annual show typically held in Las Vegas.<ref>http://www.kioskcom.com</ref> Another tradeshow is The Self-Service & Kiosk Show,<ref>http://www.kioskshow.com</ref> which is owned and operated by NetWorld Alliance,<ref>http://www.networldalliance.com</ref> which also owns Kioskmarketplace.com<ref>http://www.kioskmarketplace.com</ref>, Self-Service World<ref>http://www.selfserviceworld.com</ref> and Self-Service World magazine. More recently hf media & events, publishers of Europe's leading self-service magazine KIOSK EUROPE, has launched an annual self-service event to be held in Essen from 2007.

The kiosk industry has several annual awards competitions and an industry Hall of Fame. Inductees into the Kiosk & Self-Service Hall of Fame include: Craig Keefner, Dr. Sylvia Berens, Dr. Peter Berens, Lief C. Larson, Lawrence Dvorchik, Francie Mendelsohn, and Alex Richardson. All have been recognized for their pioneering work and lifetime achievements in kiosk technology.

[edit] See also

[edit] External Links

[edit] Notes

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This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.

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