Role of Kiosks in the Post Covid-19 World

Self-checkout kiosks, self-order kiosks, and digital signage have already made a huge impact in various industries across the world. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made pioneers of the kiosk market think outside the box and come up with new products.

Such products are equipped with features designed to face the challenges of ensuring hygienic surroundings and maintaining social distance. The following is a brief rundown of prominent innovations that cropped up in what has been dubbed as the worst health crisis in human history. These innovations give us a good glimpse of the role of kiosks in the post COVID-19 world.

A Robotic Digital Signage Promoting Awareness

A Dubai-based company has introduced a mobile robotic kiosk that displays messages on the go. With four built-in 55-inch 4K screens, the kiosk has been tapped by the tech firm to promote the importance of health awareness among the locals. The kiosk can also be used for digital signage advertising and it can even determine people’s age, gender, mood, among others.

A company in Mills Valley, California has developed a no-contact thermal security system that utilizes artificial intelligence to detect fever from a distance and enforce social distancing in real-time.

The kiosk-based system tracks body temperature instead of skin temperature, providing precise readings for detecting coronavirus symptoms. It uses AI algorithms so there’s no calibration, queues, or long waiting periods. The system can send health and safety notifications in real-time to managers, employees, or visitors. It is also capable of sending alerts when too many people are gathered in an area.

An establishment can simply drop a person’s photo into the system then see every area that the subject has visited in the building, along with all the people that they came into contact with.

Hand Gesture and Foot Controlled Navigation Kiosks

A Denver-based provider of custom transactional terminals has launched hand gesture navigation and foot controlled navigation, two contactless solutions aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. The applications can be simultaneously integrated and can be installed on any new or existing kiosks with a USB connection.

The end-user can use either the hand gesture or foot pedal module. But a touch screen is still available for those who wish to do their transactions the traditional way. The kiosks can be used for hotel checkout, bills payment, and gaming applications.

Virtual Summit with More Than 1000 Participants

An American software services firm successfully hosted the virtual UR Summit 2020. It highlighted that the future of retail is moving to unattended services as the public starts preferring these means of purchasing goods given the realities of COVID-19.

But aside from the relevance of the topic in focus, the event was extraordinary as it managed to draw over 1,000 participants that simultaneously joined four education sessions.

The resounding success brought to the fore the fact that in the midst of a pandemic, huge conferences, conventions, seminars, and summits can still be staged by leveraging technology to reduce the risk of contagion by having the participants join remotely from the comfort of their homes or offices.

Enforcing Social Distancing During Order Placement

A sushi restaurant in Stockholm has deployed a solution that combines Clicksys’ software with an Elo open frame touchscreen mounted behind a windowpane. Normally, the resto can accommodate a queue of 8-9 people inside, but with social distancing measures in place, there’s only space for 3-4 customers.

For the solution to work, it required an open frame display with a Projected Capacitive touchscreen that allows touch functionality through the glass. The touchscreen must be mounted flush against the windowpane and the glass should not be thicker than 6mm.

With the solution in place, customers can choose items from the menu and pay with their phones via an online payment method. Once the order is placed, the customer can wait by spending time in the car to ensure a safe distance from other customers.

Med-Aid Display for Screening of Multiple Health Parameters

An Indian start-up rolled out a unique kiosk called Med-Aid Display. It gathers temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, as well as age and gender in a contactless manner. The device only takes 15 seconds to collect all this vital information. This kiosk can play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of people in public places or commuting via public transport. It can therefore work as a long term health monitoring kiosk at office premises or public places like airports and train stations.

Jhavtech’s Cloud-Based Ki Software

Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, Jhavtech Studio launched its Ki software which is capable of transforming any device into digital signage or an interactive kiosk. It’s a cloud-based tool that empowers users to remotely manage content on multiple displays across industries like corporate communications, banking, retail, healthcare, hospitality, and more. Its value is more evident now more than ever because there’s no need to physically go to your store or kiosk to input or edit data. Ki will give you full control over the content and set up your network right in the comfort of your home or office. If you wish to learn more about Ki and how it can help your business or organization, simply click here.

Parting Words…

If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s that technology is creating new opportunities to enhance operational efficiencies, streamline the way we work and go about our daily lives. As various industries assess and learn how to adapt to the new normal, it’s clear that investment in IT will be key to every organization’s success.

Let’s be optimistic as every obstacle has an opportunity hidden in it. So is the case with the current health crisis. The pandemic has made Kiosk industry pioneers think differently and come up with products that perhaps wouldn’t have come into the picture at all.

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