The demand for interactive kiosks to improve the shopping experience is driving the convergence of touch-sensitive technology and near field communications.
So says interactive kiosk provider Just Touch IT, which has introduced technology to the local market that can measure age, gender and race, using facial recognition and cognitive logarithms.
The intelligent kiosk technology, called Cogno Vision, aims to change the way consumers view and consume information.
According to Frank Nunan, founder of Just Touch IT, Cogno Vision integrates a Web cam with the interactive kiosk and scans an impression of people passing the kiosk. Nunan maintains the kiosks do not store photographs of people so the technology does not infringe on privacy or create security issues.
The technology's potential, explains Nunan, is that it can respond to its audience, and based on the impressions it receives, show advertising aimed at the demographics it detects.
“In supermarkets it can be used to track where people do the majority of their shopping and to monitor if a queue gets too long.”
Instant gratification
Last week, Just Touch IT hosted its second annual conference, which featured local and international speakers and gave an overview of trends and technologies impacting the global kiosk market.
Nunan says: “Today, the meaning of a kiosk has changed. The original definition of a kiosk is no longer valid because of all of the new technology encroaching on it. The combination of touch technology and near field communications has all become interactive. We are moving towards interactive service devices.”
According to Nunan, the biggest benefit of this technology is that it's driven around two-way communication. He points out that consumers are impatient and want their information immediately. If after three touches on the kiosk screen the user has not found what they are looking for, they will walk away.
“We are living in a world of Facebook and Twitter, where people are looking for instant gratification. The shopping experience has become more complex because people have more choice. Retail needs to be able to provide information immediately.”
Broadband setbacks
However, Nunan points out that adoption of the technology has not been high in SA in comparison with the US and Europe. “In terms of deployment, SA is miles behind Europe and the US as the country is still in its infancy in the roll-out of interactive kiosks. There are only 1 000 to 1 500 kiosks in the country, which is a drop in the ocean compared to Europe and the US.”
“The primary reason for this is the cost factor, as interactive kiosks are expensive to manufacture and deploy. Another inhibitor is the bandwidth constraints - SA does not yet have enough bandwidth to deploy interactive kiosks on the same scale as the Europeans. But we are starting to see this trend change, as people begin to see the value in the technology as well as the return on investment,” he says.
Nunan adds that interactive kiosks can also be used as training aids for staff members, universities and customers. Nunan has worked with the South African mines to deploy interactive kiosks connected to underground fibre optic networks.
All of the engineering manuals have been digitised and uploaded onto the digital kiosks and linked to a printer. In addition, workers can communicate directly with the surface using the kiosks, he explains.
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