Woolies goes touchscreen

Woolworths in Australia has committed to installing self-service checkout terminals in 70 stores by the end of June and in all new and refurbished stores, says SMH.com.au.

The kiosks, operating so far in 16 stores and trialled for some months at several Big W outlets, allow customers to scan and pay for items without a cashier.

Slowly but surely sales staff are being replaced by touchscreen terminals as the link between companies and the public. While staff cuts are yet to happen, those who worked in manufacturing will know all too well how rapid and disruptive technological change can be.

KioskCom Self Service Expo and Digital Signage Show came and went and SoloHealth's EyeSite kiosk, housed at the KIOSK Information Systems booth, stole the buzz from other devices as it took home three Self-Service Excellence Awards, including Best in Show, states selfserviceworld.com.

To use the free kiosk, individuals walk up to device and answer questions on the touchscreen. It asks the person's age, the date of the person's last eye exam and whether or he wears contacts or glasses.

Based on that information, the kiosk presents a series of stimuli for both near and distance vision. Then, based on the responses, the kiosk prints out a report and gives the user video analysis of the results.

Manukau Library customers will benefit from improved self-service facilities with the roll-out of a new radio frequency identification (RFID) system, reports Scoop.

From May, the project, using 3M Library Systems latest technology, replaces the aging library security and inventory systems. It will require converting each of Manukau Libraries 605 00 items from a bar code to an electronic RFID tag, and the establishment of easy to use self-service facilities for customers at all locations.

Manukau's award-winning Botany Library became the first public library in New Zealand to use RFID technology when it opened in 2004.