Article

In Vegas, Kiosks find a place at the gaming table

No, kiosks weren't the dominant topic at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, but the industry is making its presence felt.

September 24, 2002

LAS VEGAS -- Kiosk applications got an encouraging boost from cost conscious gaming companies at the second annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Sept. 17-20.

In 2001, G2E competed with the World Gaming Congress and Expo, which held its annual event in Las Vegas the same month as G2E. This year, there was just one show, which is the world's largest gaming show. The event attracted more than 500 exhibitors and an estimated 12,000 conference visitors to the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The four-day show featured a full agenda, with 135 conference sessions, including two which directly touched the kiosk industry. "New Gaming Options: Intranets, Kiosks and Wireless Opportunities" and "Player ID: Biometrics, Smart Cards and Other New Technologies" bore relevance to new technologies in kiosk applications.

Kiosks in Casinos

Representatives of Park Place Entertainment, owner of five Vegas properties, and the venerable Riviera mentioned in sessions that kiosks are part of an overall plan to improve service and decrease costs.

Both Park Place chief financial officer Harry Hagerty and Riviera CFO Duane Krohn indicated kiosks will have a place in casinos in the near future.

Park Place Entertainment expects to reduce labor costs next year by about $100 million. Hagerty said it plans to install 15,000 cashless slot machines powered by ticket-in/ticket-out technology, avail more kiosks to check guests in and out, and use extra remote kiosks as bill changers.

The Riviera's Krohn said he expects kiosks to accomplish similar goals.

Special session: Technologies

As more public kiosks are used in day-to-day casino operations, tighter security becomes more essential. In the "Player ID: Biometrics, Smart Cards and Other New Technologies" conference session, Burton Tregub, chief operating officer of Alea Corporation and Tom Miltonberger, senior vice president, products at Quova Inc., addressed some of the issues. Positive identification of players is a top priority.

Tregub used a pyramid chart to show how layers of defense can make secure identification as strong as possible. Biometrics was at the top point of defense and Tregub said a fingerprint is far more reliable than facial, iris or voice identification.

"You add these three factors together (password, smart card, biometrics) and that's the way these systems are built today to give you every bit of risk management capability," said Tregub.

"You interface biometrics with different types of configurations, whether they're smart cards or tokens or the screens have buttons that will be put on a monitor, and that gives you the full facilities to be able to identify who the player is."

Miltonberger, whose Mountain View, Calif.-based company is working with the MGM Mirage to provide mapping services for an online gaming venture, was more esoteric in defining what it takes to identify players well enough to satisfy regulators.

"If you ask a regulator how good does it have to be, they won't give you an answer because they can't," said Miltonberger. "If the regulator says it has to be perfect, everyone has to realize that nothing can be perfect. So that starts a back-and-forth process where we say this is what we can do, is that good enough?"

Old and New

In "New Gaming Options: Intranets, Kiosks and Wireless Opportunities," moderator Richard Fitzpatrick, president of Interactive Gaming Institute, said Nevada casinos once operated old-time kiosks wired to sports books for remote wagering. It's an idea, he said, whose time may have come again.

Fred Maxik, chief technology officer for Ad Media Displays, said his company's newest product, "Activision Sportsbook Kiosk," is an innovative product that allows users to place sports bets at a kiosk.  It uses biometrics to identify its users.

Ad Media Displays is a growing Las Vagas-based firm that supplies plasma screens and technology to the gaming industry. Maxik said Ad Media evolved after approval of two U.S. patents in 1998 regarding the embedding of computers into plaza signs.

"I began working on software packages to support the remote operations of the signs," said Maxik. "From that, we moved into the kiosk business."

Maxik said what makes the Activision Sportsbook Kiosk unique is that the plasma screen above the kiosk shows odds of various events and changes according to the user's selections. Since wagering is done using a person's previously established sports betting account, security and identification are of utmost importance.

The kiosk includes a biometric device that, in tandem with a smart card, identifies the player through fingerprints, Maxik said.

"If you want to have an identifier of an individual beyond a reasonable doubt, the fingerprint is the only one that's recognized," Maxik said. "The biometric facial has a lot more of an 'if' rate than the fingerprint does."

Maxik warned that the technology must be approved by authorities. He said Ad Media "is taking the risk if the gaming commission doesn't move forward with the necessary legislation."

In Nevada, telephone betting on sports has faced setbacks because companies must prove their customers' identity and location when placing a bet. The Gaming Control Board hasn't yet approved any technology that identifies customers. Maxik believes Activision Sportsbook Kiosks could provide the safeguard security, convenience factors and ease of use to promote remote sports gaming.

On the floor

On the exhibit floor, a few kiosk suppliers had new wares to show.

Gary Oberman, regional sales manager of Elo TouchSystems said he was glad to see his company's products being used in the gaming industry.

"I see probably 90 percent of the kiosk manufacturers, when they have their kiosks here on the exhibit floor, predominantly have Elo Touch technology," he said.  "Instead of having a touch screen overlay, our touch technologies are built right onto the CRT. So you get 100 percent of the light transmission and 100 percent of the color purity, which for a kiosk manufacturer, is optimum as far as optics."

Peter Berens, president of Apunix Computer Services, said his company is introducing new kiosks called Gaming Portals, which are self-comping kiosks and new tools for free promotions and contests.

He said the good news from G2E is that if casino operations decide to use kiosks to lower labor costs, "Being multi-function, these kiosks can integrate many functions into one unit," said Berens.

Dan Savage, business manager for sensors for 3M Touch Systems, said 3M's acquisition of two touch companies (MicroTouch and Dynapro) more than a year ago enabled the company to become a full-service touch-technology provider. 

3M TouchSystems had a 20 by 30-foot booth displaying several new products, including one with MultiTouch capability, which allows two people to touch a screen simultaneously. PrivacyTouch, a player-loyalty kiosk,and a variety of monitors and touchscreen technology were on display.

He also discussed "ruggedized touch technology" with "NearField Imaging," and "ToughTouch" that are designed to withstand unsupervised outdoor applications.  

But the best news from G2E for the kiosk industry had little to do with new technology. If a casino industry giant like Park Place Entertainment embraces kiosk applications to improve customer service and lower costs, can some of the other industry giants be far behind?