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Round 2: Notable kiosk deployments of 2011

December 25, 2011

We highlighted a few of the year's successful kiosk deployments last week and have since received substantial reader feedback. Below are several projects that readers deemed noteworthy.

Out to sea

The newest ship in the Royal Caribbean International cruise line fleet, the Allure of the Seas, this year integrated self-service, digital signage and other technologies to provide a high-tech customer experience.

The 16-deck ship, with nearly 3,000 staterooms, offers pervasive Wi-Fi access and more than 900 Internet access points; self-service customer kiosks that allow voyagers to access their accounts and check-in for their flights home; and award-winning, digital-signage wayfinding stations.

Four Winds Interactive designed the system that includes more than 200 digital displays to help passengers navigate the world's largest cruise ship at 1,187 feet long and 208 feet wide. The signage network includes passive screens displaying non-interactive information as well as interactive touchscreens providing real-time data and wayfinding functionality.

Hey, sports fans 

San Diego Chargers fans lined up at games this season to use Inwindow Outdoor's Game Face kiosks developed as part of a marketing campaign for Union Bank

At each kiosk, fans had their picture taken, and Inwindow's technology then overlaid the fan's face with a random face paint pattern and super fan hairdo while they watched.

Fans could then use wireless keyboards to input their e-mail addresses to receive their image via e-mail and upload images to Facebook. The email sent from the kiosk included the fan's Game Face picture as well as Union Bank branding and a promotional offer from the bank. During the three games where the kiosks were in use, thousands of people interacted with them, which gave Union Bank access to thousands of emails for future marketing opportunities.

The kiosk project won the Digital Screenmedia Association award this year for Best Entertainment/Gaming Deployment in the self-service kiosk category.

Riding high

Bicycle sharing kiosks have been popping up all over the country from Texasto Hawaiithis year, making the B-cycle kiosks designed by KIOSK Information Systems one of the year's largest kiosk deployments. (Trek makes the bikes and owns B-cycle.)

The B-cycle program allows users to rent a bike via kiosks in one area of his city and return it when finished to that same location or to a different one in the city, said Tim Stith, midwest region sales manager, KIOSK.

The kiosks, which consist of the fixed kiosk rental station/bicycle docks, and 10-12 bikes/each, run on solar and/or AC power. The power system includes a solar panel/batteries and a charge controller board. The kiosk houses a low-power outdoor color LCD, credit/member card reader, cellular communications kit, and energy efficient, outdoor rated mini-PC. Docking stations house a custom controller board, a proprietary locking mechanism, LED indicators, and an inventory RFID reader.

First-time or non-members rent at the kiosk, but B-Connected Card Holders can bypass the kiosk and check out at the docking station by passing their card over the RFID reader, releasing the bike in seconds, Stith said.

So far, deployments are in Denver and Boulder, Colo.; Omaha; Spartanburg, S.C.; Des Monies, Iowa; San Antonio, Texas; Kailua, Hawaii; Madison, Wis.; Chicago and throughout Florida. Baltimore's service will open in the spring, Stith said.

Read more about custom kiosks.