News

Arizona State plugs in to student needs with kiosks

March 18, 2002

TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State University has unveiled an entertainment center at its student union that will allow students to send e-mail and access the Internet over a series of kiosks.

The five kiosks, which were manufactured by Lincoln, Neb.-based kiosk retailer nanonation as part of the company's nanopoint series, are featured in a corner of the student union christened The Plug In. The kiosks feature Web and e-mail capabilities, video games, movie trailers, streaming videos, and a video camera that will allow students to take pictures of themselves and e-mail them to friends and family.

"On a university campus, I think students expect to have access to leading edge technology," Becky Sojak, Arizona State communications coordinator, said in a nanonation release. "While these systems aren't being used as an education tool, they are fulfilling those expectations."

The stainless steel kiosks are spill proof and feature a back-lit keyboard that students can use in dim light. Arizona State also features campus information on the kiosks, including campus tours and information on registrations and sports.

The Arizona State project is not nanonation's first involving a university. In the fall of 2000, the company provided a live Webcast of a University of Nebraska football game to three bars in Lincoln.