TOUCHSCREEN AND KIOSK HYGIENE AND DISINFECTION EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FIVE CYBERSECURITY MYTHS COMPROMISING YOUR DATA DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022 ISSUE 34 WHY ENHANCING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS A VITAL PIECE OF THE JIGSAW SERVICE PLEASE! UPGRADING THE POST-PANDEMIC RESTAURANT EXPERIENCECONTENTS 2KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE A round up of some of the latest kiosk and digital signage news to hit the editor’s inbox. Educational technology device management can be a challenge if you’re not properly prepared. Nadav Avni, Chief Marketing Officer at Radix Technologies looks at mobile device management for interactive touchscreens and other solutions developed with these concerns in mind. 2KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE 06 NEWS 04 EDITOR’S NOTE 18 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 14 WHY ENHANCING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS A VITAL PIECE OF THE JIGSAW Publisher: Abacus Communications Editor: Laura Vallis Advertising: Hillview Media www.kdseurope.com Abacus Communications Limited 1 Tudor Business Park, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood, KT20 6EN ISSN 2756-1097 The author and publisher, and its officers and employees, do not accept any liability for any errors that may have occurred, or for any reliance on their contents. All trademarks and brand names are respected within our publication. However, the publishers accept no responsibility for any inadvertent misuse that may occur. This publication is protected by copyright © 2022 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved. While it’s important to open up the channels of communication consumers have access to, Simon Blackwell, CMO at TelcoSwitch believes it’s vital that these channels are properly integrated and synchronised with one another, enabling businesses to improve the customer’s experience.Poor cybersecurity has been identified as the most pressing threat to businesses today. Barry O’Donnell, Chief Operating Officer at TSG busts the top myths around cybersecurity. Paul McHugh, Area Director UK, Cradlepoint looks at upgrading the post-pandemic restaurant experience through wireless WANs. Some options include those that are based on offering engaging experiences to entice customers back through the door and streamlining operations. CONTENTS 3 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE 26 THE FIVE CYBERSECURITY MYTHS COMPROMISING DATA 22 SERVICE PLEASE! Promotions, organisational changes and new recruits across the kiosk and digital signage industry. Donna Mitchell, Sector Marketing Manager for Hospitality at Diversey, UK & Ireland looks at why using the right disinfectants for the screen and encouraging users to disinfect their hands is key to reducing the risk of infection when using self-service touchscreens and kiosks. 30 TOUCHSCREEN AND KIOSK HYGIENE AND DISINFECTION 34 MOVERS AND SHAKERS Would you like to contribute to KDS? Please submit news stories, articles, press releases and industry expert opinions to Laura Vallis editor@kdseurope.com. Please include high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images. We publish all news and articles that adhere to our editorial guidelines free of charge. This ensures our content is unbiased and relevant to our industry. The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. Kiosk Printing Solutions Star Success Customers around the world include: Premier Inn, Sun International, Coop Switzerland, P&O Ferries, Subway, Eurotunnel to name just a few. As a leading installer of packaged and modular specialist kiosk printing solutions, Star offers a wide range of industry-leading products. With over thirty years’ experience in the kiosk industry and an unrivalled reputation for reliability, Star has a highly experienced Hardware Engineering Team that can provide the technical expertise and flexibility required to develop customised products. This wealth of experience pushes the boundaries in POS and tablet POS printing to bring the most advanced kiosk solutions. With customers worldwide across retail and hospitality, Star’s solutions meet the demands of even the most compact kiosk designs, while offering high performance printing that remains unrivalled today. Star Micronics EMEA Star House, Peregrine Business Park, Gomm Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP13 7DL, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1494 471111 • Fax: +44 (0) 1494 473333 • Email: Sales@Star-EMEA.com www.Star-EMEA.comThe winter solstice is a strange time for us in the Northern hemisphere. Firstly it starts to get dark, then we put lots of sparkly lights in our home (and sometimes outside), then, just past the longest night and the shortest day, there’s a period where we can start to think about the future. Having the time to work out what that means for our personal life and our families and how to improve our health and lifestyle going forward is invaluable. However, most of us also look at our business lives – what innovative technology can be implemented and integrated to increase revenue, and how to enhance our customer journey, to entice our customers back to our businesses. This issue of Kiosk and Digital Signage magazine has a variety of feature articles investigating the technology available tomorrow that may help the business holder of today. Simon Blackwell at TelcoSwitch believes it’s vital that the channels of communication that consumers have access to are properly integrated and synchronised with one another. We review the options available that enable businesses to improve the customer’s experience. Educational technology device management can be a challenge if not sufficiently prepared. Nadav Avni at Radix Technologies examines mobile device management for interactive touchscreens and other solutions developed with these concerns in mind. Paul McHugh at Cradlepoint looks at upgrading the post-pandemic restaurant experience through wireless WANs. We discuss some of the options based on offering engaging experiences and streamlining operations to entice customers back through the door. Poor cybersecurity has been identified as the most pressing threat to businesses today. Barry O’Donnell at TSG challenges the top cybersecurity myths compromising data. Touchscreen and kiosk hygiene and disinfection have been at the forefront of the self-serve industry’s minds for some time now and show no sign of dissipating. Donna Mitchell at Diversey, UK & Ireland looks at why using the right disinfectants for the display is key to reducing the risk of infection when using self-service touchscreens and kiosks. Once again we have lots of news items and product announcements across the kiosk and digital signage industry. If you’d like to contribute a feature article, contact me at editor@kdseurope.com and we can help you put something together. Our next issue’s editorial programme is due to cover transport and travel, technology trends and displays, but don’t let those subject matters restrict you - if you think our readership would be interested in reading about it then send it through. Wishing you all a happy new year. Let’s hope 2022 is a prosperous and safe year for us all. Laura Vallis Editor FOREWORD 5 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE EDITOR’S NOTENEWS IN BRIEF 6KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE We can offer some great presence marketing options. If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages contact: sales@kdseurope.com Following eight years of successful collaboration, Absen and French rental stager Alabama have reached a new level in their distribution partnership by agreeing on the sale of 2,000 panels – totalling over 1,000sqm – of Absen Lyra (LR) Series of transparent LED, effectively making Alabama the go-to company for this sought-after product type across its home continent. This new inventory will be used alongside the 800sqm of Absen LED products already owned by Alabama, which include Polaris 2.5mm indoor rental LED and Altair Series AT5 Pro mobile indoor/outdoor products. All in all, this means that the Novelty Magnum Dushow Group – Alabama’s parent company – now owns over 5,000sqm of LED available for rental. “Transparent LED has been around for years, but it’s not always been the most practical product type for a number of logistical reasons,” said Christian Czimny, Industry Product Director at Absen. “With Lyra, we’ve created a product that has excellent definition and endless creative possibilities, all in a package that can be rigged by one technician.” The IP65 rated Absen Lyra boasts a 3.9mm horizontal pixel pitch (7.8mm vertical) and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Each panel measures ALABAMA INVESTS IN 1,000SQM OF ABSEN TRANSPARENT LED 1000mm x 500mm. Existing Absen customers will also benefit from the same stacking system already found on Absen’s rental staging range of products, including the award winning Polaris. With a weight of only 12kg/sqm, Absen Lyra is three times lighter than traditional LED panels with similar resolutions. Despite being 50% transparent, the Lyra Series’ black PCB boards produce stark contrast – 4,000 nits outdoor – making them equally as useful as traditional LED in terms of performance, while the refresh rate is >3840Hz, which makes Lyra equally suitable for broadcast and live streamed gigs and events. Lyra panels can be angled from -15° to +15° in order to create curved displays. AUGMENTED REALITY SET TO TRANSFORM FOOD DELIVERY Augmented reality (AR) will transform food delivery within the next five years as the industry prepares for a technological evolution, according to the Foodhub CEO. Ardian Mula says AR will enable customers to experience the sights, sounds and possibly even smells, of their favourite takeaway, allowing customers the full takeaway experience without leaving the house. This year, Foodhub bosses have plans in place for the development of AR within the business, placing the food delivery company at the forefront of the tech revolution. Mula says that many of the 20,000 restaurants and takeaways currently partnered with his Stoke-on-Trent- based firm could have access to the tech within just five years. He sees the development as a win-win for both consumer, who will enjoy a never- before-seen buying experience, and the trader, with access to a new and exciting marketing tool. Mula commented, “I see this technology as being a game changer for both the industry and the takeaway consumer. Imagine as a consumer if you could have the full takeaway experience, using just your smartphone and a pair of goggles? “This could allow customers to effectively walk into a takeaway and get the full flavour of the business, from the branding to the shop interior. They could then ‘shop’ their own order, from building a burger to picking a pizza off the shelf, as well as interacting with staff – all from the comfort of their own living room.” As progress is made developing this software, Foodhub is placing significant resource into improving the technology currently available to independent takeaways, to improve efficiency, order levels and profitability.7 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE When developing a new field controller for its fuel management system, Banlaw, supplier for off-road liquid transfer, measurement and control solutions, wanted a user interface that could thrive in harsh industrial work environments anywhere in the world, such as remote mines and quarries. The developers also wanted a touchscreen that would work with gloved hands, provide reliable, year- round, low maintenance operation, and be readable in both direct sunlight and the middle of the night. As a result, they chose a high-brightness, industrial-grade display fitted with a rugged, custom- designed Zytronic ZyBrid touch sensor and a bespoke serial touch controller. The Banlaw Xpress Field Controller is the central component in a complete fuel management system and is built to withstand harsh operating environments, provide ease of use and deliver secure fuel inventory monitoring and control. The compact unit manages user and equipment identification, pump control, ball-valve control and flow metering for up to four refuelling nozzles. It also provides precise, real-time tank gauging for four fuel tanks. Banlaw wished to collaboratively develop a fluid asset management product to satisfy customer needs. Sebastian Hoppe, Engineering & Development Manager, Banlaw, said, “Component pricing and the expected longevity were important when deployed on industrial worksites. However, a supplier with the subject matter expertise to help us achieve better together was more important, which is why we chose to work with JEA Technologies and Zytronic.” Working closely with JEA, Zytronic designed a bespoke, printed glass 7in ZyBrid projected capacitive touch sensor incorporating UV and IR filters to aid system thermal management and protect the underlying display from damaging exposure to sunlight. A 6mm thick, thermally toughened antiglare etched glass was chosen, ensuring optimum impact resistance and reducing sunlight reflection in the frequently scorching weather experienced by Banlaw’s customers in Australia, Africa, the Americas and beyond. RUGGED AND RELIABLE – ZYTRONIC’S TOUCHSCREENS ENABLE SAFE REFUELLING ON REMOTE SITES PEERLESS-AV’S 55IN OUTDOOR DISPLAY FOR HOTTER CLIMES Peerless-AV has launched a new generation 55in Xtreme High Bright Outdoor Display for all-weather, extreme temperature applications. The new XHB553-EUK retains an unmatched ingress protection (IP) rating and award-winning feature set but is now lighter in weight with significant mechanical and operating system enhancements that include thermal load diffusion, customised brightness scheduling, auto-source switching, power saving and pixel shifting, to name a few. For performance requirements in hotter ‘desert’ or sunnier climates, the XHB553-EUK outdoor display is fan-cooled to reduce heat build- up caused by thermal load from extended exposure to direct sunlight. The display’s operating temperature remains the widest in the industry, ranging from -35°C to 60°C (-31°F to 140°F) and the patented thermal exhaust system keeps internal components cooled in extreme heat. It also offers 2500nits of light output and an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts brightness to match time of day conditions, reducing light pollution in evening hours and optimising power consumption. The XHB553-EUK is now 25% lighter than the previous generation 55in and includes a gyroscopic sensor that detects any movement of the display. The XHB553’s IP66 rated design protects against the ingress of water, dust, dirt, moisture and insects, and an IK10 tempered cover glass offers protection against vandalism and debris. BRIGHTSIGN ANNOUNCES UPDATES BrightSign has announced significant updates to BSN.cloud, the company’s cloud-based digital signage network management platform. BSN.cloud sits at the core of the BrightSign ecosystem, enabling cloud-connectivity to all BrightSign players for easy, secure player and content management across any network-connected digital signage. Jeff Hastings, CEO of BrightSign, said, “In two short years, BSN.cloud has become an integral piece of the BrightSign ecosystem. We have invested heavily in the platform to ensure we’re providing the functionality our customers need and BSN.cloud is now more robust than ever with a host of new features.” The BSN.cloud updates improve workflow in two primary areas: player set-up and player control and remote management.NEWS IN BRIEF 8KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Canada’s first-ever campaign using a PORTL display—a first-of-its-kind, 3D, 4K AI holographic interface — launched in downtown Toronto for an exclusive activation presenting global beverage giant Diageo’s Johnnie Walker 18-Year- Old and Black Label Scotch Whisky. The innovative activation allowed customers to interact with the holographic display and receive a special holiday greeting from a life-size Johnnie Walker brand ambassador, view a visual 3D product showcase of holiday must-haves from the brand and enjoy a holiday cocktail-making demonstration. "We’re so excited to have a PORTL in Canada the public can visit throughout the holidays with the absolutely iconic brand Johnnie Walker," said David Nussbaum, CEO and Inventor of PORTL. "MOUSE 3D DIGITAL really understands the PORTL platform and is producing content that raises the bar. I’m pretty sure everyone is going to want a hologram mixologist at home once they see this." “The future is here. The 4K life-sized holographic display allows brands to create stronger human connections with customers in moments, something we haven’t been able to do yet with digital media,” said Glenn E. Smith, Founder and Chief Customer Officer at MOUSE CANADA’S FIRST-EVER PORTL HOLOGRAM DISPLAY KICKS OFF WITH JOHNNIE WALKER 3D DIGITAL. “The PORTL technology offers a pandemic-friendly solution, giving brands the ability to create the look and feel of a live interaction or demonstration without having to be face-to-face. It offers an immediate consumer connection at a time when we need it most.” PORTL is a unique platform designed to allow consumers to interact with realistic life-size 3D holograms and has the capability of beaming people and products into the freestanding, plug-and-play device from anywhere in the world. MOUSE 3D DIGITAL plans to bring the future forward with innovative PORTL activations across Canada that allow for stronger consumer connections. The activation with Johnnie Walker is the first of many uniquely interactive experiences to be offered to consumers across Canada. MOUSE 3D DIGITAL is renting out units for ad hoc installations and campaigns. The PORTL technology was also featured at Canada’s first hologram fashion show located at Cadillac Fairview’s Toronto Eaton Centre in December 2021. The game-changing holographic 3D platform offers both live and pre- recorded content capabilities, while also allowing content to be broadcast to multiple places at once in real-time. SMARTLABS ANNOUNCES INTEGRATION WITH ZEASN’S SMART TV OS SmartLabs has successfully developed its client applications on Whale OS in a collaboration with Philips Smart TVs for one of its telecoms customers in Russia. SmartLabs CEO, Mikhail Grachev, said, “As a leading provider of multi-screen, multi-network solutions for the video streaming market, we are a trusted partner for interactive TV operators, telcos and media companies worldwide. We already support Android TV, Tizen, Web OS and VIDAA and with the addition of Whale OS, the list keeps growing. “Being able to launch applications developed on the Whale OS platform means we can drastically expand our global reach and increase the delivery of high-quality content to even more smart TV models. We look forward to many more video viewers enjoying best-in-class content brought to their smart TV devices by SmartLabs.” SmartLabs’ cutting-edge technology ensures applications are secure, easy to use and stable. The interface has a modern feel and looks stylish, as well as being agile and fully functional, providing the sort of premium experience that today’s consumers expect. The quality of the offering, coupled with the company’s dedication to customers, means that SmartLabs is chosen time and again. In addition to Philips smart TVs, Whale OS is also used by TCL and Haier, and those additional manufacturers are expected to be supported by SmartLabs from Q1 2022. While Russia is the starting point for the Whale OS launch, there are also plans for it to be rolled out worldwide next year. Whale OS, part of Whale Eco, is an operating system for many of the world’s recognisable smart TV brands.DENSO WAVE LAUNCHES NEW SP1 AUTOPILOT FUNCTION With the SP1 Autopilot function, companies accelerate their processes by up to 50% and save time and costs during inventories. Especially now, RFID technology has a major impact on the profits and losses of companies, for example in retail and logistics. RFID tags that are attached to goods can be read with mobile computers in such a way that real-time results for transactions, stock levels or the order history of customers are displayed. With the SP1, Denso Wave Europe has already launched an RFID scanner that turns simple smart devices into high-speed UHF RFID scanners. Now, the experts in mobile data collection go one step further and accelerate processes even more with the new Autopilot function for the SP1. “The newly developed technology scans tags even faster and more completely than before,” says Dirk Gelbrich, General Manager Technical Department at Denso Wave Europe. Gelbrich continues: “Compared to the previous SP1, companies can reduce their inventory time by up to 50%.” The SP1 RFID scanner offers the highest reading performance in the industry. A study from the University of Leicester found that RFID improves inventory accuracy by more than 25%. NEWS IN BRIEF 9 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Do you have some news? A company announcement? Whether it’s a takeover, merger, expansion, product launch or new CEO we want to hear about it! Contact: editor@kdseurope.com BrightSign’s players are behind the new All Blacks Experience, implemented by Wellington-based company Toulouse - an AV, lighting and technology consultancy. Conceived by Ngai Tahu Tourism and New Zealand Rugby with an overall concept designed by Workshop E, it uses innovation and technology to provide a full sensory, interactive and immersive experience showcasing the All Blacks, the Black Ferns and the Maori All Blacks. The All Blacks Experience takes the visitor through what it takes to shape, make and be an All Black. The Experience sits across one floor of approximately 1800sqm, adjacent to a number of high-end hotels in Auckland’s popular Sky City district. It consists of 10 locations or ‘zones’ each with a unique set of hardware supporting the storytelling and drawing the visitor into the experience of being an All Black, a Black Fern or a Maori All Black. Visitors get the opportunity to test out their rugby abilities with the chance to match their kicking, catching, line out and accuracy skills against New Zealand’s best players in the "hands on" interactive zone. The Shaping Zone offers interactive POWERING THE IMMERSIVE ALL BLACKS RUGBY EXPERIENCE games that demonstrate the psychology and emotional development stages of All Blacks training - presented on 26 individual touch screens that allow each tour participant to pitch their skills against the opposing team. The Haka Zone presents a stadium pre- match playing on a 4m tall and 17m long blended projection screen, with sound belting out through 14,400W of amplification when the haka is performed. The Step-Up Zone presents a series of playing cages with four meter tall portrait projection screens as the game surface of choice as visitors compare their skills against the All Blacks themselves when they kick, pass and throw a rugby ball. Toulouse uses BrightSign players extensively in installs. Delivery was within the installation timeline and the players worked across the range of platforms – from intimate to large- format projection.” The All Blacks Experience is powered by 36 BrightSign HD224 players and 30 HD1024 players supplied by Midwich. The players run screens varying in size from 32in Signage Screens to a 13m wide edge blended, curved, 3x projector screen.Next >