solutions Customer Engagement Technology October/November 2020 Issue 28 In this issue: Utilising artificial intelligence to bridge brand identity gap Zero contact sign-in systems Touchscreens transforming our approach to healthcare kiosks | digital signage | engagement technology KIOSK ISSN 2398-2837Kiosk 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.comsolutions Customer Engagement Technology KIOSK contents KIOSK solutions 3 FOREWORD ...........................................................................................................................5 NEWS ........................................................................................................................................6 UTILISE AI TO LESSEN THE BRAND IDENTITY GAP – LESSONS IN RETAIL....................................................... .................................................14 Livelihoods have suffered with the fallout from Covid-19, and navigating out of the disruption from a commercial standpoint is going to take some consideration. ZERO CONTACT SIGN IN SYSTEMS - AN OVERVIEW OF METHODS .................................................................................18 An overview of techniques to build a contact free sign in system for bars, restaurants and places of work. HOW TOUCHSCREENS ARE TRANSFORMING OUR APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE .................................................................... 22 The healthcare sector is constantly changing – and there is no time this has been truer than now. Touchscreens are a key part of how this change is occurring in the healthcare sector; we’ve looked at some of the major ways touchscreens are impacting healthcare. 18 22 contents 14solutions Customer Engagement Technology KIOSK Kiosk Solutions reaches an audience of 15,000 decision makers on a bi-monthly basis right throughout the UK. These 15,000 individuals are comprised of Customer Service Directors, Project Managers, CIOs , CTO’s, FD’s and many more besides. This unique readership presents you with a unique opportunity to reach an audience that is not available through any other media. Independent Kiosk Solutions is an independent publication, aiming to offer an objective view of the industry. Articles may present newsworthy acts and/ or opinions of named companies, but all measures are taken to ensure that articles within Kiosk Solutions report the objective facts without bias. Editorial We welcome contributions and submissions of news, features, thought leadership posts and interviews from companies and individuals regarding the kiosk and digital signage industry. These can be sent to the editor; Laura Vallis at editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk. All editorial that we receive from third parties is subject to the editor-in-chief's ultimate approval, and submission of an article is no guarantee of publication. To ensure that all articles meet the editorial policy, we reserve the right to edit the whole or part of any material selected for publication. You can find our editorial policy on our website: www.kiosksolutionsmagazine.com/guidelines. Advertising If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages please contact Lloyd at lloyd.vella@abacus-comms.co.ukLOCKDOWN REPERCUSSIONS The fall out of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected lives and livelihoods across all industries in all corners of the world. And just when we think we're getting on top of the virus, we find we're back to lockdown with lives restricted and disrupted once again. Navigating these harsh disruptions from a commercial standpoint is difficult and requires much thought and consideration. In this issue Nate Burke, CEO and founder of Dignius has spent recent months helping businesses establish and grow their online offerings. He takes a look at digital marketing offerings, including artificial intelligence (AI) and automation techniques, and how they may benefit businesses that embrace this technology. The hospitality market is one of the largest users of the kiosk and digital signage and it's clear that Covid-19 has potentially long lasting repercussions for this sector. Many outfits have been using the NHS's Test and Trace QR code approach for customer sign-in to the premises, but is this a temporary fix and how can we improve upon this system whilst being GDPR compliant? Gwil Goode, co-founder of Welcm reviews the current options available for zero- contact sign-in systems, the benefits and limitations. The healthcare industry has been using touchscreens for many years such as self-service information point touchscreens to improve check-in times and wayfinding within hospital environments. Recently we have seen processes to categorise and diagnose patients using touchscreen “reception” desks and applications such as touchscreen-enabled bedside terminals and psychiatric care screens. Ian Crosby from Zytronic looks at some of the major ways touchscreens are impacting healthcare. As I write, reports that a Covid-19 vaccination may be available in the very near future has hit our newsfeeds. While we hope that the vaccination may improve our personal and business health in 2021, for now stay safe and stay well. Laura Vallis Editor foreword KIOSK solutions 5KIOSK solutions Abacus Communications Limited 1 Tudor Business Park, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood, KT20 6EN www.kiosksolutionsmagazine.com Published by: Abacus Communications Publisher: Greg Ward Editor: Laura Vallis Sales: Lloyd Vella ISSN 2398-2837 The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. 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 © 2020 and accordingly must not be reproduced in any medium. All rights reserved. Would you like to contribute to Kiosk Solutions? Please submit news stories, articles, press releases and industry expert opinions to Laura Vallis editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk including 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. Wembley Park undergoes digital upgrade with Eclipse Digital Media and Absen LED Situated in North-West London, Wembley Park is currently undergoing an extensive developmental operation designed to expand its reputation as a sporting and music event destination and transform it into a vibrant community in the UK. The 85-acre site neighbours the second largest sporting stadium in Europe, Wembley Stadium, and includes The SSE Arena, Wembley, 70 high street outlets, 8,400 new homes, and a 2000-seat theatre. Quintain Ltd., the property development and investment company behind Wembley Park’s redevelopment, chose Eclipse Digital Media for a variety of work as part of the digital transformation. The work commissioned included the LED digital signage renovation of the Bobby Moore Bridge, Olympic Way, and White Horse Square, plus a variety of digital signage for the Pink Car Park. In total, Eclipse Digital Media implemented over 150sqm of Absen XD6 LED screens as part of the vast digital upgrade. With such a modern digital deployment, the LED screens have proven to attract the right attention in the last few months, not only for advertising or for managing the flow of persons, but also to raise awareness and understanding when the screens were used to pay tribute to the NHS staff and all front-line workers. Leading the transformation is London-based The Light Lab, responsible for the management, installation, and fabrication of the new digital makeover. Initial concept designs were created by architect Dixon Jones, with Speirs + Major designing the lighting for the underpass. “The Wembley Park project is a great example of how LED can be used to provide a digital upgrade to modernise old architecture,” said head of brand and marketing at Absen Europe, Alex Couzins. “We look forward to the future developments of Wembley Park with Eclipse Digital Media.” Ultimately, the entire project was a huge success, and has modernised Wembley Park’s most iconic routes and structures. The digitalisation of these areas has not only developed them but has also solidified that an experience at Wembley Park begins far before the entrance to the stadiums. Further digitalisation is planned for 2021. n news 6 KIOSK solutions6 KIOSK solutionsnews Evoke Creative has delivered a digital marketing solution for JD Sports at the brand’s flagship US store, which opened in Times Square in New York last month. Working in direct partnership with JD Sports and its brand partners, Evoke designed and implemented a solution that combines over 100 different digital signage and interactive kiosks, all controlled by Evoke’s cloud-based platform. The Wirral-based company, backed by BGF, the UK’s investor in growing businesses, managed the delivery of the digital solution – from conceptual design and project management through to in-store installation. Products installed include large-scale digital windows, projecting messages directly into Times Square; a ten metre high digital entrance portal – the centrepiece of the store; video walls; LED ticker tape displays; interactive kiosks; and digital light boxes for the promotion of individual brands. Key to the solution is the Evoke cloud-based control software, which gives the JD Sports marketing team access to the 120 digital devices from a single interface. Head office- based staff can instantly push new static images or dynamic video content to every single digital screen, or schedule new content to appear at a particular date and time. This will allow the team to change the in-store marketing with ease for individual promotions, seasonal campaigns or instantly update the whole store appearance to support their regular sporting celebrity appearances. Dean Ward, co-founder and CTO at Evoke Creative, said: “We couldn’t be prouder of this project, as it really does show what’s possible when a supplier and a customer truly work together as partners. In providing this expansive range of digital devices across the whole store – all accessible via the cloud – we’ve essentially given the JD Sports team a huge digital canvas that they are in complete control of. This means that customers to the store can potentially get a different experience every time they walk in – with the imagery and messaging being so easy to change.” He added: “With the ability to provide digital signage in almost any shape or size, our team has been able to create displays that contribute to the ‘wow-factor’ of the store, while being completely seamless in our design.” Evoke has worked in partnership with JD Sports since 2014 and has installed more than 3,000 digital devices around the world, including Europe, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. n Evoke Creative delivers Times Square project for JD Sports KIOSK solutions To share your company news, product announcements, strategic partnerships, movers and shakers in the next issue of Kiosk Solutions magazine, email the editor at: editor.kiosk@abacus-comms.co.uk KIOSK solutions 7news Zytronic has released a contactless sensing option that can detect user interactions up to 30mm away from the surface of the glass. Based upon the company’s ZyBrid touch sensors, and developed entirely at its UK R&D and manufacturing facility, ZyBrid hover has been designed to assist manufacturers of self-service kiosks in their efforts to reassure customers that are nervous touching publicly used surfaces. ZyBrid hover works in conjunction with Zytronic’s ZXY500 projected capacitive (PCAP) controller, which uses proprietary firmware to boost sensitivity levels far beyond what is normally possible. Together with a specially designed touch sensor, this enables a significantly deeper touch-field to be generated. Furthermore, the multi-touch sensor can recognise basic gestures (such as zooms, pinches and swipes) even when the user is wearing thick gloves. It can also be set to work in standard touch mode with direct user contact to the surface of the touchscreen. Most other techniques used to enable a touchscreen to detect an interaction without physical touch rely upon infrared or camera-based touch detection hardware mounted around the front edges of the screen. Such arrangements inevitably create protruding bezels, which can harbour pathogens and make the screen difficult to clean effectively. They are also susceptible to “false” or accidental touches, as they will react to any object breaking the IR light beams or coming into view of the camera. Furthermore, intense direct sunlight and dust/debris accumulating on the surface may impede performance or prevent it from working. Projected capacitive or PCAP touch technologies will only respond to a finger (sometimes gloved) or a conductive stylus, so they are far less prone to such performance issues. From a practical standpoint, Zytronic will advise developers of graphical user interfaces (GUI) to adapt their software to ensure an optimal user experience. This includes tips such as increasing the size of icons to be touched and introducing wider ‘guard bands’ around each active button area. Both will help reduce the risk of accidental touches when interacting with adjacent controls. “Current PCAP-based contactless technologies typically only support maximum distances of about 10mm from the surface of the screen, and generally cannot detect a touch from a gloved hand,” explains Dr Andrew Morrison, Technical Director at Zytronic. “This is because they rely on either ITO or a metal mesh to create the projected capacitive matrix on the rear of the sensor – and both have a relatively low conductivity. In contrast, for ZyBrid hover we deposit a proprietary copper matrix pattern on the rear of our touch sensors, and together with our latest ZXY500 controller and custom firmware, allows us to detect changes in the transferred energy from further than ever before. This means that touch events can be registered at least 30mm away from the surface of the screen, even from a gloved hand.” n Zytronic adds a third dimension to touch with its ZyBrid hover technology Consultant Services Group (CSG) rebrands vending arm as VendPlus Consultant Services Group (CSG) which has been an established player in the vending, FM and cleaning sectors for over 50 years, has unveiled a new, refreshed look for its vending arm. To be known as VendPlus, the company will continue to offer vending solutions to satisfy a broad range of clients’ needs including hot and cold drinks, confectionery and fresh and hot food. Operating across several sectors including manufacturing, distribution, contact centres and commercial office space; VendPlus uses sector leading technology to underpin its service regime, maximise efficiency and safety for clients and the users of the vending solutions. Clients can tailor solutions to their exacting requirements, providing them with real time telemetry to analyse purchasing trends and staff and visitor demographics. VendPlus provides clients and users the peace of mind they need to stay safe via the use of contactless payment options, touchless product collection mechanisms and app/QR code machine control. Distance touch technology can be applied enabling purchases to be completed remotely. The vending offer can also be client branded through machine wrapping, whilst video and electronic messaging and live advertising can support direct messaging to staff and users. Nick Rastelli, Sales and Commercial Director comments: “CSG has long been synonymous for the quality of its service offering having established itself as one of the premier players in the vending, FM and cleaning markets. “In a post Covid-19 world, the safety of vending users has never been more prominent. It also gives the vending a sector a real opportunity to encourage more users to consume in this way.” n 8 KIOSK solutionsnews Ventola on target with latest Ten Entertainment Group ventures Leicestershire lighting business Ventola Projects has completed the finishing touches on their latest Family Entertainment Centre (FEC) project with Ten Entertainment Group. The firm’s signature VAvR LED system has been installed at Manchester’s Printworks venue, consisting of works across the bowling area, the ground floor entrance as well as the arcade setting and communal seating towards the bar. The project marks something of a reward for Ventola’s invention during lockdown. The additional VAvR experiential projection system installed over the bowling lanes uses technology developed during the early stages of the pandemic. Giving an extra touch of flair, the system provides the facility with moving lane images, visual effects and game options such as transforming lanes into mini football pitches or promoting brand product offers along with exciting mini games. Ventola Projects founder Mick Ventola said: “The bowling experience is ever- evolving and so too does the technology designed to grab the user’s attention. “FECs today offer a range of facilities from bar areas to pool/snooker, arcades and more. All of it gives further marketing opportunities to grab a drink or some food while you bowl, and the ways in which guests' attention can be caught in this regard might take a bit more invention whilst they are wrapped up in the bowling experience. “Artificial intelligence is helping in these ways, showing promotions from visual reminders before and whilst you bowl, along with mini bowling games from the experiential projection system. And so too the system can upgrade the bowling experience to include elements you’d usually see in an arcade. We’re excited to be leading the charge in these areas and helping businesses as they endure further tough times under lockdown restrictions.” Ventola continues to aid recovery efforts in the FEC sector as many choose to upgrade their facilities in an attempt to entice trade during the pandemic. And it is testament to Ventola’s work at the Manchester venue that the business also earned further projects within the Ten Entertainment Group, most recently at its Tenpin venue in Kingston upon Thames. n Experential lighting 1-3: Ventola's LED VAvR system provides the facility with moving lane images, visual effects and game options. Coates Group’s K2 Kiosk wins good design award Gold accolade in Australia’s International Good Design Awards Coates Group has been awarded the prestigious Good Design Award for its K2 Self- Order Kiosk, the highest honour for design and innovation in Australia. The internationally- renowned award was announced during 2020 Good Design Week. The K2 Kiosk received the esteemed Good Design Award Gold Accolade in the Product Design Consumer Electronics category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation. Coates Group’s K2 Self-Order Kiosk claims to redefine the industry benchmark in its form, function, and flexibility, delivering efficiency and customisation with style. The minimal form factor, design aesthetic and various mounting options allow the kiosk to integrate into different environments, providing the foundation for immersive customer experience. Commissioned and designed in-house by Coates Group at its global headquarters in Sydney, Australia, the K2 Kiosk is amongst a range of digital merchandising products designed by Coates for its QSR and Retail customers across the world. The Good Design Awards Jury praised K2 Kiosk, commenting, "There's design excellence in redefining a category that was purely functional and reductionist to something more appealing, attractive and approachable with inviting forms, surfaces, materials and colours. There's a great combination of industrial and natural materials that makes this an inviting product to use. It has a simple form with limited visible technology which makes it less threatening as a tool. Well done." Rob Cervetto, a Coates Group designer and member of the team that created the K2, explained, "The project presented us an opportunity to reimagine the interpretation of a digital self-ordering kiosk. We carefully considered and challenged our approach to the form, function and flexibility of the kiosk, focusing on the user journey and concealing distracting features - providing visual clarity to the overall design that is clean and inviting, and facilitating an immersive customer experience." n KIOSK solutions 9Next >