Everyday, technology is improving. It is becoming more efficient, accessible, and prevalent in our society. Self-service technology is no exception to this time of fast moving innovation. To keep up with the constant updates of innovative uses of kiosks globally, I use google tools to send me articles using the keyword “kiosks” and “self-service technology”. Every day I go through the articles send to me by Google and pull out the most reliable news sources providing relevant resources regarding self-service tech. For this month, I will be sharing what I think to be the most creative uses and improvements of kiosks for the month of April. Here is, “Kiosk News of the Month: April Edition”.
Story: Chiropractic offices are installing kiosks to scan patient’s feet for imbalances
Source: Nasdaq (Global Newswire)
Summary
Do you have an imbalance in your feet that may require insoles? A foot levelers kiosk was recently designed for chiropractic offices using a 3D self scanning tool. The kiosk scan the customer’s feet, creates a design for a custom fit based on the imbalances picked up from the scan. The kiosk is capable of providing information about the way that imbalances in the feet can affect the back, hips, knees, and joints. It can also assist the customer in finding offices that can create these custom made orthopedics.
Story: Goodwill improves ESS using kiosks
Source: Retail Customer Experience
Summary
Goodwill uses self-service technology to improve employee services in Virginia. The purpose of this was to decrease the time taken to train a new employee, and they are already seeing improvements. Using cloud and kiosk management software, the kiosk can be managed by Goodwill’s IT department at any location.
Story: York Beach, Maine, is installing parking kiosks downtown
Source: Retail Customer Experience
Summary
York Beach will have a new addition this summer: parking kiosks. To replace the kiosk of the 20 kiosks, the hourly rate for parking has increased from $1 an hour to $2 an hour. The kiosks are being implemented to improve the organization of parking in downtown and make paying more convenient using a mobile app. Plug in the hours, parking location, and pay.
Story: Money transfer machines (MTM) are allowing foreign workers a way to handle their finances
Source: Singapore Times
Summary
Are you working right now to send money to your family? This process can be extremely tedious and risky. The MTM allows workers to send money to their families in other countries without fees, and is in the process of being approved internationally. For example, if a person from Romania comes to the U.S. on a J-1 visa to work for the summer, the USD he saves will be worth 4x in Romanian currency because of the exchange rate. Using this kiosk, the person from Romania could easily convert and transfer funds to family for safekeeping.
Story: Kiosks make is easier to pay your water bill
Source: Yahoo Finance
Summary
Something that I complain about on a regular basis is the fact that in order to do anything regarding the clerk’s office, DMV, doctor’s office, auto shop, etc. you have to take a day off from work. It can be rather difficult to pay insane registration fees when I have to cut my hours to get to the town hall to pay the fee. Unfortunately, this has been an issue for so long that it is an accepted fact of life. Detroit is going to improve this standard using self-service technology. Kiosks are being installed in Detroit to make paying the town water bill easier to do. This is especially effective in situations where a person works the same hours as the town clerk’s office or doesn’t have access to a phone or computer to pay the bill online.
Story: University of California Irvine installs DMV kiosk at campus police station as a student resource
Source: Retail Customer Experience
Summary
A lot of students (including myself once) have the problem of living on-campus, and needing to do DMV and town clerk tasks (renewals, payments, information updates, etc.) in their home town. Freshman specifically are typically not allowed to park their car on campus and don’t have an easy way to get back home to renew the registration for the car they aren’t allowed to have on campus. It’s a slippery slope. A DMV kiosk on campus can help improve this by allowing students to walk to the campus police and pay registration there.
Story: Mental health kiosks come to North Carolina
Source: The Fix https://www.thefix.com/mental-health-screening-kiosks-coming-north-carolina
Summary
Are you looking for mental health resources? “The Edgecombe County Health Department in Tarboro, North Carolina will be getting a mental health screening kiosk in its waiting room”. Screening for Mental Health provides these kiosks nationwide to provide an easy to use assessment tool for the public.
Story: Vegas installs a self-service microbrew kiosk “robot”
Source: Eater Las Vegas
Summary
A micro-brew virtual bar will be added to Vegas’ Miracle Mile Shops. The owners of the shops are hoping that the kiosk can I.D. the customer, use facial recognition to verify the I.D., serve the beer, and have the ability for POS. In Nevada, the law is no more than 48 oz in a 15 minutes time span. The kiosk can use facial recognition to uphold this rule.
For regular variety of news about kiosks, add “kiosks” to your Google Alerts and
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