Kiosk

What is Kiosk?
A kiosk is a small, free-standing physical structure that displays information or provides a service. Kiosks can be manned or unmanned, and unmanned kiosks can be digital or non-digital. The word kiosk is of French, Turkish and Persian origin and means pavilion or portico.

Kiosk Challenges
A small, self-standing structure such as a newsstand or ticket booth. The original kiosk had room inside for a person who handled the transactions; however, the term evolved to refer to unattended self-service booths with computers that dispense information or make sales via a touchscreen. Other than simple soda or candy machines, almost any modern vending machine that accepts credit cards can be called a kiosk. For example, digital photo kiosks are today's counterpart to the earlier, manned kiosks for analog film developing. Accepting memory card or CD/DVD input, they allow users to select images and perform limited editing. The units can make prints on the spot as well as burn them onto a CD. See self-service application and touchscreen.

Kiosk Solutions
When an unmanned kiosk is programmed with software that incorporates artificial intelligence, it can provide customers with an experience that, in some cases, is quite similar to that of a manned kiosk. For example, an intelligent check-in kiosk at an airport can monitor a variety of data sources, including passenger check-in flow, and programmatically request additional kiosks to be activated in real time during busy periods.

Kiosk Usefulness
When an unmanned kiosk is programmed with software that incorporates artificial intelligence, it can provide customers with an experience that, in some cases, is quite similar to that of a manned kiosk. For example, an intelligent check-in kiosk at an airport can monitor a variety of data sources, including passenger check-in flow, and programmatically request additional kiosks to be activated in real time during busy periods.