A kiosk is a public-facing computer system, often with touch-screen capability, that allows users to perform some task, typically self-service in nature, in a shared or public space. You've probably seen examples of such machines in airports, lobbies, or even the movie theatre – and their roles can vary from simple jobs like displaying a website, or providing Internet access, all the way to more complicated processes such as ticket sales, self-serve check-in, and way finding. Kiosks continue to grow in popularity, and businesses continue to explore new ways to utilize these machines to offer self-service, reduce wait times, and automate processes for their customers. The functionality they deliver is totally dependent on the software application being used, as well as the hardware capabilities of the kiosk machinery.

For obvious reasons, the construction and durability of the kiosk are very important. As a public-facing device, a kiosk needs to withstand the uses and abuses of the general public touching it all day, and faithfully keep working. Vandalism and theft are valid concerns, especially in unattended environments, so it is common to see kiosks designed as large monolithic pedestals, constructed of steel, and bolted to the floor. Depending on the design, the “computer part” is a desktop computer sitting on a shelf inside the pedestal, behind a locked door, or, on “slimmer” versions, is a low-powered all-in-one computer/screen that attach to the stylized pedestal with a lock. Typical weight of such kiosks could easily be upwards of 300lbs, and once installed, become permanent fixtures in the environment. The are many companies that design and sell such systems, and the number of style variants of this theme is vast. Surprisingly, for all of the variety in design, colour choices are fairly predictable. The most common kiosk colours by far are black, or brushed-metal. Some vendors do paint their kiosks in other colours, or solve this issue by using vinyl wrapping.

Beyond the ruggedness requirements, however, the traditional pedestal design has some major drawbacks. It's size and weight make it costly and difficult to transport and relocate. As they are often permanently attached to the environment, you need to plan the location carefully, which sadly, is easier said than done. Many businesses rush to install kiosks in the location that they believe will maximize customer usage, however, later discover otherwise. Changing the position then becomes a large ordeal. Further, their physical footprints consume large amounts of space, which is not always abundant. In retail environments, for example, maximizing floor-space for merchandise is essential, so a kiosk that consumes a lot of it is not an attractive option. This problem gets exponentially worse in scenarios where a business needs to deploy multiple kiosks in groups on the floor, in order to keep lines and wait times short. Other drawbacks to large, permanently installed kiosks include being very overbearing to the look/feel of your interior space, and, most tragically, that there will be no hiding the fact that the kiosk is broken when that day invariably comes. Which brings us to the computer inside the metal box.

The factor commonly downplayed by kiosk implementers is the computing aspect, which is a problem in this industry. At its core, a kiosk is a computer that must run software in order to do its job. A kiosk that can't run its software well isn't going to be well received, which defeats the entire purpose of having one. To be successful, a kiosk needs to be reliable, fast, and responsive to users when they are using it. In order to entice customers, and to excel at your mission – whether it is to sell more product, provide meaningful self-service, or collect feedback, you need software that is visual, interactive, connected and sophisticated. And that requires a modern, high-quality and well-equipped computer platform to deliver the rich user experience we have all come to expect. It may sound surprising that most kiosks neglect this aspect, and come equipped with “legacy” (i.e. old-style) hardware that can't deliver the same levels of performance currently possible, even compared to your home computer.

There are many devices that exist in the “kiosk” space, even though they are not kiosks, nor are they built to do the public-facing job of a kiosk. These represent the bottom portion of the industry's price range, and get incorrectly construed as kiosk products due to their touch-screen capabilities. For example, Point of Sale (POS) systems feature a touch-screen and computer integrated together. These are intended for employee use, but do not have the durable construction or built-in computing power to run impressive applications. Similarly, popular, yet inexpensive consumer products, such as touch-screen all-in-one desktop computers or tablets have the touch element, but again, do not possess the design and construction to handle the always on, full-time duty cycle of a kiosk, being touched by random people all day long. Nor do they have the upgrade path, serviceability, customization or fleet management features required to deliver a robust, reliable and businesses-grade solution.

The factor commonly downplayed by kiosk implementers is the computing aspect, which is a problem in this industry. At its core, a kiosk is a computer that must run software in order to do its job. A kiosk that can't run its software well isn't going to be well received, which defeats the entire purpose of having one. To be successful, a kiosk needs to be reliable, fast, and responsive to users when they are using it. In order to entice customers, and to excel at your mission – whether it is to sell more product, provide meaningful self-service, or collect feedback, you need software that is visual, interactive, connected and sophisticated. And that requires a modern, high-quality and well-equipped computer platform to deliver the rich user experience we have all come to expect.

It may sound surprising that most kiosks neglect this aspect, and come equipped with “legacy” (i.e. old-style) hardware and operating systems that can't deliver the same levels of performance currently possible with modern computers. In many cases, even your home computer will be more powerful than the average kiosk. As a result of this trend for legacy components, the kiosk's potential to run modern, feature and media-rich software is severely limited, and this prevents businesses from deploying kiosk systems that deliver a captivating and meaningful user experience.

Many kiosk vendors are actually metal-fabrication outfits that focus primarily on the metal enclosure. As a result, they offer numerous designs of large, heavy, impressive metal shells, that then have the computer electronics installed within them. Consequently, the computer aspect is frequently ignored, outsourced or downplayed. More problematic, the design choices of the cabinet ultimately drive, and can restrict, the technology choices that follow. An effective kiosk vendor will understand the intricacies of integrating the metal with the computer aspects, and will ideally be able to create a system in which the design and engineering decisions consider both, with maximum performance and durability as the outcome.

kioskStyle develops powerful, reliable, secure and self-sustainable kiosk solutions for the commercial business sector. Versatile, attractive, and interactive systems allow you to harness the utility of a kiosk device, without the great expense and complexity of traditional kiosk systems.

Unlike such other companies, kioskStyle engineers solutions tailored to consider both sides of the equation as a design objective. Computer and cabinet go hand-in-hand to ensure that neither compromises the other. After all, in the computer industry, the word "compromise" has many negative connotations. We believe in evaluating scenarios from start to finish -- cradle-to-grave, end-to-end. That's why we focus on reducing your costs throughout the long life of your kiosk purchase -- not just the purchase price.

kioskStyle Inc. is a joint venture between FelerNetworks Corporation and Holophrastic Enterprises Inc..

Working together on past kiosk solution projects, we've noticed that currently available kiosk solutions are far too rigid and cost-prohibitive to be practical for our clients, typically in the small and medium business sectors.

We were very frustrated by the under-powered and poor-quality hardware choices, the long repair turn-around times, large foot-print (i.e. bloated) management tools, and limited to non-existent upgrade paths. Most of all, we were very frustrated with having to tell our clients that the kiosk applications they desired were outside of their budget and staffing limits.

Hence kioskStyle was created, where we strive to empower business with devices that can offer the complete range of kiosk-style functionality, leveraging all of the power of modern computing, IT management practices, and software customizability, and without the rigidness, astronomical cost, or logistical complexity of traditional kiosk solutions.