Entrepreneurial spirit and a vision of the future lead KING’s Robert Giblett from his own VOIP software development firm into the self service and kiosk industry. When he’s not busy predicting the changing tide of the self-service industry, he’s riding waves in his 35’ power boat at Georgian Bay.
Describe your first kiosk project.
My first project was with the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. They wanted to set-up an interactive digital classroom for kids. Ancient artifacts were displayed on desktop kiosks in high-res 3D imaging that enabled the kids to interact with the image by rotating it, flipping it end-over-end etc. It was so successful that the Discovery Channel did a spotlight on it.
Describe the most significant recent changes in the industry.
I think one of the most significant changes has been the enabling of technology that provided us with the ability to develop in-demand consumer centric applications incorporated with a very high user experience.
Where will the industry be in five years?
I believe we will see more complex applications being deployed. No longer will kiosks simply be informational or used to access a company LAN but they will be fully integrated to back-end legacy systems with leading edge technologies like contactless RFID to automate the payment process, provide sophisticated user profiling etc.
What has been the biggest “missed opportunity” in the industry recently?
I really don’t think there has been a missed opportunity as the industry is still developing and finding its way. I think opportunities that were passed over several years ago were due to a lack of supporting technology that will no doubt end up being addressed again soon.
If you could grant any wish for the kiosk industry, what would it be, and why?
I would wish for more success stories of kiosk deployments because as the word gets out that kiosks are been used successfully to increase sales, reduce overhead and provide a great user experience then the industry as a whole will grow stronger.
