While all of these modes or routes of transmission are
important to keep in mind, the two that we in the self-service
kiosk industry want to pay particular attention to are fomites
and person-to-person.
A tricky balance
The COVID-19 outbreak rocked modern civilisation and is
raising conversation and debate on how we best reduce the
risk of something like this happening again in the future. Many
of those conversations are turning their collective attention
to the self-service kiosk industry to reduce the amount of
person-to-person contact taking place in administrative and
transactional processes. At the same time, can we really trust
that self-service devices are being properly maintained to
reduce the risk of spread
through fomite materials? It’s
a tricky balance, but there are
ways for something like this
to be made possible.
A wide array of industries
is calling for technology that
allows them to keep their frontline employees safe through
minimised contact with the public while also having selfservice
technology that requires minimal cleaning while also
minimising the transmission of pathogens from user-to-user.
The industry most particularly interested in this technology is
healthcare. Frontline caregivers in the healthcare industry are
being exposed to COVID-19 on a daily basis. A large portion of
these caregivers is contracting the virus through direct contact
with infected patients, while the caregivers who do not contract
it are becoming quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of
both COVID-19 related patients as well as patients that are
visiting for other unrelated health matters. The implementation
of self-service devices that are equipped to reduce the spread
of pathogens would be vital in allowing healthcare facilities to
better allocate human resources to more critical tasks while
also protecting the patients coming in for care from further
pathogen spread.
Antimicrobial coatings
Kiosk manufacturers are largely turning to antimicrobial
screens on their self-service kiosks to reduce the risk of
pathogen transmission. Surfaces outfitted with antimicrobial
coatings use a chemical agent that inhibits the ability of
micro-organisms to grow on the surface of a fomite. This
is accomplished through several methods, ranging from
preventing the initial adhesion of a microbe to the surface of
the device, to including viral or fungal inhibitors that are toxic to
microbes that could be potentially harmful to humans.
However, according to an article from Cleaning and
Maintenance Management, the Center for Disease Control
(CDC) “has found no evidence that suggests” antimicrobial
coatings offer any kind of defense against the spread of
potentially harmful microbes. The bottom line seems to be
COVID-19 is reshaping the
way we as a society view
our daily interactions.
clean innovations
that regular cleaning of a publicly used kiosk and washing
one’s hands are the best ways to combat transmission of
these pathogens. So, how do we get the best of both safe,
self-service kiosk application and minimised person-to-person
contact? Why not look to a solution that allows a consumer to
interact with a kiosk through their own personal device?
Minimised contact
The technology is in its infancy, but is rapidly being
developed by leaders in the kiosk system software industry.
Allowing consumers to use their personal devices to control a
self-service kiosk “remotely” allows for minimised person-toperson
contact between employees and customers while also
keeping those customers safe when it comes to transmitting
pathogens on a shared kiosk.
It can work through a
number of different methods,
but one of the most popular
is through the use of a QR
code that can be scanned by
the personal device and used
to gain control of the kiosk by accessing a website or app that
is securely connected to the kiosk software. While this is the
most popular, it is also perhaps the most fallible when it comes
to preventing direct contact with a shared fomite surface.
QR codes can be sloppy in that a device’s camera or an app
installed on the device are not able to focus directly on the
code, making room for frustration and, in-turn, human error to
take place during the interaction.
A more full-proof solution would be to implement RFID
technology that could be transmitted from the kiosk system
software, through the kiosk, and to the user’s personal device,
effectively allowing the user to control the kiosk remotely
from their device while within a certain range or timeframe.
This would eliminate the potential for frustration caused by
QR codes, but provide the same functionality between the
user and the kiosk. One downfall of this solution is that not
all mobile devices are RFID compatible, so users with older
personal devices may not have the ability to use the kiosk
without touching it directly.
Frontrunner solution
COVID-19 is reshaping the way we as a society view our
daily interactions, both person-to-person and with shared
devices and surfaces. We are becoming more concerned
with general sanitation and keeping pathogen spread to
a minimum as we are currently facing one of the worst
pandemics in history. Self-service kiosks are looking to be
a frontrunner solution for many industries as long as they
can adhere to the sanitation standards being put in place by
both corporations and government agencies. It’s up to us to
ensure we meet those standards and help flatten the curve
of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as any future pathogenic
outbreaks we might face. n
20 KIOSK solutions
KIOSK solutions 21