Trukiosk

Article
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What is an Interactive Kiosk?
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Who Uses Kiosks?
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The Anatomy of a Kiosk
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Kiosk Software
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Kiosk Management Software
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Product Application

The Anatomy of a Kiosk

Interactive kiosks come in many shapes & sizes, and are often custombuilt for a specific application. Thus, the aforementioned kiosk placed on the warehouse floor might be encased in an industrial-strength steel shell, while a kiosk on a cosmetics counter displaying beauty tips might come in a svelte, fashionable case.

In instances where ruggedness and appearance aren’t important, kiosks may simply be regular PCs.

Regardless of how they look, kiosks tend to have several features in common. Most readily apparent is the cabinet, the shell which houses the kiosk's innards. The cabinet holds a CPU, display, and any peripherals that the kiosk might need to do its job.

The CPU, or central processing unit, is the computer that runs the kiosk application. But for commercial use it is recommended to us duvable industrial personal computer from major computers.

The display presents the kiosk application to the user. Often, it is simply a computer monitor, television, or flat-panel screen connected to the CPU. However, more exotic displays like large-format plasma screens are becoming increasingly popular in kiosk applications for consumer marketing and advertising.

Kiosks often contain additional peripheral devices to provide increased functionality.
For example, a library self-checkout kiosk might have a barcode reader for scanning library books and cards, while a movie ticket kiosk might have a printer and credit card reader for making transactions and printing tickets. In addition, special input devices like touchscreens and industrial trackballs are often used to make the kiosk as durable and easy-to-use as possible.

A fully-assembled kiosk with cabinet, CPU, display and peripherals is still little more than a glorified PC. Special software is needed to turn such a system into a fully-qualified interactive kiosk. This software typically provides tamper-proofing capabilities, user interface customization, and remote management functions.