kiosk innovation
The personal
approach
How facial recognition technology in kiosks could be the future for the leisure
and hospitality industries
By Adrian Thompson, CEO, imageHOLDERS – www.imageholders.com
Facial recognition has been in place for
over 50 years and used in businesses
such as airports and government
buildings. But for many consumers,
it was a daunting and intimidating
experience, with the impression that
companies were able to identify them
without their approval and knowledge.
This appeared to change with the
introduction of facial recognition to
the masses, thanks to technology such
as Face ID by Apple and their iPhone
X; increasing customer confidence
due to the normalisation of the use of
recognition tools.
Facial recognition in gyms
With 7,038 gyms and 9.9 million
members in the UK, which is more than
ever before, the industry is one thriving
with opportunities to create ease of
access through innovative measures for
its consumers. Gym members are often
sharing their passes amongst friends
and family members, causing the
business to lose money and potential
memberships. Sharing memberships
also means it’s harder for gyms to target
and market-specific classes that the
member could have been interested in.
The introduction of facial recognition
kiosks could combat many common
issues, for example:
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The loss of key cards: when visiting
the gym, people often take limited
belongings, tending to keep any
possessions on them, such as water
bottles, feeling no need for purses
or wallets. This can mean the cards
are easily lost or forgotten, which
then costs time and money for
both the business and consumer to
replace. With facial recognition, the
consumer would never have this
issue
Potential increases in gym
memberships from those who
are no longer able to benefit from
borrowing another’s pass, as kiosks
would not allow access to those
without a membership unless they
were paying for a class or swim
individually
Clever kiosk software is able to
recommend new classes the user
may be interested in, based on
previous preferences and book
them on quickly. This could then
be tailored to different types of
members, such as families, who
could be recommended holiday
activities for their children or
the appropriate swim classes
available which Leads to upsell
opportunities
Facial recognition in kiosks could
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also increase the feeling of safety
within the building, as all customers
and staff could be recognised and
accounted for, which could be used
in the event of a fire
Staff would ultimately be able to
focus more on improving customer
experiences, as they would not
need to do other tasks such as
checking customers in and printing
tickets
Facial recognition in theme parks
Within theme parks, customers
are demanding bigger and better
experiences with innovative ideas in
which they’re fully able to immerse
themselves. Facial recognition kiosks
could be used throughout theme parks
to add to the customer experience and
create a more streamlined journey;
providing access to images taken on
rides and against green screens shot
by roaming photographers, to create a
personalised digital album at the end
of their visit.
The facial recognition system is
able to track photos from the day
for the customer to view and choose
favourite images and videos from,
where they are able to purchase and
download, print physical copies and
upload straight to social media.
KIOSK solutions 33