Building a Kiosk for the Edge

Michael Daul // Digital Projects Developer @ DUL

7/14/2015 — TRLN Annual Meeting Lightning Talk

Exciting new space in the library!● But, not always staffed

● Needed a way to provide information to patrons

● Decided to build an information kiosk!

● Quick deadline

● Would be a first iteration (evaluate, update)

Primary Requirements● Events list (both public and private events in the space)

● Room reservation system

● Interactive floor plan map

● Staff lookup

● Current Time

● Contact information (chat, email, phone)

Secondary Requirements● Display of computer availability

● Ability to report printing / scanning problems

● Book locations

● Scheduleable content on ‘home’ screen

Hardware (Dell XPS 27” Touchscreen)

Hardware (Dell XPS 27” Touchscreen)

Touchscreen:

●PRO — bright and responsive

●CON — fingerprint magnet

Chassis:

●PROs — stand is amazing, hardware is plenty beefy

●CONs — runs a bit hot, fan could be quieter

OS (Microsoft Windows 8.1)

Works Great:

●Full-screen windows store apps in ‘Kiosk’ mode (Assigned Access)

●Kiosk SP Browser (free!)

●Scheduled nightly reboot via Task Scheduler

OS (Microsoft Windows 8.1)

Be Wary Of:

●Domain Accounts (can’t set to auto-login)

●Kiosk SP Browser (seems to get stuck sometimes)

●Need to be able to remotely administer

●We may pay for software in the future

Back End (Drupal 7)

Lives on a Drupal instance that drives the DUL website

●used Context / Delta modules to change theme settings

●created custom panel pages for each section of kiosk:

○ Events, Reserve Spaces, Map, Staff, Help

●Pulls in dynamic content in different ways

●created custom ‘attract loop’ video that runs after 2.5 minutes of inactivity

http://youtube.com/v/sRWPvjdikLw

Thanks!Michael DaulDigital Projects DeveloperDuke University Librariesmichael.daul@duke.edu // @mikedaul