Configuration of human-facilitated remote service : a vmc-based kiosk interface for information systems

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>Self-service is seen as effective, and thus, pervasive in all walks of human life, where crowds of people independently use public or private services offered by local kiosks, the Internet, or mobile devices. There is growing interest in delivering complex information-intensive interactive services via kiosks. This complicated service design, along with multiple choice interfaces, has diversified customer groups and situations where people are dependent on available kiosks. This work introduces a new video-mediated communication (VMC) based kiosk system, which is a functional solution for the problem. This kiosk can be staffed remotely using VMC and service personnel working over the Internet to personally serve each customer and facilitate the use of the kiosk interface when needed. Experiences with the kiosk show that the VMC-kiosk interface is appropriate for public use. Providing a real configuration example of a modern kiosk system, our work contributes to the design of remote services, kiosk interfaces, and information systems, and brings into focus a new way of using information systems with VMC over the Internet.</p></div>