Kiosk Hardware

Kiosk with custom casing installed in Luce Visible Storage.

Over the past several months, colleagues have been asking what kind of hardware is in use in our kiosk installations. After posting about the Firefox kiosk upgrade, hardware specifics seemed like it would be a good next post. If you are interested in this kind of thing…

We use keyboards from Input Technologies. They are anti-vandal and stand up to a lot of wear and tear. In addition, they don’t have control, alt or delete keys so users can’t break out of the kiosk interface. We use the Eclipse anti-vandal model, 63-key (not 85 key), fascia mount. If ordering a trackball we ask for the button to be top mounted (users had trouble with the bottom mounted). I was recently changing planes in the Minneapolis airport and noticed they were using the same keyboards on their internet kiosks.

To mount those keyboards, we just cut a plywood board, drop the keyboard inside a cavity and then mount the board on the wall using this small mount from Ergotron. This mount is really small and allows the visitor to angle the keyboard to their liking.

For CPUs, we like Shuttle since the computers are small, nifty looking and easily customizable for any situation. In most instances, we custom build casing that encloses the unit to match the exhibition design (see photo at the top of the post).

We’ve also just started using the Cappuccino models in places where space is even tighter and the computer needs to be smaller. The Cappuccino comes with this bracket which will mount the computer and the monitor. We use the Cappuccino for the electronic comment books in our special exhibition galleries (photo above).

For Touch Screens, we use Elo all the way. Having used different brands in the past, we find Elo has performed the best. We always go with the Intellitouch technology. Calibration seems to be a constant issue for us, but it has been with every touch screen we’ve ever used, so I can’t fault Elo for that. When mounting these, we often use this mount from Ergotron.

If you are using hardware that you like or have questions about any of the hardware listed here, comment and let us know.