FAQ
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.
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Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum
July 13th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Check out this new device from Matrox, just reviewed:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/displays/review/2007/07/10/Matrox-Extio- Remote-Multi-Display-System/p1
It allows the PC to be up to 250 meters from the monitor, mouse, and keyboard, and you can connect up to four monitors to the PC. I don’t know of any other way connect multiple monitors to one PC, at a distance (fancy KVM switches work the other way around–many PCs, one monitor, which is not great for kiosks :-)).
July 13th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
In our installation for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, we used BlackBox extenders to run VGA over standard copper. The runs were not that long, we just needed to centralize hardware. The BlackBoxes are pretty good, but they require the monitor and cpu to be turned on in a sequence which is a bit difficult to deal with for the long haul. These extenders are not 1 to many like the Matrox, but that’s what we needed since each person needs to be able to manipulate each kiosk independent of the others.
http://www.blackbox.com/Catalog/Category.aspx?cid=537,1374,1377
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I was interested in the content of what you present on the kiosks and what your approach is in creating material to be delivered via the kiosks. Right now, I am thinking that our kiosks (due to be installed in 2008) will mirror some of our educational web content that is designed to provide a context for working with artifacts as primary resources. Of course, that sounds dry, but on the web/kiosk it will be graphical and interactive. I also think this approach will help the users create a museum experience at home or in a classroom.
Can you provide more info on how you approached this? Is any of the kiosk content viewable outside of the museum? Are there any opportunities for users to input tags, comments or other personalized content on the kiosks?
August 9th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
@Tamara - we do different apps for different installations, depending on what each show calls for. In all cases the information is also on the web, but the version may be slightly different for web delivery. Often, the web version will be smaller (as is the case of The Dinner Party Virtual Tour). The kiosk version will be formatted a bit better for touch screens. The changes are slight and the information is the same on the back-end.
In our Luce Visible Storage area, the kiosks run an HTML database app, so visitors can look up more information about what they see in the storage cases.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/research/luce/
In Egypt Reborn, the kiosks run different flash apps that are specific to certain objects.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/kiosk/egyptian/ancient-egypt/
In The Dinner Party, the kiosks run a full size version of the virtual tour w/ the database for each place setting and heritage floor name.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/webto ur/
In our lobby, we have a kiosk designated to allow visitors to sign up for our e-mail list.
In our special exhibition areas, we have comment kiosks that allow visitors to enter their comments about the shows directly so they are displayed both in the gallery and on the web.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/comment/
April 18th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Can anyone shed some light on overall pricing for these various kiosk setups. We’re looking for a good match for a very small museum and looking at the touch screen single user setup and the multiple viewer seated arrangement with an overhead speaker. Any information would be helpful. Thanks.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
There’s no good way to answer this question. It depends on what kind of hardware you decide is best for your environment. For instance, touch screens (size, type, etc), space limitations (need for smaller or more specialized systems, kvms for remote control), case design can all affect pricing. You pretty much need to decide what you need and then price out the components.