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Touch
Screen Kiosk with Public Hotspots
Most
digital signs only offer information. The Touch Screen Kiosk offers
downloads of the world’s bibles and sacred text in audio format, sacred
music, messages and sacred videos. As the file is being downloaded, paid
advertising may be displayed and watched by people receiving content.
The high international interest in spiritual information attracts viewers.
The fact that the viewers are going to be watching the screen to discover
when their file transfer is complete makes the ad space on these kiosks
significantly more valuable than similar ad space on non-interactive
digital signs.
Because of
its inclusiveness, a World Religions Touch Screen Kiosk could be installed and
accepted in countries that would not allow the installation of a
Christian Outreach Kiosk.
Suggested Contents
Content is
presented from world religion sources and includes but is not limited to:
When no one is using the kiosk, it
repetitively plays a short video with instruction on how to use the kiosk.
The touch screen offers the possibilities of restarting the video from the
beginning or starting file transfers immediately.
The user has 4 ways to receive Christian
content for his or her cell phone.
Hotspot Kiosk for Buses
Hotspot
Church Services and More
for Bus Passengers
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Large churches that record their services can now deliver these
recordings to people riding cross-country buses.
Using wireless hotspot technology, mega churches in Mexico will soon
be delivering their church services, audio bibles and Christian
music to people riding high end buses from city to city.
Riders have time to browse and enjoy the Kiosk Evangelism Hotspot
files. They can download the things they like and enjoy them after
the get to their destination, filling the hard drives of their
laptops and cell phones with free Christian content, including
evangelistic movies.
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Instant Feedback
Churches that include chat screens on their
websites can communicate with people on the buses whenever the bus
is within cell tower range allowing internet connections.
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Micro-Sd cards
for Cell Phones
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 Increasingly,
cell phones around the world now use mini-sd cards to store
information. The user simply removes their micro-sd card from their
cell phone and inserts it in a slot on the kiosk. Software detects the
amount of free space on the card. An icon appears on the screen
representing the users micro-SD card. Using their finger, they drag
files into their icon representing their device.
SD Card and USB Memory Devices
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Slots for additional devices are used
for receiving data that may be transferred to a computer at a later
time. The user interface for these transactions is the same as the
touch screen user interface for cell phone mini-SD cards.
Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Each kiosk broadcasts itself a wireless resource
- Anyone with a computer or phone with wireless
capabilities can connect to the kiosk and gain access to its content.
This means that church goers who bring their laptop of wireless
capable cell phone with them can be getting audio bibles if they are
within 50 feet of the kiosk
Bluetooth
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This wireless system is limited to
transferring small files. Up to 5 people within 30 feet of the kiosk
can download files using Bluetooth. It is a good way for distributing
ringtones, bible memory verses and short evangelistic messages.
Users may be invited to use their credit card
to make a donation and/or use a touch screen keyboard to enter their email
address to receive additional information.
4000 Languages
Anyone anywhere in the world that
finds a touch screen kiosks should be able to access a gospel message in his
or her heart language.
A strategic partnership with
Global Recording
Network makes this possible. Begun in 1939 by two young woman, today
GRN has the largest collection of gospel recordings in existence.
Their Language and Dialect structure is designed for
every one in the world. It is scalable to do everything that may be
encountered for this project. In addition to the largest library of
different languages and dialects. They have much of the information that
is required to design a geographic interface necessary to allow the
barely-literate or oral learners to obtain materials from the kiosk. The
oral interface to the kiosk will be forthcoming.
The Kiosk Evangelism server is poised to receive
mobile ministry content from multiple ministries to add to the rich
collection provided by GRN. If you have content that needs to be on the
touch screen kiosks fill out the
Content Provider Application
What
Precedents Exist for Using this Technology
Christians have been using “proximity
marketing” for centuries. Some one must get close enough to another to
give them a word or a tract.
The number of closed countries are making it
more difficult or impossible for “outsiders” to reach the lost. In
Asia and Africa, the cell phone is being used routinely to pass media
files. The key to this capability is made possible by a software feature
know as multi-media messaging service. (MMS). In the USA, this is an
emerging technology. In Asia, it is a fully mature technology used by
millions. People routinely pass media files from one cell phone to another
using Bluetooth or SD card memory transfers.
In the USA, two major marketing activities
demonstrate the viability of using kiosks to hand out media content. “Red
Boxes”
are appearing everywhere allowing people to rent movies from a vending
machine. In July, NCR and Mod Systems will begin deploying kiosks in
airport to allow people to download movies onto SD cards.
Why Kiosks?
While cell phone evangelism offers great
possibilities for spreading the gospel, getting people to place gospel
information on their cell phone is a formidable task. Studies have proven
that wall-mounted displays attract more attention than pedestal displays.
There exist various “push/pull” marketing
schemes that use SMS text messaging. These strategies are similar to the
email spam messages that we are all familiar with today. Sending out
SMS messages is something like sprinkling water from a can in the middle
of a typhoon. Getting your message heard in the blast of messages
competing for attention is nearly impossible.
Kiosks in railroad stations and bus stations
will be seen by people with time on their hands. They are usually waiting
for a scheduled arrival or departure. Unlike public locations that
are visited periodically by the same people, these locations have a fairly
constant flow of new people on there way to some place that may be very
difficult to visit. When a traveler places a Bible on their cell
phone, they can give it to someone in their home town. Envision what
happens at a candlelight service when people begin lighting the candle of
the person near them.
Although it may not be possible to place
kiosks with Christian materials on them in certain countries that are
closed to missionaries, these kiosks can be strategically placed in
transportation areas that routinely see people traveling to and from these
closed countries. It may be possible to distribute the Koran in
addition to the Bible. This would keep zealots from attacking the kiosk.
There is a need for kingdom creativity in the deployment of these devices.
Who Should Own and
How Can They Deploy touch screen kiosks
The touch screen kiosk is a tool available to
Bible translation ministries, mission organizations, local churches that
are committed to reaching into the lives of the people around them. Bible
translations are expensive, especially when your divide the cost of the
translator’s living expenses plus the cost of the support organization by
the number of bible distributed. By passing out digital bibles on cell
phones, the number of Bibles “published” can increase dramatically making
the return on investment most attractive.
Each kiosk needs a caretaker. Ideally, the
caretaker will be a shop keeper in a bus station or train station that
will provide floor space and an electrical outlet. The kiosk includes an
alarm system similar to those found on automobiles that is activated if
the unit is tampered with or is moved.
Shop keepers can be encouraged to
participate in the program by the fact that the kiosks will draw traffic
to their shop or store. They can earn new revenue by selling mini-sd
cards, sd cards and USB memory devices. A display containing a small
amount of inventory can be used as a set-up fee payment. The shop keeper
may elect to replace memory that is sold by placing orders for new memory
from the owner of the kiosk or by purchasing memory from a nearby source.
Each touch
screen kiosk needs
an “Installation and Support Agent”
Radio station directors have the needed qualifications.
Through COICOM, I know how to connect with thousands of station
directors.
Christian radio station directors have:
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A physical presence in the area served
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A legal existence including banking
when needed
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Commitment to mass distribution of the
gospel
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Staff that are familiar with local
media content appetites
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Staff that can do rudimentary PC
support
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Knowledge of the community enabling
them to make arrangements with a vendor at a bus or train station for
the installation of each unit
At the end of each MP3
file that is downloaded to a cell phone or USB drive, we can
automatically stitch a short message from each local radio station that
says... "This message, music, … has been brought to you by the Global
Recording Network and your local Christian radio station WBTM, 1850 on
your dial.”
People that want more
knowledge of God can listen to Christian radio!
Content
Selection and Preparation
Global Recording
Network has gospel recording audio files in 4000 languages. We are
working together to make it possible for anyone in the world to walk up to
a kiosk and freely transfer gospels messages to their cell phone.
It is expected that agencies purchasing and
deploying touch screen kiosks will have specific content that they have
interest in distributing. Fortunately, there are multiple sources of cell
phone ready content that can supplement these materials.
Creating Content for Mobile Phones
People use cell phones differently than
books. Most listen or watch fairly short videos. Each agency supplying
content needs to study the needs of their audience to be able to provide
culturally acceptable and meaningful material. Discussions regarding this
process can be read at
http://visualstorynetwork.com/
Technical Considerations
The hard drive on the kiosk contains the
content that is to be distributed. There are two main advantages for using
a local hard drive.
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Audio and video content that is delivered
over the cell phone network will cost the user money for minutes and
bandwidth. Delivery directly from the kiosk eliminates these charges.
Instead of having hundreds of people transfer the files over the Telco
network, each file is either delivered with the unit or delivered a
single time using the management console and the Telco air card that is
installed in the kiosk.
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Instead of waiting several minutes for a
file to transfer as is required using the cell phone network, the file
is moved rapidly from the kiosk to the SD card or USB memory stick. Cell
phone networks are shared by many people. Network traffic congestion is
eliminated when the file is transferred directly from a local hard
drive.
File formatting for cell phones can be
complicated. SD technology is standard internationally. This means that
files on a SD or USB card can be read by any device using these resources.
Various media players require various file
formats. Fortunately, the cell phones with cameras and media players are
increasingly using industry standard file formats. Also fortunately, audio
file formatting is considerable easier than video formatting. This means
that although a particular phone may have trouble using the video formats
offered by the kiosk, it is relatively easy to provide audio files that
work. Given the numbers of people who use their cell phones as audio
players, this opens a very wide audience for audio bibles, etc.
Each agency supplying material for
distribution must be responsible for providing the material in file
formats that work for their target audiences. Help regarding activity this
is available from various consultants. Correctly formatted media content
must be uploaded to a protected location on the
SiteRemote Server location
using file transfer protocol (FTP).
Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents
The touch screen kiosk is neither
trademarked or patented. Any agency wishing to replicate this device is
free to use the materials provided for that purpose. The
SiteServer Remote services will
be least costly when several organizations use a single service to access
these services. Cost are addressed later in this paper.
Materials distributed on a touch screen
kiosk may or may not be copyright protected. This is a decision made
by the agency providing the content.
This is an “open system.” Many have
discovered that giving away content that was previously only available for
a specified price is in fact justified. Free materials rapidly expand the
visibility of organizations providing such materials. Instead of reaching
thousand of people, it becomes possible to reach millions of people. A
classic example of this principle is seen in the successful distribution
of E-Sword by Rick Meyers. This Bible study software took years to create.
Had Rick elected to sell the software, his audience would have been small.
He reports that only 2% of the people using his software donated to his
project. While this might seem small, consider that he has over 10 million
users. The donations from 2 % of 10 million users have enabled him to
expand phenomenally.
Christian organizations are asked to rethink
the way they distribute their materials. There are over 3 billion cell
phones in the hands of unbelievers needing to know Jesus.
Availability of
touch screen kiosks
Nelson Encarnacion, Dominican Republic, listens to the
first audio bible New Testament
distributed by a prototype kiosk at COICOM,
September, 2010
The Touch Screen Kiosks are being developed by
National Computer Solutions (NCS)[7],
an independent computer reseller. For 15 years, NCS provided file servers
and networking equipment to hotels chains, community bank systems and
hospitals. Currently, it is focused exclusively on developing Kiosk
Evangelism.
The first touch screen kiosks was
introduced at COICOM in early September, 2010. COICOM is the Spanish
language religious broadcasters annual conference. It attracts radios
station directors and producers from all over the Spanish speaking world.
The forward production of touch screen
kiosk is dependent on having a champion with financial resources stepping
up to the plate. While extensive work has already been accomplished,
further development of the touch screen interface is required.
This screen shows a 42" intro screen that is part of the ongoing
development.
Capital Costs
Approximate Capital costs…42" Traveler's
Digital Display...under development. Anticipated availability early 2012.
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Product Description |
Cost |
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touch
screen kiosks 42" |
$9100 |
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Estimated
Typical Freight Charge |
$300 |
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Site Kiosk
7 Non-Profit Edition w Donation Skin |
$200 |
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Unit Cost |
$9600
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Custom
Interface for Your Organization
(This is a
1 time Fee)
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$650 |
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Capital Cost for 1st
Unit |
$11,250 |
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Capital Cost for nth
Unit
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$9600
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Approximate Yearly Operating Costs
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SiteRemote
Client License (Needed for remote management) |
$72 |
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Electricity at Site (estimate) |
$36 |
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Access to
the internet (rates very) (Needed for remote management) |
$200 |
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Hardware Maintenance Contract (1 year) |
$125 |
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Product
Support and Content Management (Includes updating content on the
kiosk and the availability of usage analytics) |
$140 |
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Estimated Yearly
Operating Cost Per Unit |
$573
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A program to earn revenue from advertising is being developed.
Stephen Keel
has been broadcasting a verse by verse study in the book of Proverbs for
over 11 years. A Proverb a Day has been heard on more that 350 radio
station in 26 countries. 10 years ago, Stephen began research
multi-media players for reaching remote people. At the same time he
developed a
scrolling synchronized text media file to increase literacy in
English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. He helped to pioneer a low power FM
radio station for 2 local prisons. He launched the
www.earbudchristianity.com site to make available some of the
technology he had identified.
In 2008,
Stephen began to see the power of using the cell phone as a pre-owned
media player. A three week trip to India in March 2010, convicted him of
the need to distribute all types of Christian literature using mobile
means. The touch screen kiosks was inspired by this trip. Stephen’s many
years of experience as a computer reseller and entrepreneur have made it
possible to offer this device to people intent on spreading the gospel
to the ends of the earth.
Call 800
783-634
Skype:
stephen_keel
Email:
wskeel@gamewood.net
When you order
a test unit for your organization, you will be helping to develop the
needed strategies and knowledge for making this tool available
universally. Business partners, ministry partners and prayer partners
are needed for this motion.
August 17, 2010 Neilson
Report
Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist,
The Cambridge Group
SUMMARY: Consumers around the world are hungry
for access to information and communication, especially in countries
with a growing middle class. Defying classic economic models, the
demand for communication (cell phones) leads traditional media
growth, signifying a global, disruptive phenomenon. The demand for
information via the Internet follows slower, more predictable growth
patterns. The implications for marketers: lead with mobile
advertising in high-growth, emerging economies.
Footnotes
Earbudchristianity.com is owned and operated by Tala, Inc., dba
A Proverb a Day(APAD) APAD works in partnership with
Radio Encounter International, a 501C non-profit organization. Radio
Encounter International, Inc., PO Box 7036, Wilmington, NC 28406. Tel:
(910) 395-1934 Fax: (910) 295-5524
http://www.redbox.com/home.aspx
http://www.ncr.com/about_ncr/media_
information/news_releases/2010/april/20100421_mod.jsp
http://www.ncr.com/about_ncr/media_
information/news_releases/2010/april/20100421_mod.jsp
http://www.sitekiosk.com/en-US/SiteKiosk/Default.aspx
http://www.sitekiosk.com/en-US/SiteRemote/Default.aspx
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