Kiosks Resolving Usage Difficulties for Disabled, Elderly, and Children
Installed at National Museum of Korea, Local Governments, and Major Department Stores
CEO Kim Ji-hoon: "Will Lower Prices Through Mass Production by Expanding Export and Sales Channels"
Eltove is accelerating the commercialization of intelligent (AI) barrier-free kiosks that can be easily used by socially vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly, and children.
Eltove is a company leading the ICT convergence platform, developing and selling digital media art production, unmanned guidance systems, and intelligent barrier-free kiosks. Eltove's intelligent barrier-free kiosks completely eliminate user inconvenience through features such as adjustable touchscreen height, voice, braille, and sign language guidance, and enlarged font sizes for the elderly, making them convenient for everyone to use.
Kim Ji-hoon, CEO of Eltove, is demonstrating the intelligent barrier-free kiosk installed at the National Museum of Korea. [Photo by Eltove]
Government support for the commercialization of intelligent barrier-free kiosks has also shone. In September 2022, the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, in consultation with related ministries including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Personal Information Protection Commission, promoted Eltove, which was trapped by regulations prohibiting the installation of digital cameras on kiosks, as a regulatory sandbox candidate and selected it as a demonstration exemption project operator.
Since then, the Personal Information Protection Act was amended and enforced in September last year to allow the installation of digital cameras for identification purposes without storing data on the kiosk, removing all obstacles that had hindered commercialization.
The National Information Society Agency (NIA) supported reducing various costs such as terminal development burdens for kiosk manufacturers by utilizing the 'Unmanned Information Terminal UI Platform (User Interface),' and major public institutions such as the National Museum of Korea prioritized replacing kiosks with intelligent barrier-free kiosks.
Starting with the installation of four units at the National Museum of Korea in December 2022, two units each were installed at the National Gyeongju, Buyeo, and Gwangju Museums, and in July last year, two units were installed at the IFC Mall in Yeouido, Seoul, the first department store nationwide.
This year, installations have been confirmed in various local governments nationwide, including Chungbuk, Chuncheon, Naju, and Paju, and discussions are underway to introduce them to famous department stores such as Lotte and Shinsegae. In addition, export consultations for intelligent barrier-free kiosks are being conducted with several countries, including Singapore, where existing products are already being exported.
However, due to the various convenience features, the installation cost is about 3 to 4 times higher than that of general kiosks. Based on procurement registration prices, including software, the cost per unit reaches 30 to 40 million KRW.
Kim Ji-hoon, CEO of Eltove, said, "We expect to gradually lower prices through adjustments to some high-spec hardware and programs, expansion of sales channels including exports, and mass production," adding, "Requests for delivery are increasing, so we believe this will be possible in the near future."
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